Fair Grounds Coffeehouse in Iowa City

People just love to whine all day about little things. I really like Fair Grounds, have never had any problem at all with the service, and go there a lot. It's a great place to cool heels, and I think the food is great. If you don't like the bar (and they have live music some nights, too), don't order a bar drink. A lot of people who rated this place low sound like they wouldn't get the Iowa City-ness of the place to begin with, and enjoy slamming things anonymously on the Internet. Get over yourselves.

I am SO sad to see this close. :(

Delicious food! I hadn't eaten here for a few years because I somehow forgot about it, but we went over the weekend, and found that it has changed. There is now a small bar, and lots of meat options for carnivores. Thankfully, they still have plenty of options for vegetarians and vegans, and just a few options for those eating gluten free. I got a hummus spinach wrap that had olives, peppers, and dairy free cheese YUM! Friendly service. Acoustics could be better. The restaurant was about a little more than half full, but we had trouble hearing each other. They still have artwork on display and for sale. Easy parking in the ramp, or metered parking on the street. Bathrooms available.

My favorite coffee shop in town. Amazing vegan cookies, muffins, and meals, and lots of options for vegetarians and omnivores, too! My favorite is the French toast, but if the Cooke's are fresh, don't miss those.

Very authentic hipster place with a good selection of coffee too

The vegan food is delicious, and the service was great.

The pancakes are great but the service is alright and the food is just okay.

Texas waffle is amazing

I love their coffee selection (favorite is the Red Pine) and their food is fantastic. I'd give it 5, but it seems as though the kitchen is poorly ventilated and causes the rest of the shop to become stuffy and smell like burnt oil. Still, I regularly return for the quality food and coffee.

Great food! Tons of vegetarian options. I've never been disappointed by a dish from Fair Grounds. Love the cozy atmosphere as well! Great place to do school work and get some great coffee.

I’ve only been there once. I only picked up a frappe and saw all of the wonderful foods. I’ll need to come back for food. The place looks small from the outside, but is much larger than expected!

Great coffeehouse with a bakery inside Howling Dog Bakery very good food and coffee.

So good. Loved lunch here and it was pretty reasonable as far as pricing. Didn't wait on it very long either. I really enjoyed it and I'll be back! Fresh made, and tasted amazing. Love the atmosphere as well.

I like to try local places over chains, but this place was a dissapointment. Slow service, 45 mins to get coffee. Over priced, food was just above eatable. No seasoning or flavor. Coffee was bland and looked more like the color of tea.

Randomly chose this place while visiting. Lucky roll of the dice for me. The Ruben was out of this world. The coffee (Uganda dark roast) was out of this galaxy. Any place that has a the spices for their kitchen on display by the water cooler knows their food. Just go here.

Awesome food! Best damn rueben I've had in years! French Toast was great, coffee delicious, black bean burger was tasty. The roasted potatoes were good but undercooked a bit. Overall highly recommend!

Very cute place with board games you can play. Wide variety of options, sure to please everyone! Plus, delicious coffee!

Best coffee I have had in a long time. And their food was amazing. We shared at our table so we were able to sample multiple options. All top notch. We will be back on pur next visit.

Best BLT of my life daaaang that bread

loved this place, you won't be disappointed food was great coffee was stellar. we will definitely return next time we are in town

Fairgrounds coffee house is delicious. Their lemon blueberry muffin is the best. However their service can be slow at times. Additionally, they should get some games for patrons to play. Otherwise it's an excellent spot in Iowa City.

I've eaten here maybe a dozen times. I finally just decided the last visit (after some soul searching) that the kitchen here is in need of some vast improvement. Some of the dishes are great ideas, but the execution and portion size often leave too much to be desired. For instance I ordered a dill & fried potato waffle. It was served very dry and minimal with a small tablespoon size daub of dill / sour cream. I don't even think the waffle had any cheese on it. The other day I ordered a "blueberry cream smoothie." I imagined it would be somewhat milk based but I'm fairly certain that they made it with ice, tons of blueberries and heaps of cinnamon. I could barely drink half of it and it was hard enough to drink with all the blueberry skins clogging the straw. Other dishes ive had were somewhat over or undercooked and I just don't find it appetizing any more.

Great vegan and gluten free options! Delicious food and great service

This might be my favorite breakfast place in Iowa city. I love their coffee and that they have non-dairy alternatives. For vegetarians and vegans, they have some really great breakfast choices. I love their scrambled tofu. It is seriously amazing. Their maple tempeh is a fantastic side. My husband always gets the French toast with feta cheese and blueberries---it is soooooooo good. They also have bakery items with gluten free options.

Amazing service, great atmosphere, and I haven't been disappointed with anything I have ever ordered. One of my favorite spots in Iowa City.

I've visited this Cafe a few times. Once for a pub trivia where I enjoyed a beer. Another for a quick school group meeting over coffee. Most recently I met up with a friend for a quick bite. I have always enjoyed this plave and their menu. They offer breakfast all day, sandwiches, soups, and more. They are very accommodating to vegans and vegetarians with their food selections. The staff is friendly and the chef personally came out to ask how my black bean soup was.

They are so nice and the fact they can make most of their stuff vegan is really helpful, especially when going out to eat with my partner. It definitely makes it one of our favorite places!

Funky little 90s vibe cafe. Huge tasty pour overs, friendly people, feels like a friend's living room. I'll be back.

Friendly staff. Cozy environment. Fast WiFi. Good coffee. Good background music. What more could anyone expect from a coffee house?

Your business is not valued here- many other coffee shops in IC to go to that appreciate customers. If you are a paying customer you should be allowed to use the space to enjoy your purchase. The owner is very rude.

Coffee is excellent. Met the person that changed my life here.

We stopped in here to get breakfast...It's got a nice cozy atmosphere and lots of seating. We got the lemon poppyseed muffins, scrambled tofu and breakfast burrito with chai. Everything tasted wonderful and it was healthy! If dfntly go here again if I visit Iowa city. Parking is on the street.

Nice food. Service was slow, but they might have been short staffed [or breaking in new help]. Food was good once we got it

New favorite place for coffee. Comfortable and a bit quieter than other places downtown. Kind and helpful staff. And delicious food.

Delicious vegetarian and vegan friendly fare! Breakfast is outstanding! I will come back for the rosemary roasted potatoes and homemade focaccia.

This is solidly the bees-knees. They have reasonably priced, DELICIOUS vegan options (i totally recommend the vegan version of the breakfast burrito), not to mention the freshly baked muffins that, though are not a very moist muffin, far surpass any others I've had, and always a wealth of delectable flavors. While I love t u is place to death I must warn you, dear reader, about the soup sizes. The small is NOT worth the 4+ dollars!! It is like 2 spoonfuls worth and the one and only time I got it, it was cold! SO avoid the soup (unless they up the size or decrease the price) and go and enjoy literally everything else! Including the local art on the walls, the plants and the bar :)