Ironclad Coffee Roasters & Baking Co. — Restaurant in Lynchburg

I’m a Dallas, TX native, so I’m used to excellent quality coffee/pastries + paying top dollar for it, and want to add my review to the mix.

I’ve been to Ironclad frequently over the past month, and was shocked to see such poor Google reviews. My honest thoughts:

Coffee: I have tried the regular latte, matcha latte, brown butter chocolate chip cookie latte, Connemara cappuccino, and Florida man and pomegranate espresso tonics. They have all been great! Ironclad puts an insane amount of effort into their products. The drink specials are all accompanied by miniature house-made cookies, and regular drinks come with a mint. The Connemara Cappuccino special is smoked with real Irish turf in a glass box! The brown butter chocolate chip cookie latte uses milk steeped for 24hrs in house-made cookies for its flavor! The Florida man tonic is made with fresh pressed tangerine juice. You cannot beat the quality + effort!

I experienced the bitter taste of espresso that some reviewers have mentioned ONLY when I got it with macadamia milk (which is thinner, and doesn't cut the espresso as well as a fattier milk like whole or oat.)

Food: I have tried their breakfast sandwiches, quiche (best I've ever had), and various pastries, and there has not been a single thing I didn’t love. I am very picky and prefer to cook/bake my own food so that I can be assured of the quality. I completely trust Ironclad, though. They also offer a variety of unique baked goods which cannot be found anywhere else in Lynchburg. Examples: Matcha white chocolate cheesecake, Dubai chocolate croissant, Banana Cream Pie croissant, Cannoli croissant, Lemon Meringue croissant, et cetera. The bakers are extremely innovative.

Quality/Dietary Restrictions: Ironclad uses real, quality ingredients for all their food. Everything is house-made, down to the bread on their breakfast sandwiches.The alternative milks Ironclad offers are excellent quality. They have Homestead creamery whole milk, milkadamia macadamia milk (which has NO added seed oils or sugar), and an oat milk. They also make all their syrups in-house, and offer natural sweeteners like local wildflower honey. They consistently have one or multiple vegan and gluten free food items, which is so appreciated. The gluten free brownie is huge, moist, and tastes phenomenal!

Prices: Quite a few complaints have to do with pricing. My first time at Ironclad, I got a 24 oz latte with macadamia milk and honey. The size, alternative milk and sweetener did rack up the total to over $13. In my opinion, it is high, but that's just the price you pay for the largest size and two modifications. Other drinks do not cost this much! That all said, I am willing to pay for quality. Knowing the effort and quality that drinks and food items have, I feel that the price is justified. Again, there’s nothing else like it in Lynchburg. Mission House, White Hart, et cetera simply don’t compare. (also worth adding that coffee has been progressively getting more expensive everywhere, and tipping culture doesn’t help the price either!)

Ambiance/Wifi/Employees: The inside is gorgeous and honestly stands out in a small town like Lynchburg. Definitely gives boujee, big-city vibes. There IS wifi. The experiences I’ve had with the employees have been perfectly fine. They were nice and respectful.

