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Iowa City Coffee Crawl
Aug. 28th, 2023 04:46 pmA thorough review of every coffee shop in downtown Iowa City.
Tru Coffee
Expensive. First impression: expensive. Overpriced? Possibly -- the drink I had (I believe it was a mango smoothie) was mediocre, even despite being a mango drink. The food was good. It was an almond chocolate croissant, and they had many other options. Quality food. However, if you go closer to close, they will be completely out of all pastries, and they close at 3 pm. In addition, the seating is terrible; most tables are spread out in the center of the large room, and there is not a single seat with an outlet in the entire store. The last two points are what hurt the most. This is NOT a place you can set up and do work. You will not have time to get anything done -- but at least you won't be there long enough for your computer to run out of power.
2/5
Tspoons
The food is unreliable. They might have good donuts. I wouldn't know -- they have different ones every time and I never get one. Their cups smell weird, and it makes the drink less enjoyable. There is only one good seat in the whole store -- it's a small space, but that one seat is very fun. The mall locale detracts from the atmosphere significantly.
1/5
Press
It's a bit out of the way. Let's acknowledge that first. It's kind of the outcast of Iowa City coffee shops. It's a good way to get your steps in. But, is it worth it? No. The whole space smells strange in a bad way, making it uncomfortable to stay for long. The London fog is watery and bland. There is no good food, save for a few limp muffins. They offer very little in terms of drink selection.
0/5
Java House
The vibe is really good here. It makes up for the lack of windows by being a cozy, aesthetic-inspired little studyhole. Good lighting, and by that I mean, there is comparatively little. The food can be good. They are able to heat up pastries, and they have a good banana chocolate chip muffin and an okay chocolate muffin. They also sell a lot of little a la carte treats like chocolate candies. Their London fog is nasty, far too sweet and too much vanilla, but their iced tea lemonade is top notch. There's a lot of good seats with outlets, but the best in the house is the big oval table at the very back. The main problem with Java House is the shitty owner, who I don't want to support too much, so I don't go super often. The secondary problem is the unreliable WiFi.
4/5
Poindexter
AWFUL SHOP. They have a mango smoothie? Not worth it. London fog? Ass. There is nowhere good to sit, a corporate atmosphere, no food, and the kicker on top of it all is that they don't even have good WiFi. The WiFi isn't even just shaky, it's straight up all the way consistently bad. It is impossible to work here. Going on a coffee crawl -- skip this one.
-1/5
Fix!
Just tried this for the first time today, and I loved it. Unlike the last shop I just mentioned, the WiFi is actually noticeably good and fast. The food is decent, they have a few types of cake which is really cool, and I liked the drink I had, a green tea hibiscus lemonade (though it was awfully sweet), but would have to go back to try their black tea lemonade and see if they do tea lattes. None of that is the point though. The point is that the atmosphere in here is off the CHARTS. It is almost like a cross between an airport sitting area and a teen lounge at a rec center. Open spaces, huge windows letting in tons of light, really cool vibes. It's right behind the theater at Film Scene and you can hear when a movie is playing which is fun. It's sandwiched between the back wall of the theater and a glowing little bowling alley that I didn't even know existed. The only problem I see with this place is that there is a significant drought of outlets. There's really only one table in the whole huge space (and it is VERY large with lots of seats) where you can place your laptop on the table and still have an outlet in reach.
5/5
Coffee Emporium
This one just makes me sad because I think I'm going to do two different ratings for it. The first is for Coffee Emporium, the new moniker for this store. It is, by all means, a decent coffee shop. Probably well above the level of most coffee shops in this town. They have a good banana bread which you can ask for warm. Their drink menu did not change, which I will get to. Their internal layout did not change either, which I will also get to. They close much earlier than they used to, which is a shame for a store that used to be the only coffee shop open past 7. They have fun paintings and photographs from local artists displayed on the walls and they host poetry slams regularly, which is really cool. Very good location.
3/5
The second review is for The High Ground. A coffee shop that closed at 11 pm, then 9 pm after the pandemic. Large windows and multiple good window seats with outlets which you could sit at and watch the street outside as the sun set. You are almost guaranteed an outlet seat. They had (have) INCREDIBLE drinks -- delicious caramel flavored milk steamer, iced tea lemonades, wide tea selection, and the pinnacle: the BEST fucking London fog, not just in Iowa City, but anywhere. All of which they'd serve to you in a ceramic mug. They used to have tons of tasty food options -- an amazing chocolate muffin, peanut butter banana bread, hazelnut chocolate croissant, and my favorite, a white chocolate raspberry scone, plus meal food like amazingly seasoned avocado toast and a tuna melt, all of which has been retired. It was a cool casual vibe, and they even had this fun trivia board where if you got the answer right you got 10 cents off your order. Once they even asked me for a trivia question (I of course gave them one on video game history) and the next week I saw they had put my question and answer options up on the board. The workers are very friendly to regulars and remember your name if you go often, which is obviously still true since it's the same employees. I miss The High Ground, best coffee shop in Iowa.
5/5
Prairie Lights
My new favorite in town. Not because of its good food options, which include a berry danish, a chocolate croissant, and a ham and cheese croissant. Not because of its good seating with outlets. Not because of all the art it has up on the walls like The High Ground does. But because it is on the second floor of a bookshop. And fuck yeah. That is a good vibe. Though, it is to be said, everything else about it is not ideal. The WiFi is abjectly terrible unless you're sitting at one specific table. The tea latte quality depends entirely on who is working that day because sometimes they will make you a frothy London fog in a mug and sometimes they will hand you a pot of oversteeped earl grey tea and a cup of milk. But it is a good place to read. Because the WiFi is so bad.
