On First Avenue in Ladysmith, In The Beantime Cafe is a from-scratch room: the official homepage says breads, desserts, meals, menu items and the cafe’s own roasted coffee are all made in house. The address is 431 First Avenue. The phone is 250-245-2305, and the email is cam@beantime.ca. It is a useful Ladysmith stop in an edition that also covers Duncan, Chemainus and the lake, and it is already in our Cowichan Valley directory.
Hours on the official site are Sunday through Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Thursday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. That later close at the end of the week is the difference between a breakfast-and-lunch cafe and a place you can still plan for an early dinner after a walk downtown. The homepage leans on breakfast — “Try our tasty breakfast options” — and on a Take-N-Bake pre-made meal program for food you can carry home and finish in your own oven. Catering is listed in the main menu as well, alongside the regular menu and an event calendar.
The public pages do not try to tell a long founding story; they show the plates and the patio and invite you to order online or come in. Instagram is linked as @in_the_beantime_cafe. If you are coming for a first visit, First Avenue is Ladysmith’s main downtown street, and the hours above are the ones posted at the bottom of the homepage. Holiday hours can change, so a quick look at the site or a phone call is worthwhile before a statutory Monday.
Ladysmith is part of this edition, not Nanaimo’s. If you are already downtown for the library at 740 First Avenue, the cafe is a few blocks along the same street — close enough to make a morning of it, provided you check both sets of hours first.
Good to know
- Address: 431 First Avenue, Ladysmith. Phone: 250-245-2305. Email: cam@beantime.ca.
- Sunday to Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Thursday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Menu, catering and Take-N-Bake meals: beantime.ca.
Image: Screenshot of the In The Beantime Cafe homepage.
Photo: In The Beantime Cafe, Screenshot of official source page, via source.
