Love the idea of a unique brunch fusion cafe, that's open till 4. I had the Banter Club Sandwich (grilled chicken, mashed avacado, tomatoe, sesame marinated cucumbers, and secret sauce). Very impressed with the flavor. Did feel $20 is a little much for a Club Sandwich, but the flavor was on point.
They gave a bottle of habanero pineapple sauce on the side, but there was 0 spice to it. So slightly disappointed w the lack of kick i thought I was going to get.
The service was a little disappointing and the seating organization. There were only 2 beer choices, both darker/heavier options. So I told the server just water is fine. She never brought water. At the end of the meal I asked about water and she pointed to a self service water station off to the side. Would've been nice if they had told me or pointed that out when I initially stated I was going with water.
You order at the bar and pay. At which point they tell you that you can sit anywhere, so I chose a comfy two person table. At some point a group of 5 came in and booths were taken. The waitress told the group she would move some things around and make it work. Her solution, asking a couple to move from their booth to a 2 person table.... If that were me, in the middle of eating, I'd be pretty annoyed. They could avoid this simply by telling people where they should sit and leave the booths open for groups, instead of asking people to move. About 1 minute after they say the group of 5, another booth left. So they could've had the group just wait a minute to clean the free booth. They then proceeded to seat another 2 people at that booth after. Hopefully those people didn't have to get moved at some point also. Highly recommend they manage how they seat people in the future.
Overall I liked the food enough to where I'd come back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Desiree Crisp
Peanut bowl was amazing & nutricious. And the Lime Zuchinni loaf was the best I've ever had!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Elizabeth
My must-go to spot when in Bellingham! Their tofu peanut bowl was divine! Excited to go back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
David Nicol
Good simple food, they use quality ingredients and can get a lot of flavor out of a relatively simple dish.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Katlin Wozniak
Incredible!!! I had the chefs breakfast and I will think about it all week. Delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brynn Burdge
Great food and drinks, bad inside cafe setup. Nowhere to stand/sit while waiting on food, limited tables
Brooke Susan
Banter is an absolute gem! The food is always excellent—fresh, flavorful, and made with care. But what truly sets this place apart is the outstanding service. Sam, in particular, is incredible—calm, cool, and collected even during the busiest rush. Watching him handle everything with such grace makes the experience even better. I never mind waiting because I know the food and service will be well worth it every time. Highly recommend this cozy spot for a fantastic breakfast!
Vegetarian options: Their happy to make your order however you please, even when their busy.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: All Time Bowl
Kyle Maltz
My favorite spot in Bellingham. It’s a must visit spot. The food is delicious.
Joshua T
I’m about two weeks late on this review but this is an amazing place for brunch and coffee. Get the burrito, use the hot sauce they make and order an oat milk latte. You won’t leave sad that’s for sure. Also shoutout to Reese if he’s working the espresso bar, you’re in for a treat. And Reese’s hat was truth. Can’t wait to visit again.
Also don’t be the person who snags a table because there is a long line and your friends wait in that line. Just don’t. Banter has a nice and efficient system. Order/talk to the host before taking a table.
Dietary restrictions: They were easily able to accommodate my dairy allergies.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dan Hsieh
Banter has an unusual and inefficient seating system—everyone waits in the same line for both dine-in and takeout. If there’s no available seating when you reach the front, you’re placed on a waitlist and asked to step aside, which creates overcrowding near the bar. Once a table opens up, you return to the front to order before being seated.
While waiting, I ordered a coffee, but they completely forgot my order. I had to remind them twice—it took over 40 mins to get my coffee.
One particularly frustrating detail: despite a long line of customers waiting for tables, the bar seating was reserved exclusively for employees to eat their meals.
As for the food, I ordered the crunchy chicken salad and a breakfast sandwich. The chicken on the salad was disappointingly dry, and the salad itself was underdressed. The breakfast sandwich lacked flavor, though the hot sauce (which was delicious) helped. Overall, the food didn’t feel worth the price—maybe that’s just inflation, but still.
I got the chicken salad and the chicken was very dry. In addition, the salad itself was primarily just dried noodles that weren't that good. The whole ordering and seating system was terrible and made no sense too. They also forgot one of our drinks twice and took 20 minutes to arrive, and rushed us to leave way before the 90 minute time limit.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 2
Nat V
I got a breaky sandwich and subbed impossible sausage. Best sandwich I’ve ever experienced. I fell in love instantly. I wanted to yell “WHO DID THIS” so that I could give my compliments to the chef
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Breakfast Sandwich
Carli (Adventures with Carli)
I’ve stopped in here a couple of times between client appointments. Really cute local cafe downtown. Very chill vibes, fantastic pastries. Prices are on the high end, but everything I’ve had is delicious. And the staff is super friendly. Will continue to visit when I’m in town.
Even though it’s a little on the pricier side, it’s worth every penny. The flavours the presentation bang on. I would say though they could improve their coffee, it doesn’t match the food quality. This was our 2nd time at this cafe and first time trying brunch. Both this times thought coffee wasn’t the best. Almost didn’t come here for brunch as another restaurant we wanted to go to had a wait. I am glad we came we were solely basing it on its coffee taste. Do your self a favour and go here for brunch. We will be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Phyllis Tee
Flat white with oat milk is so good. Latte art is on point.