5/5
Tru Coffee
Expensive. First impression: expensive. Overpriced? Possibly -- the drink I had (I believe it was a mango smoothie) was mediocre, even despite being a mango drink. The food was good. It was an almond chocolate croissant, and they had many other options. Quality food. However, if you go closer to close, they will be completely out of all pastries, and they close at 3 pm. In addition, the seating is terrible; most tables are spread out in the center of the large room, and there is not a single seat with an outlet in the entire store. The last two points are what hurt the most. This is NOT a place you can set up and do work. You will not have time to get anything done -- but at least you won't be there long enough for your computer to run out of power.
2/5
Tspoons
The food is unreliable. They might have good donuts. I wouldn't know -- they have different ones every time and I never get one. Their cups smell weird, and it makes the drink less enjoyable. There is only one good seat in the whole store -- it's a small space, but that one seat is very fun. The mall locale detracts from the atmosphere significantly.
1/5
Press
It's a bit out of the way. Let's acknowledge that first. It's kind of the outcast of Iowa City coffee shops. It's a good way to get your steps in. But, is it worth it? No. The whole space smells strange in a bad way, making it uncomfortable to stay for long. The London fog is watery and bland. There is no good food, save for a few limp muffins. They offer very little in terms of drink selection.
0/5
Java House
The vibe is really good here. It makes up for the lack of windows by being a cozy, aesthetic-inspired little studyhole. Good lighting, and by that I mean, there is comparatively little. The food can be good. They are able to heat up pastries, and they have a good banana chocolate chip muffin and an okay chocolate muffin. They also sell a lot of little a la carte treats like chocolate candies. Their London fog is nasty, far too sweet and too much vanilla, but their iced tea lemonade is top notch. There's a lot of good seats with outlets, but the best in the house is the big oval table at the very back. The main problem with Java House is the shitty owner, who I don't want to support too much, so I don't go super often. The secondary problem is the unreliable WiFi.
4/5
Poindexter
AWFUL SHOP. They have a mango smoothie? Not worth it. London fog? Ass. There is nowhere good to sit, a corporate atmosphere, no food, and the kicker on top of it all is that they don't even have good WiFi. The WiFi isn't even just shaky, it's straight up all the way consistently bad. It is impossible to work here. Going on a coffee crawl -- skip this one.
-1/5
Fix!
Just tried this for the first time today, and I loved it. Unlike the last shop I just mentioned, the WiFi is actually noticeably good and fast. The food is decent, they have a few types of cake which is really cool, and I liked the drink I had, a green tea hibiscus lemonade (though it was awfully sweet), but would have to go back to try their black tea lemonade and see if they do tea lattes. None of that is the point though. The point is that the atmosphere in here is off the CHARTS. It is almost like a cross between an airport sitting area and a teen lounge at a rec center. Open spaces, huge windows letting in tons of light, really cool vibes. It's right behind the theater at Film Scene and you can hear when a movie is playing which is fun. It's sandwiched between the back wall of the theater and a glowing little bowling alley that I didn't even know existed. The only problem I see with this place is that there is a significant drought of outlets. There's really only one table in the whole huge space (and it is VERY large with lots of seats) where you can place your laptop on the table and still have an outlet in reach.
5/5
Coffee Emporium
This one just makes me sad because I think I'm going to do two different ratings for it. The first is for Coffee Emporium, the new moniker for this store. It is, by all means, a decent coffee shop. Probably well above the level of most coffee shops in this town. They have a good banana bread which you can ask for warm. Their drink menu did not change, which I will get to. Their internal layout did not change either, which I will also get to. They close much earlier than they used to, which is a shame for a store that used to be the only coffee shop open past 7. They have fun paintings and photographs from local artists displayed on the walls and they host poetry slams regularly, which is really cool. Very good location.
3/5
The second review is for The High Ground. A coffee shop that closed at 11 pm, then 9 pm after the pandemic. Large windows and multiple good window seats with outlets which you could sit at and watch the street outside as the sun set. You are almost guaranteed an outlet seat. They had (have) INCREDIBLE drinks -- delicious caramel flavored milk steamer, iced tea lemonades, wide tea selection, and the pinnacle: the BEST fucking London fog, not just in Iowa City, but anywhere. All of which they'd serve to you in a ceramic mug. They used to have tons of tasty food options -- an amazing chocolate muffin, peanut butter banana bread, hazelnut chocolate croissant, and my favorite, a white chocolate raspberry scone, plus meal food like amazingly seasoned avocado toast and a tuna melt, all of which has been retired. It was a cool casual vibe, and they even had this fun trivia board where if you got the answer right you got 10 cents off your order. Once they even asked me for a trivia question (I of course gave them one on video game history) and the next week I saw they had put my question and answer options up on the board. The workers are very friendly to regulars and remember your name if you go often, which is obviously still true since it's the same employees. I miss The High Ground, best coffee shop in Iowa.
5/5
Prairie Lights
My new favorite in town. Not because of its good food options, which include a berry danish, a chocolate croissant, and a ham and cheese croissant. Not because of its good seating with outlets. Not because of all the art it has up on the walls like The High Ground does. But because it is on the second floor of a bookshop. And fuck yeah. That is a good vibe. Though, it is to be said, everything else about it is not ideal. The WiFi is abjectly terrible unless you're sitting at one specific table. The tea latte quality depends entirely on who is working that day because sometimes they will make you a frothy London fog in a mug and sometimes they will hand you a pot of oversteeped earl grey tea and a cup of milk. But it is a good place to read. Because the WiFi is so bad.
5/5
