Remedy Cafe on Jasper Avenue has closed doors

Edmonton’s Remedy Cafe, located on Jasper Avenue, has been more than a place to grab a cup of coffee or chai.

But after over 13 years of service, the cafe closed its doors on Sunday, permanently leaving a hole in the downtown community.

“That’s the last thing I ever wanted to see,” said Sohail (Zee) Zaidi.

Gabriel Zaidi added, “It’s so sad to see one of our cafes going, especially our second cafe where I grew up.”

For over the last 25 years, Gabriel has watched his father build and grow his Remedy Cafe empire, best known for their Kashmiri chai and vegan food. 

“I remember when I was younger. I went to school across from the 109th. He would bring me in at 6, and he would have samples of everything, and he would get people to taste and taste until they were like ‘Oh that’s it,'” Gabriel explained.

Sohail, or Zee as known by his customers, told CityNews, the location on Jasper Avenue can’t survive due to declining foot traffic and people not coming back to the office post-COVID.

“This is not the downtown I saw in 2013, ’14, ’15. This is just a rundown downtown. After COVID, Jasper Avenue did not lift up. Not a lot of people came back to work,” Zee explained.

Gabriel added, “It’s very real that the downtown core has moved and the downtown core has become something different than what my younger self thought and envisioned and was so proud of.”

The Zaidi family is also pointing to downtown security concerns.

“We wanna make sure when customers and staff coming to our cafes, they feel some sense of security,” said Gabriel.

The cafe has 10 other locations across the Edmonton area, but customers say Jasper Avenue won’t be the same without Remedy.

“I didn’t even know it was actually closed. Their food is really good,” said Raheel, who lives downtown.

Matthew, who lives and works downtown, says, “The vibes when I’m there to study with my friends, and also, I like the chai a lot.”

Richard Isaac, who also lives and works downtown, says, “Before COVID, it was more active, but it’s not just COVID. I think some of the street furniture needs to be improved so the people have good places to be able to sit and to meet.”

Gabriel hopes one day he can bring Remedy back to the downtown area, but not until the city sees an improvement.

“What they’ll miss from us going is that hub that we were able to create over the years, and somewhere where we had a special table upfront where our one friend in a wheelchair is also blind, come and sit every time. And every single person in the cafe, customers, staff, knew that was his spot,” said Gabriel.

“I live downtown. It’s in my heart. And if it ever does come back to what we all know it once was, that would be fantastic.”