Kuppa Joy Coffee House - Grand Cafe Fresno — Restaurant in Fresno

Disappointing Experience with In-House Barista

I visited this café two days in a row, hoping for a quality coffee experience, but unfortunately, both visits were disappointing.

On the first day, a staff member prepared a pour-over using 21g of coffee and 300g of water, yet it took over 5 minutes to brew — far longer than expected. On the second attempt, it took more than 6 minutes. The coffee was served lukewarm, and the flavor was extremely weak, almost like water. I ordered two cups back-to-back, hoping the second would be better, but it wasn’t.

I returned the next day to speak with a manager or supervisor. However, it seemed they sent someone who was neither — just a staff member filling in. After I pointed out the brewing issues, they offered to remake the drinks.

For the espresso, they used a light roast but didn’t adjust the grind size accordingly. The result was a thin, flavorless espresso with no crema. I then requested a medium roast shot, which finally met a basic espresso standard.

As for the pour-over, it again arrived too cool, and as it cooled further, it became bitter and unpleasant. Overall, the lack of attention to technique and basic coffee standards was disappointing — especially from a place that seems to pride itself on...

What a “joy” of a find. As one who travels for a living and enjoys cold brew coffee, I try to find as many local establishments as I can. As a believer in and one who tries his best to follow Christ this establishment brought additional enjoyment to my morning brew and burrito. It was refreshing and encouraging in a seemingly dark world these days to hear men talking about their relationships in Christ over their morning cups of joe. A light in the darkness if you will.

So there’s that. Secondly, the coffee and the breakfast burritos are on point. Good roasty flavor in the cold brew (getting one later for my trip home).

The burrito (and I’m picky when I don’t know if the eggs are fresh cracked or poured from a carton or powder) was outstanding. One of the top 4 I’ve had in recent years for sure. Potatoes in it were seasoned perfectly, their house sauce (probably not as good for me as the hot sauce…more cals I’m sure…) was a tasty addition as well!

If I were to start a franchise back home, this would be among my top choices for sure.

If you’re looking for a positive start to the day - you should definitely add this (oh yeah, the baristas were all super...

I absolutely love the atmosphere, the service & the food items at Kuppa Joy, but I really wish you guys would get some different espresso beans! I love coffee, but can't stand chocolate- you guys seem to use your fire roasted (chocolate) espresso beans for every drink & there's no other options. All of the drinks end up with either a chocolate or a hazelnut flavor (both of which I can't stand). I just want some strong espresso (that tastes like espresso- nothing else). I stopped trying to find anything to drink here because it will end up just going to waste, as I'll take a couple sips trying to like it & eventually will just throw it away. I wish you had other espresso options- I've asked so many times & I'm always told, you just have the one kind. My daughter loves both chocolate & hazelnut, so she loves your drinks, but typically we run through the Joy-thru & get her drink, and maybe a couple breakfast burritos, then go get my coffee elsewhere. I wish we didn't...