Ugly Duck Coffee — Restaurant in City of Rochester

Look, it’s no secret that Ugly Duck is a good coffee shop. It wins best in Rochester every year. It’s so good it gets away with having play tables and chairs from the Ikea Kids collection that wobble like they’re constantly experiencing a low-level earthquake. But sometimes, and I do hate to say this, it’s just alright. Sometimes, like every successful coffee stop, its drip coffee is watery and its latte is overly sweet. It’s okay. We’re all human. (or mallards, I suppose)

The other day, something changed my opinion forever of Ugly Duck. The date was February 13th, the Thursday before Valentine’s Day. Even with the holiday of love on the horizon, I am feeling hateful; this was for many reasons, but one, of course, being that Valentine’s Day was in less than 24 hours and I had yet to finish the perfect gift for my boyfriend, causing a bit of stress (and self-hatred at my procrastinatory nature).

I walk in in my spiteful state, confused and overwhelmed while thinking about the schemes and scams I should try to pull off to get him the perfect… wallet? Keychain? Yacht? But then. In one small moment, I am transported into a different world. A world where anything is possible. A world that knows peace, a world that uplifts. A forgiving world, a fabulous world, a…ducktacular world. I see the menu item “Duccacino.”

Never in my very impressive and successful life have I been so fortunate as to stumble across a drink with such a snappy name. So bratty, so perfect. So Duccacino. Half coffee, half hot chocolate. Not even sort of a cappuccino. Perfect. SUBVERT EXPECTATIONS!

Immediately ordered...

OK, I'm a bit of a coffee snob. My wife and I have invested a lot of time and money into our home setup. We invested in learning how to pull quality shots from our espresso machine, how to steam mill and develop microfoam, etc. As such, we both are pretty picky when it comes to coffee drinks outside of our home.

Ugly Duck makes the cut. It's a cute, cozy place with a relaxed vibe. Staff was appropriately knowledgeable and friendly. The cashier was able to talk a bit about their guest roaster and the difference that anaerobic processing makes. I had a shot of that which was pretty expertly prepared and served.

My wife had one of their specialty drinks. The Snug: molasses bitters, milk, espresso, maple syrup. Fantastic. All flavors were so well balanced, nothing stood out. Milk was silky with a lot of texture. Great drink.

The ginger scone was house baked, like most everything else we saw. Appropriately on the drier side, great ginger flavor but not overbearing. Tasty.

Parking can be a bit of a challenge. There was an off-street parking lot shared with neighboring business which can be hard to find a spot in. This was supplemented by on-street paid parking. We were fortunate to find a spot on the lot.

We will definitely be back. This is a...

It's expensive, but honestly it's worth the money in my opinion and you won't find me thinking expensive products and services are worth the money very often.

Their sizes are very small. If you like bigger sizes (or size choices period) you might be disappointed but the quality makes a case for excepting this.

UDC uses and sells high quality beans and milks. They are sustainably minded selling local vegan baked goods and providing low-impact paper and plastic products. They also have GF muffins and cupcakes!

The place is tiny. They don't have wifi so you can hang out there all day. It's kind of a drink your coffee and move along type place.

The line moves very quickly.

My only complaint (and it's a small one that doesn't affect my rating) is, I've been going there for months, multiple times a week, getting the same thing every time and they still dont know my order and haven't asked my name. I find that lack of customer appreciation to be a bit unfortunate. I'm also in food service and I know my regulars names and orders. It...