Love the idea of a unique brunch fusion cafe, that's open till 4. I had the Banter Club Sandwich (grilled chicken, mashed avacado, tomatoe, sesame marinated cucumbers, and secret sauce). Very impressed with the flavor. Did feel $20 is a little much for a Club Sandwich, but the flavor was on point.
They gave a bottle of habanero pineapple sauce on the side, but there was 0 spice to it. So slightly disappointed w the lack of kick i thought I was going to get.
The service was a little disappointing and the seating organization. There were only 2 beer choices, both darker/heavier options. So I told the server just water is fine. She never brought water. At the end of the meal I asked about water and she pointed to a self service water station off to the side. Would've been nice if they had told me or pointed that out when I initially stated I was going with water.
You order at the bar and pay. At which point they tell you that you can sit anywhere, so I chose a comfy two person table. At some point a group of 5 came in and booths were taken. The waitress told the group she would move some things around and make it work. Her solution, asking a couple to move from their booth to a 2 person table.... If that were me, in the middle of eating, I'd be pretty annoyed. They could avoid this simply by telling people where they should sit and leave the booths open for groups, instead of asking people to move. About 1 minute after they say the group of 5, another booth left. So they could've had the group just wait a minute to clean the free booth. They then proceeded to seat another 2 people at that booth after. Hopefully those people didn't have to get moved at some point also. Highly recommend they manage how they seat people in the future.
Overall I liked the food enough to where I'd come back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Peanut bowl was amazing & nutricious. And the Lime Zuchinni loaf was the best I've ever had!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
My must-go to spot when in Bellingham! Their tofu peanut bowl was divine! Excited to go back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good simple food, they use quality ingredients and can get a lot of flavor out of a relatively simple dish.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Incredible!!! I had the chefs breakfast and I will think about it all week. Delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great food and drinks, bad inside cafe setup. Nowhere to stand/sit while waiting on food, limited tables
Banter is an absolute gem! The food is always excellent—fresh, flavorful, and made with care. But what truly sets this place apart is the outstanding service. Sam, in particular, is incredible—calm, cool, and collected even during the busiest rush. Watching him handle everything with such grace makes the experience even better. I never mind waiting because I know the food and service will be well worth it every time. Highly recommend this cozy spot for a fantastic breakfast!
Vegetarian options: Their happy to make your order however you please, even when their busy.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: All Time Bowl
My favorite spot in Bellingham. It’s a must visit spot. The food is delicious.
I’m about two weeks late on this review but this is an amazing place for brunch and coffee. Get the burrito, use the hot sauce they make and order an oat milk latte. You won’t leave sad that’s for sure. Also shoutout to Reese if he’s working the espresso bar, you’re in for a treat. And Reese’s hat was truth. Can’t wait to visit again.
Also don’t be the person who snags a table because there is a long line and your friends wait in that line. Just don’t. Banter has a nice and efficient system. Order/talk to the host before taking a table.
Dietary restrictions: They were easily able to accommodate my dairy allergies.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Banter has an unusual and inefficient seating system—everyone waits in the same line for both dine-in and takeout. If there’s no available seating when you reach the front, you’re placed on a waitlist and asked to step aside, which creates overcrowding near the bar. Once a table opens up, you return to the front to order before being seated.
While waiting, I ordered a coffee, but they completely forgot my order. I had to remind them twice—it took over 40 mins to get my coffee.
One particularly frustrating detail: despite a long line of customers waiting for tables, the bar seating was reserved exclusively for employees to eat their meals.
As for the food, I ordered the crunchy chicken salad and a breakfast sandwich. The chicken on the salad was disappointingly dry, and the salad itself was underdressed. The breakfast sandwich lacked flavor, though the hot sauce (which was delicious) helped. Overall, the food didn’t feel worth the price—maybe that’s just inflation, but still.
Would I return? Probably not.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
I got the chicken salad and the chicken was very dry. In addition, the salad itself was primarily just dried noodles that weren't that good. The whole ordering and seating system was terrible and made no sense too. They also forgot one of our drinks twice and took 20 minutes to arrive, and rushed us to leave way before the 90 minute time limit.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 2
I got a breaky sandwich and subbed impossible sausage. Best sandwich I’ve ever experienced. I fell in love instantly. I wanted to yell “WHO DID THIS” so that I could give my compliments to the chef
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Breakfast Sandwich
I’ve stopped in here a couple of times between client appointments. Really cute local cafe downtown. Very chill vibes, fantastic pastries. Prices are on the high end, but everything I’ve had is delicious. And the staff is super friendly. Will continue to visit when I’m in town.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Georgi's Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Cookie
Even though it’s a little on the pricier side, it’s worth every penny. The flavours the presentation bang on. I would say though they could improve their coffee, it doesn’t match the food quality.
This was our 2nd time at this cafe and first time trying brunch. Both this times thought coffee wasn’t the best. Almost didn’t come here for brunch as another restaurant we wanted to go to had a wait. I am glad we came we were solely basing it on its coffee taste. Do your self a favour and go here for brunch. We will be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Flat white with oat milk is so good. Latte art is on point.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Chocolate Chip Cookie
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