From the time England’s first coffee house opened in 1650 in the university town of Oxford, java joints have served as places to gather and gossip, to drink the latest brew or hash over the politics of the day. We sent four student reviewers out and about this month to rate five of Iowa City’s many coffee houses. Here’s how they ranked the businesses on their hit list, with 5 being the highest possible rating—

	Quality of Food/Coffee	Look & Feel	Price/Value	Service	Location	Overall Rating
Cottage Bakery 14 S. Linn	3.4	3.9	4.1	3.4	3.3	3.6
House of Aromas 118 S. Clinton	4.1	4	4.3	4.5	4	4.2
IMU Java House On Campus	4.5	2	3.6	4.8	4.8	3.9
Starbucks 228 S. Clinton	3.1	2.8	4.1	3.1	3.3	3.3
The Java House 211 1/2 E. Washington	4.5	4.5	3.8	4.2	4.4	4.3

Four students (3 girls and 1 guy) made up our rating team for this project. Establishments to rate were determined by a vote of the team and UIAA Web staff. The team itself determined specific categories for ranking each business, as noted in the chart above.

Cash in hand, team members evaluated the coffee shops during the week of March 19, 2007. The numbers shown above reflect the average ranking for each category, as further explained below:

• Quality: taste and selection of menu items

• Look & Feel: general ambience, whether the shop is study-friendly, availability of wireless internet access

• Price: affordability

• Service: friendliness and efficiency of the staff

• Location: convenience for most students at the UI

Rater comments

The Java House (4.3)
The Java House has the greatest coffee shop feel of anywhere in Iowa City, but this does mean seating can be pretty scarce, especially during the rush hours on weekdays. The food and beverage quality is great in general, although I'd try Bruegger's if you're in the mood for a bagel—the Java House's are pretty unimpressive, and they charge extra for cream cheese. Try the day-old pastries if you want a good deal; they taste almost as good as the fresh ones and are often half off or two-for-one. My favorite part about this place is the art on the walls. It's actually consistently good, which is pretty rare for a coffee shop, and all of it is for sale! -Lindsay

Ambience was exactly what you think of when you think coffee house: mellow music, darkened lighting, and a wide array of sugary goodness. Lots of table-chair sets and free wi-fi access, although I think the dimmed lighting makes it not the best place to study. Coffee was strong but a bit pricey and food was a little too sweet, even for a proclaimed sweet tooth. Staff was friendly, but this place took the longest to get my coffee ready, probably because it was the busiest of the five places. Ideal for the true coffee shop experience. -Ju Li

Great place to meet others and study. Service is a little slow. The best muffins in town (especially chocolate chip banana). -Rachel

I heard this place had delicious muffins, so I grabbed one and was impressed. It seems like a good place to meet people and study as that's what everyone was doing while I was there. The service wasn't too fast or slow, but I'm an impatient person, so it was too slow by my standards. -Tom

House of Aromas (4.2)
Worst thing about House of Aromas? Their coffee is of the "Meh" variety. Not bad, but nothing to write home about. However, they do have a dazzling choice of drinks to choose from, especially for the non-coffee drinker (teas and smoothies). And although their display of sugary goodness is minimal, they do offer more substantial food, which is great if you're studying there for a long time and need sustenance. Has the largest space with a variety of seating from sofas to wood tables and chairs to a collection of small desk spaces against the wall. Quiet, great lighting, wi-fi access, House of Aromas is my first choice for studying. -Ju Li

I like how they had a wide variety of selection with both food and beverage. The free internet access was also very nice and convenient. I'm not a big fan of coffee so I indulged in some tea, which was delicious. The abundance of tables and places to sit made it a great place to meet up with friends and catch up. Oh, and the service was both friendly and efficient. -Tom

The mochas here are pretty tasty, as is the chai latte, although if you're like me and prefer your drinks to be hot rather than tepid, you'll have to ask for that specifically. The orange muffin I had was great (they even warmed it up for me) and comes highly recommended. Service was friendly and pretty prompt, and the location is good if you're downtown. The ambience is a little lacking as far as that friendly coffee shop feel—it's a bit too spread out and empty—but there's a lot more seating availability during the day than, say, The Java House or Java Juice. -Lindsay

Love the location and decorations. Great study atmosphere. Friendly service, quick service. Good food and the best coffee drink I had out of all the other coffee shops. -Rachel

IMU Java House (3.9)
As far as ambience goes, you can't get much worse than the IMU, but this Java House is more about convenience for students on this side of campus than it is about looks. It also boasts the Java House's typically tasty food and beverages, the most consistently friendly staff I encountered at any of my coffee shop visits, and the added bonus for dorm students of the option to use Hawk Dollars or even charge to your U-Bill. -Lindsay

