Java House Coffee Roasters - Downtown — Restaurant in Iowa City

The food is less than adequate and is extremely over-priced for what you get. Product is not handled safely and expiration dates are regularly ignored.

On my third night as a shift manager for this company, Tara (the owner) happened to stop in on a night we were closing early due to a winter storm. The two others I was working with at the time were extremely new, and never received any form of training on how to do their jobs. I was expected to get 5 hours worth of work done in 2.5, while serving customers during a regular dinner service. We were also told to keep our labor expenses at a minimum, so closes were always rushed. Some minor details were missed which lead to her belittling me and telling me how poor of a supervisor I was, and how I was going to be on a two week probation because of the circumstances. When I tried to explain the situation, she then tried to put the two other new staff members on a two week probation.

I immediately threatened to quit because I refused to let someone who has no idea how their store operates on a day to day basis tell me that I was a bad employee for doing my best under a time crunch. Her entire attitude changed and she tried to rectify the situation by feigned empathy. When I finished counting the nightly deposit, I went back upstairs to finish the tasks I missed as she requested.

I was told that I was to never sweep our floors and to only use a vacuum (that was missing the attachment to actually pick up debris on the floor) upon patronizingly demonstrating how a vacuum works to me, Tara stuck the dirty running vacuum hose to my cheek to prove to me that it worked.

Save your money and eat...

First of all, there are no photos to share, as I don't think it fair for The Java House to show an empty establishment by no fault of their own. That being said, I would like to comment on the great food and drinks they have to offer. Our first visit was to get a quick, cold drink on a warm afternoon. The Mango Hibiscus Iced tea my wife ordered was refreshing and Iowish Cooler that I purchased was very tasty. Our son selected the Pink Hawk, which was very good as well. The drinks were generous for the price we paid. Our family like The Java House so much that we came back the next morning for breakfast. I ordered the Spicy Southwest Sandwich, my wife the Caprese Egg Sandwich, and my son the Morning Muscle Sandwich. All three were great, but I though mine Spicy Southwest could have used a bit more spice. My wife and I, however, were disappointed with the coffee. She had the American Gothic 16oz pour over, and I the St. Louis Blues 16oz pour over. Both of us cannot recall ever having pour over coffees before, and our disappointment may be more over our preferences for making coffee than the coffee itself. Needless to say, neither my wife or I finished our coffees. Overall, I would recommend The Java House to anyone in the Iowa City area. The atmosphere (as it was in this Age of COVID) was inviting and comfortable. The staff were friendly...

Met up with my college gal for ice lattes and a muffin. The chocolate chip muffin was tasty (and not dry for 4 pm which surprised me) but had more chips that we personally liked. That's a personal preference and nothing against their muffin.

However, the issue I had were with the drinks. Seeing that they use Monin brand syrups and similar milk/espresso ratios I knew I could order 2 pumps (instead of the usual 4 pumps of syrup) and it should be sweet enough. It was. My issue with the drink is that the coffee was bitter and tasted burnt. Was it that I asked for less syrup? I tried my daughters drink, which had 4 pumps in it, and no -- also bitter. So, no, it's the coffee brand or the machine that is making it that way. I only finished not quite half and threw the rest away. She did not finish hers either. Also, her drink is on the right. It had mocha in it. Definitely no chocolate flavor (or color) at all.

Sorry so low on the food stars but that is what we went there for, not the atmosphere so much. It is fine for studying or meeting up with friends/family. The stars were able to be 4 due to the other two areas I rated though any more I am questioning putting it solely on food/drink because it if doesn't taste good why go.

If I visit her again we will chose a different...