Coffee on the River — Restaurant in Lansing

Coffee on the River was a delightful finding for us as we traveled through Lansing, IA. Many thanks to co-owners Diana Wilson-Thompson and Wendi Eiden for creating this unusual and fun experience.

When conducting a Google search for coffee and a nice place to stretch our legs showed places nearby, we loved the shops vibrant and welcoming exterior and stopped. We were so happy to land here and discover how this former granary has been delightfully renovated and put back in service to the community.

There was just the right chocolatiness and sweetness to the hot chocolate. It reminded me of European hot chocolate beverages; thick, decadent, and insanely chocolaty. The berry cheese cake and score were ideal partners to my dark-roast coffee. We found it so interesting to take in the décor, read the signage, and talk a bit to the staff and other customers. If you are a first-time visitor like we were, I suggest planning time to enjoy the building. Up north in MN, where I grew up, my father was close to the local granary owner and the artifacts here drew up fond memories.

The location is decorated in a period style, right on the river, and has a wonderful back patio. Its uniqueness is refreshing. I’m adding a few video clips to describe it better. The combination of enjoying a great cup of coffee, the spectacular views of the river, to the homemade treats is quite a treat!

Coffee on the River is an absolutely amazing coffee shop that is an ideal space for family, friends, and groups to gather. Just be aware of the functional rail road track that is right there. It has a nice off-road parking lot. Great service, too!

I highly...

Stopped in for breakfast and coffee on a Saturday morning recently. Our first time doing so. Ordered hot chocolates for the kids; iced americano, cappuccino and black coffee for the adults. The barista made sure the hot chocolates weren’t scalding hot so the kids could actually drink them. They and all the coffee/espresso drinks were incredibly well done and tasted perfect.

Also ordered the original breakfast wrap, sausage wraps and a Carmel apple wrap. Barista recommended an off menu grilled cheese for the kids so we took her suggestion. These were perhaps the best wraps any of us have ever had. Absolutely perfect in every regard. The chef is incredibly talented and well in tune with the balance of flavors happening in each one of these wraps.

The atmosphere is nostalgic and deeply historic, with the illuminated kitchen counter area serving as the heart of the establishment and radiating warmth and comfort throughout the building. The large timbers are magnificent to look at and ponder what must’ve been going on a hundred years ago in this building.

Our travels bring us through the area periodically and we will now always be sure to stop here for wonderful food, impeccable coffees, great service, and one of a kind atmosphere. We absolutely love this place. Thank you so much to the family that owns and operates the building and the restaurant. Please keep up the amazing job. You...

Staff was very nice, food was great, coffee was okay. Service was extremely slow. No syrup flavors for coffees or milk alternatives listed anywhere that we saw. We came up on the weekend and the shop was very busy the first day so we understand the long wait times. We waited about 15 minutes for our coffees. We got them and they were basically room temperature. The pastries were delicious. We chalked it up to how packed the place was due to an half marathon in town. We then tried again the next day and next to no people were there when we went in. Coffees again took awhile to make. Pastries again were awesome. We ordered a quiche and never got it. We were going to ask for a refund after waiting for it to come out as we saw people repeatedly getting their orders that ordered after us. We weren’t sure how the cooking situation was so wanted to just make sure we weren’t just being impatient but after 15-20 minutes we gave up. Once we decided to go to the counter we waited in the line of three people for about 10 minutes before we gave up and left. It was such a cute shop, such nice staff. But service was an issue. We will come back maybe if we are back in town. Just disappointed, really wanted to love this place. Hoping we just stopped on an off weekend. I would still recommend people to go, shop local. I just see areas that improvement...