Fair Grounds Coffeehouse – Iowa City, Iowa

I’m pretty sure you won’t gain weight if you eat breakfast at Fair Grounds Coffeehouse in Iowa City.

 

OK, sure…their food DOES have calories.  But you will be jumping up and down to serve yourself so many times I think you’ll be burning off calories as fast as you take them in!

 

My pet peeve is a restaurant that doesn’t offer the option of plain old fresh brewed pots of Folgers-type coffee.  Every shop now seems to serve only “designer” coffee…”hand picked only on foggy mornings on a Jamaican mountaintop and carried down to the waiting ship in silver saddle bags on horses decended from unicorns.”  (And the price tag of that coffee reflects that lineage.)

 

First, we had to stand in line to select what TYPE and ORIGIN of bean we wanted them to grind. Then we picked the strength of the brew.  (Light, medium, or dark roast.)  

 

Next, we ordered our food.  And we stood there waiting for our coffee.  But we were told they would bring it out to us when it was ready.  So we found a table and we waited.  And waited.  And waited. The server FINALLY brought our coffee, and we promptly got up and carried it BACK to the counter to add cream and sweetener. 

 

Then we waited for our food.  And when THAT finally came…Peepaw headed BACK to the counter to see if they had jelly for his toast.  No dice.  So he came back and began to eat…sans jelly.  And he ate until he realized he wanted some salt and pepper for his eggs…so back he went…AGAIN.  (Are you sensing a pattern here?)

 

By that time our coffee cups were empty.  So back to the counter to order a refill.  And the refills are the same price as the first cup!  (We spent almost ten bucks just for coffee.)  And the dance began again.  They delivered the coffee, we took it back for cream and sweetener, etc. etc.

 

And the food?  It was actually really good.  But not good enough to spend more time serving ourselves than we spent reading the Sunday paper.  

 

 

What a shame.  And what a workout.

 

(I wonder how much jail time I would get for smuggling in my own mug of Folgers…hmmm….)