Welcome to our fourth installment of Café Days @ Signal!
Bates Hill, for such a tiny little street, manages to cram in a lot of goodness. Tucked between Duckworth Street and Queens Road, you’ve got a top notch Mexican restaurant, a whimsical children’s book store, and now Folly, the newest addition to the St. John’s late night eatery scene.
On top of serving funky, delicious pizzas, burgers and more, and an awe inspiring selection of beers (36 imports alone), spirits and wine, they’re also a full service café with a wide range of coffees available.
Folly’s coffee follows suit with Bates Hill and it’s good things come in small packages way. They do their coffee as the Italians do. This starts with coffee beans that are roasted in Canada by Italians in keeping with the Italian ways, and finishes with a drink that has the traditional ratio of espresso to milk.
If you’re used to drinking your cappuccino in a cup the size of a beer glass, they can gladly accommodate, but if you’d like to know what a real cappuccino experience can be, go with the Folly flow. Once you’ve experienced the true taste of espresso as balanced by just the right amount of milk, you won’t want to go back to the tall hot glass of beige most North American’s are accustomed to calling a cappuccino or latte.
For the Tim’s drinkers in the crowd, this might be a bit of a leap from what you’re used to. I have my doubts you’d regret it, but if you’d rather take a smaller first step, Folly does your standard drip coffee, too. Standard in that it’s drip coffee, not in it’s authenticity of Italian roasted taste.
As a late night eatery, Folly’s hours are a little outside the norm for most coffee drinkers. Currently they’re open from 6pm – 6am, though that’s going to change to noon – 6am as of June 21st. Still, if you’re a student, a late-shift worker, or simply just a night owl who always tends to see the sun rise from the opposite end of the waking day than most people, know you’ve got a great café available that fits with your schedule in Folly.
There’s free wi-fi, a stylin’ decor full of local art, a chilled vibe, and Mara, Folly’s owner, who is always on hand and knows how to take care of her customers. She’s all about people hanging out and says she’s happy to see people come down with a book or a laptop, order a coffee, settle in and stay as long as they like.
I’m pretty sure this gal never leaves.
It’s Friday evening as I type and Folly is filling up fast. Come 3am they’ll have a lineup going out the door. As far as late night eateries in St. John’s go, Folly’s boldly followed their own recipe and it’s turned out to be a hit. If you ask me, the secret ingredient in that recipe is their coffee — a secret there’s no shame in telling.
Folly are open:
Wednesday to Sunday 6pm – 6am (noon – 6am as of June 21st)
In case you haven’t heard, 
