Why Village Books and Coffee House is an essential Steveston stop

There is a specific kind of peaceful silence that only exists inside a bookstore, and Steveston has been quietly keeping one of the best. Village Books and Coffee House sits on First Avenue, a couple of blocks from the boats and the fish sales and the seagulls with strong opinions.

Start with the blue door

Look for the bright blue door on First Avenue, Village Books and Coffee House Steveston. It is propped open most days with a neon OPEN sign in the window. Additionally, a smaller, politer one says come in, we’re open, if the neon isn’t clear.

That door is the whole personality of the place in one frame. Cheerful, a little worn, absolutely not trying to be minimalist.

Step through and the first thing you notice is that the shelves have completely taken over. Books to the ceiling, books on the ladders, books in boxes waiting for a shelf that does not exist yet. String lights loop across the ceiling year round. It smells like paper and espresso, which I would like bottled please.

Know what you’re walking into

Understand that this is a real bookstore first, not a cafe with a decorative shelf. Village Books has been in Steveston since 1998, back when it was called Gerry’s Books, and it carries new, used, and older secondhand titles all in the same rooms. That mix is the fun part. A glossy new cookbook can sit 2 shelves below a paperback that has clearly been read on a beach in 1987.

The cookbook wall got me. Samin Nosrat, a stack of vegetable and salad books, bread baking, herb dinners, all shelved together like an invitation to become a different person. I did not become a different person.

The aisles narrow toward the back, where the light comes in through a tall window and the shelves lean in on both sides. It is where you crouch down, tilt your head sideways to read the spines, and lose 15 minutes without noticing.

Order the Aztec Mocha

Get the Aztec Mocha if it’s your first visit. It has a chili warmth that arrives at the very end and sits there for a second.

There are cinnamon buns and baked treats at the counter.

One thing to know before you settle in with a latte and a stack of hardcovers: there’s a chalkboard in the shop asking for no food or drink in the book area. There is seating, including a table outside, and nothing can beat Steveston in the sun with a coffee and a new book.

Make it part of a Steveston afternoon

Steveston is small enough to do on foot and rewarding enough that you’ll want to. Fisherman’s Wharf for the boats, the dike for the walk, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery if you want context for why this village looks the way it does, and then Village Books when your legs are tired and you want to stand still somewhere warm.

What I’d tell a friend

Bring patience for the narrow aisles and a willingness to look up, because the best stuff is usually at eye level plus one shelf. Ask the staff for a recommendation.

Village Books and Coffee House
12031 First Avenue, Steveston Village, Richmond, BC
Hours shift seasonally, so check their website before you go.