Cove Inn Coffee Shoppe — Restaurant in Naples

This is a cash or check-only restaurant

My husband and I visited on a busy Sunday afternoon for a late breakfast. There were no seats available when we arrived there, and the tiny café was packed, so we decided to get takeout.

*Mobility note: there are automatic doors to the hotel, but there is a narrow 3-step up entrance to the café, which can get even narrower as there is room for only 1 person or 2 slimmer people. The doorway entrance is even smaller than the steps.

The waitstaff that greeted us was friendly and gave us menus to browse in the lobby. Yvan took our orders at the counter - I ordered the #4 sailor's special, and my husband ordered the #5 deckhand delight with a large orange juice and large Coke no ice. We both had a side of hashbrowns added to our orders. We waited in the hotel lobby, and the food was ready in about 20 minutes. Order was 100% correct. Total was $40 with generous tip, which I expected since this was a hotel café.

We ate our breakfast outside since the rain stopped, and there was a nice outdoor patio area outside of the hotel, overlooking the marina, with umbrellas and chairs.

The order: The eggs were over easy and PERFECT. The hashbrowns were great! 👍 The toast was unexpectedly cooked in butter (sort of similar to soggy french toast), which we didn't order with the butter, but I was ok with that since it was still good. My husband didn't like it since he's not fond of butter, so if we return here, we'll be sure to ask for non-buttered plain toast. The large orange juice size was only half the size of a large fountain drink, so that was a bit underwhelming, but at least it was cold and fresh.

Overall, clean and good quality food. However, we'd most likely go elsewhere in the area if we wanted to spend $40 on...

I have some mixed feelings about the cove in coffee shop. First I have to say that to call yourself a coffee shop yet not have any fancy coffees like espresso or lattes, these days is a bit misleading. My companion was not interested in traditional American coffee, so this limitation necessitated a trip to Starbucks after our breakfast.

My second complaint is associated with their payment policy. Like a dwindling number of small businesses, this establishment has a cash only policy. I think that they would be much better served raising their prices 4% and accepting credit cards. There was a small sign at the door which was easily missed, and it was a bit embarrassing and inconvenient to receive our bill after our meal and learn that they accept no plastic. Fortunately I do have cash with me, but it was in my car unfortunately it was not raining. Had either of these things not been the case, it could have been a much bigger deal.

Now that I've aired my grievances, I can say that the food was very good. I had their pancakes which resembled crepes more than traditional pancakes, and fell somewhere in the middle. I'm not a huge fan of crepes but these were very good and I enjoyed them. They were thin, but full plate sized. I also had Patty sausage which had a nice spice to it, and my companion had eggs hash browns and bacon all of which were good.

I was on the fence whether to give them three or four stars, since I believe the first two items I mentioned were significant. However the food won me over and they got the fourth star. If they were to add more interesting coffee choices and abandon their obsolete cash only policy, they would deserve five stars as an inexpensive...

My wife and I had breakfast here on 3 days in January 2020 while staying at Cove Inn. Inside the large Cove Inn hotel, the only way to get coffee or breakfast is to buy it from this coffee shop, located on-premises, just off the main hotel lobby. This is a small, cramped restaurant but with very good cooking. How small is it? It's so small that spare chairs are stacked in the middle of the restaurant floor! (see photo) (as if, in this sprawling hotel property, there is no closet or storage space available for this coffee shop ... or else the coffee shop manager feels that no matter how odd the place looks, they'll still get plenty of customers due to captive audience). The smallness is amplified by an extremely narrow entrance walkway which is often jammed with waiting patrons. On a Saturday morning 8:45am there was a 25-minute wait to be seated, so we drove to IHOP for breakfast. On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we were seated at the Cove Inn Coffee Shop with no wait. And we noticed that later on Tuesday morning there was a line again. The waitresses are quick, attentive and sassy. The first day when we decided to eat elsewhere due to the long wait, the waitress said that waiting is just the "nature of the beast." But we weren't looking for a beast, just a nice breakfast, and we were hungry. When we were able to get inside the restaurant, we enjoyed watching the short-order cook flinging pancakes and eggs and bacon. These guys are experts. All of the food tastes great, but the super-delicious, delicate, thin pancakes are probably best of all. The restaurant is not cheap: I paid $25 plus tip for breakfast for two. Credit cards are...