Beans & Beignets — Restaurant in Earlham

Ok, so they get 2-stars because we’ve been there on 5 star days. I will give them a 5-star again sometime, I don’t doubt but this was one that almost deserves a 1. This is the second time (not in a row) where consistency has been lacking and the ONLY REASON I’m writing this negative review is one, to help them reorient themselves back to where we know they’ve been, and two, to make sure you who go there MAKE SURE YOU ASK for their best if you get shoddy food, because their best is available.

Today we didn’t know what to do, honestly. Awful. My Cherry Mocha had burned shots in it, the pancake was stiff and overcooked, the eggs were rubbery, the potatoes seemed as if they were precooked and just “warmed up” and the biscuits and gravy was cold. The bacon was pretty dang good, just not terribly hot.

We thought (we can’t make them redo all the things, can we?) We decided to just have them redo the biscuits and gravy. That came back warm, but the biscuits were hard, and dry. What, in the actual world was going on this morning???! I do not know what made us stay, short of the box of delicious beignet’s we bought. They are very good fo sho’. Thank God we have that, at least. In the end, don’t stay away from this place, they have been stellar, but this is the second time we’ve had inconsistent service, and that is troubling. It is breakfast. What cook of a specialty place like that does NOT check the food before they put it out? What cook/chef would desire to put out food that’s horrible? What place would not know that the food that is coming out looks horrible? Because we knew it would be bad before we even put a fork in it.

Consistency takes a good eye, and my hope is that they are not taking themselves for granted, and that they can achieve good things. And … please do not put out such a badly burned espresso shot, again. You have to know you burned that, too. Barista’s are taught to know when it’s burned. Throw it out, and redo it. We didn’t have you redo it because it was valentine’s day, and we just didn’t know what to do with such a horrible mess. It was a Valentine’s day, AND the one year anniversary of the passing of a parent. We went there because they’ve had comfort food before. This was anything but. Seriously, worst breakfast we’ve ever had. We’ve been there for much better, which means we know...

We moved from Southern California to Iowa a year ago. Needless to say, we've spent many-a-weekend having beignets at Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. I have to say, or hopes weren't high but we were delightfully surprised by the beignets at Beans and Beignets. We drove about 30 minutes to have them and it was WELL worth the drive. We had actually gone the evening before but they had run out. In their defense, we arrived about 1 hour before closing so that was our fault. So, we stayed for a late lunch/early dinner and the food was good. I will say that the kids did not like the ice cream (a free scoop comes with the kids meal). The flavor was OK but it's that ice cream that's icy, not creamy. Aside from that, it was all very good. If we have 1 complaint, it would be the lack of powdered sugar on the beignets. Traditionally, they're put in a paper sack with a bunch of powdered sugar and you shake the beignets inside the bag to cover them completely. Here, they were placed on a plate with the sugar dusted over them. We could have asked for more sugar but we didn't. They were very good and we didn't want to complain. In fact, the dough tasted like it could be the Cafe du monde dough (although I don't want to claim this because I'm not sure). If they had more powdered sugar and were completely coated, they would have been perfect! Also, my husband tried the cinnamon ones. They were granulated sugar and cinnamon. The delicious aspect comes into play when the warmth of the beignet semi-melts the powdered sugar. Had the cinnamon ones been done with powdered sugar and cinnamon instead of the granulated sugar, they would have been much better. All-in-all though, we HIGHLY recommend Beans and Beignets! Good food, kind staff, clean facility, and a beignet worth...

I have a true love for the coffee and beignets in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. My wife and I visit frequently to see family for the holidays. Having said that, there are not a lot of places that offer that sort of nostalgia when we get back to Iowa. Recently, my friend mentioned there was a really great coffee and beignet spot on the corner from where we were working. So, of course, we had to check it out! Boy, were we not disappointed!

Right away, we were greeted by the friendliest staff. They had four different flavors of beignets. Mind you, I’m an old soul and typically go for the classic powdered sugar. However, this time, we tried one of each. There was, of course, the classic powdered sugar, but they also had one with a lemon glaze, one with cinnamon sugar, and, last but not least, the dark horse: a spicy powdered sugar topped with chili powder and hot honey. They all turned out phenomenal.

Each had a softer texture than the beignets I am used to, almost melting in your mouth. Each flavor was fantastic in its own right, but what really surprised me was how much I liked the spicy one. Bring your friends, bring your family—this place is wonderful and has some of the best beignets I...