Very convenient. Love the sandwiches they sell. (I think the brand name is Goodies, or something along the lines of that.) Quick stop, not meant for sitting down to study or relax. Very loud and busy atmosphere. -Rachel

It's hard to talk about the ambience without really rating the IMU, since this is pretty much a glorified kiosk. Overall, you've got IMU atmosphere. If you choose to sit down by the coffee shop, you will inevitably be in the path of the general college hustle and bustle, complete with the loud mechanical buzz of the vending machines and your peers at the next table loudly describing what they did last night. If you do study here, go to the quiet study area (complete with computer access and other dedicated students). The best thing about this Java House is location, location, location! It's the perfect place for quick coffee breaks since it's located smack dab in the middle of campus. The coffee was highly caffeinated if a little too sweet, but the service was excellent. The guy at the cash register took the time to smile and make small conversation, even though they were quite busy, and my coffee was ready within a minute. -Ju Li

I wasn't a big fan of this place. The location isn't for me. It seems kind of out of place. However, it is very convenient if you're in a hurry and need to get to class. Delicious sandwiches and iced tea. The atmosphere didn't do it for me because it's loud with all the students passing by. It's like a quick-stop place but not meant to be relaxing or quiet. -Tom

The Cottage Bakery & Cafe (3.6)
A very long line when I arrived. Only one person available to help for a while. A lot of variety for food and customers' drinks. Much different selection than all other coffee shops. Friendly service and once helped, got item very fast. - Rachel

I wasn't impressed that much with this place. There weren't that many people available to help and I'm impatient so I was aggravated waiting. They do, however, have many choices for both food and drink which made me happy. When I finally reached the beginning of the line, the service was great, big smiles and very friendly. I got my food and drink quickly, too, which made up for the long line. -Tom

The service at the Cottage is definitely its weakest point, being very inconsistent. The person who took my order was rather unpleasant, but the person who gave me my drink was friendly, so it's hard to know what to expect. My chai latte was really very tasty, but I couldn't even finish the caramel roll I bought; it tasted undercooked. Their straight-up coffee is extremely unimpressive. The hot meals they serve look really nice, however, and this probably marks their greatest asset: the Cottage has a wide selection of foods, not just pastries and coffee, to choose from. -Lindsay

The name says it all. The Cottage is more of a cafe than a coffee house, so your choices of coffee are pretty minimal. However, they serve more food than your standard sugary coffee-house goodness. Nice big roomy tables and great lighting, but probably not built for your hard-core studying. It's more of a meeting and eating place than anything, but if you want sandwiches and soups, this is probably the place for you. -Ju Li

Starbucks (3.3)
Starbucks was small in general. The tables were small, chairs were small and uncomfortable and for a big guy like me, wasn't a very fun place to be. The staff was not happy to see me and just took my order. Where's my hello?? Not a wide selection of food to choose from, but the frappuccino was delicious. They're my favorite. Location is convenient if you live downtown, but for me it was a hike. -Tom

I don't think I need to say much about the food and drink at Starbucks, because there's probably not a student on this campus who hasn't tasted it for him or herself. Starbucks is the same wherever you go. If you're like my mom, you might consider this a good thing, but I'm slightly less enamored with it. I'd rather try new places unique to the city I'm in. They do have some very tasty cupcakes, however, that you can get no matter where you go, and you can count on the prices always being consistent. Our Iowa City location is small and not comfortable for studying, but the workers who served me were at least pretty friendly. -Lindsay

I'm guilty of being a little mainstream, as I actually really like Starbucks coffee. My cafe mocha was excellent, rocking the fine line between sweetness and coffee-ness, although fell victim to a slight gritty/chalky feel that coffee is apt to at the very end. Strangely enough, price at Starbucks is very reasonable, even if you indulge in the whipped-topping sugar-loaded portion of the menu. Even picking the most decadently decorated dessert that stared longingly up at me through the lighted glass display only ran me $1.75. The place is your standard mainstream coffee joint; crowded and packed with shelves proclaiming Starbucks-brand gear. Not a good place to study, more of a "quick coffee with a long lost friend" place. Cash register girl was a little abrupt, which would have been fine if the line behind me had consisted of cellphone-chatting, brief-cased Manhattan-ites. Unfortunately, the line behind me consisted of no one, so low marks for you. -Ju Li

Very small and I would only get a drink to go. Not very friendly staff. Limited variety of food. I got a little snack everywhere but Starbucks because nothing looked exceptional. Convenient location. -Rachel

If you'd like to share feedback about these five coffee houses or any of the other coffee establishments from Iowa City to North Liberty, sound off. Fill out our feedback form and watch for next month's newsletter, where we'll share representative comments from S.T.A.T. members.

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