**I own my own espresso machine, and have still been here an embarrassing amount in the month of April.

** not an employee or paid reviewer (although I would accept a brown butter chocolate chip cookie latte as a...

I have never written a review before and honestly keep to myself but felt like this was worthy of review- we decided to try out this new coffee shop that just opened a few days ago due to its beautiful and fun design. When we walked in we expected they would be a little busy due to them just opening, but after waiting over 20+ minutes just to order our drinks it struck up a red flag. Me and my husband have worked as baristas before at a couple of different shops and understand a good rush but should never take that long considering the drinks people were ordering whilst being there were more so basic lattes. I decided to brush it off but something in me told this wasnt right, after reading other reviews from their other location I was proved right due to the fact that the normal wait for a coffee is typically 20-30 minutes, even after being open at the location awhile. All workers we interacted with were pretty nice and happy. Other than the barista making our drink in a glass instead of to-go which was a pretty easy fix, we really had no other complaints. There was a pretty big group of students that were taking up a good chunk of the waiting area and being a little obnoxious and cramping up the space, but not the shops fault. In regards to the actual drinks is where things got pretty bad- we ended up paying around $18 for two 16oz drinks which was pretty hefty. My husband got a peppermint latte with oat milk which ended up tasting weirdly sour and in no way bearable, not sure if the oat milk they used made something turn but non the less I’ve honestly never had a latte taste like that. I ended of getting one of their specialty lattes that also had peppermint but with normal milk and it tasted lovely. When we left I let my husband have a couple sips of mine to compensate for his and he immediately started gagging and pulled a long/THICK piece of dark beard hair, including the root, out of his mouth that came straight out of my drink( to preface my husband is clean shaven, so it couldn’t have been from us). We had a man with a long beard that made our coffees but didn’t think about it much at the time. Not something that you want to find in anything edible, let alone a drink. Ive worked in the food service industry in multiple different fashions and in no way is that okay. It is extraordinarily unprofessional to be working with food/drink with long hair down or let alone long facial hair without a net. I know mistakes happen but there needs to be serious precautions and attention when it comes to hair being exposed, because it can cause major strain on the company if this happens more than once. That all being said I’m honestly pretty disappointed in the experience because I love a good coffee/ shop. The setting is very beautiful and you can tell they put a lot of effort in the design but needs to put more effort into the quality of the food/drinks that they serve- especially how/ who is...

TLDR (Too Long, Didn't Read): they have a wonderful vibe, customer service was great, and beverages AND pastries are worth the $ for the experience you deserve from a coffee shop. I'd say that the way Ironclad operates is the standard all shops should abide by. Especially as costs have gone up, I want my money to prove it's worth and Ironclad satisfied that need. Cheers!

UPDATE: It was so good I came back for another drink same day after touring Liberty University! I ordered the seasonal Cookie Butter Latte and my wife got a seasonal Matcha with a pistachio cookie. Cheers!

📢 Alright people of Virginia, listen here ...

I understand that me being from California could potentially make my opinion uninviting, however, what California does have going for it are the highest standards for food. Not trying to be arrogant, I'm just stating that my affiliation for the finer pastries and caffeinated expectations have been, well, unfortunately/fortunately, raised high.

I worked for Starbucks for over 6 years and have no ill-will towards a quick bite or beverage in the name of convenience.

Thus, I will state that Ironclad deserves your chance. It looks like they haven't been dealt a great hand in their media or here on Google recently. Yes, their lattes and seasonal drinks may be on the more expensive side, even for California standards, BUT this spot is an EXPERIENCE to be experienced. They will do all they can to adhere to convenience + experience, but their prices are most likely higher to make the room for presentation, quality of ingredients, and techniques. Also, many higher costing beverages come with a petite pastry to pair with your drink!

If you are not as keen to the espresso world and are used to a darker brew (Starbucks more or less set these dark espresso universal standards as king), I would ask the barista to steer you towards a milk-based beverage. I, personally, love myself an Iced Americano (espresso, water) and expect it to be fruitier in tasting notes (an area guests say "acidic"). I saw this as a note from the 1-star reviews and wanted to say that higher quality brews fall under those tasting notes, I encourage aquiring the taste and expectation from local shops. It's different than America has been trained to enjoy, so come with an open mind and know Ironclad knows what's up. We are in a NEW coffee era people! Milk-based beverages such as a vanilla latte with whole or oat milk will prove delicious instead, all the while enjoying their high quality espresso.

This was my order: my wife got a hot 16oz vanilla chai with oat milk and I ordered an iced 16 oz Americano (black). We also ordered a Goat Cheese & Prosciutto Cruffin (Muffin Croissant hybrid) and the Ricotta, Sun-dried Tomato Quiche. Drinks: perfect, Pastries: amazing. I was so hungry and needed caffeine around 12pm I neglected to take photos but attached the to-go box.

Please...