Wild Iris Coffee House — Restaurant in Prescott

I want to love this place, but each of the half dozen or so visits have left a bad taste in my mouth.

The pastries & cookies are very good. The coffee is specialty grade, but not too much single origin. Not my favorite place for coffee in Prescott, but in the top 3 as of summer of 2025.

What's really bothersome, annoying and disappointing is the knowledge of the personnel behind the counter. The level of service is barely tolerable. Today, for example, two things were, well, kind of mind blowing.

I ordered a pastry & a cookie. The two young women working the counter just stood dumbly behind the cash register. Dumb, as in not speaking. But also not moving - specifically, not getting my food. Ooookay...

But then, the real stunner. At the register, I ordered a large coffee, to go. One of the workers grabs a cup, fills it with coffee, and then I pay. After entering my payment info, I asked, "What am I drinking?" Dumb & Dumber replayed their deaf/mute act. I clarified, "What kind of coffee is this?" The reply - French Roast. "Ick" I said. Not my favorite. The stunner? There was a second coffee available! The two workers never bothered to offer me a choice. That's beyond ridiculous. What a disservice! It is just bad all the way around. It disrespects the coffees. It short-changes the customer. And it hurts the business! Absolutely insane. Unacceptable!

When I go to a coffee specialty shop, I expect "baristas" to have basic coffee knowledge. The employee offered me the other coffee available following my reaction - so there IS that positive. But to my disappointment, she couldn't tell me ONE THING about the alternate coffee selection, other than it was a "medium roast". She couldn't even pronounce the name, which I assume is a blend. She just pointed at a small card.

To be a great coffee house, the baristas need to know coffee. They need to know the characteristics of the coffees from different regions. They need to understand roast levels and be able to articulate at least some understanding of how roast levels affects flavor.

The setting, decor, atmosphere are terrific. The food is very good. The coffee is specialty coffee. The staff are apparently untrained, unsupervised and ignorant cashiers. Unknown is the skill or capability of the staff with regard to...

Watch out for Gavin, the parking police. I regularly patronize Wild Iris. They have great coffee and the ambiance is nice. The last couple times I went in the line was ridiculously long and today I wasnt feeling good but my grandson likes the gluten free brownies which they havent had the last few times. I called to see if they made them because, again, I was sick and when I found out they had them I ordered two and paid for them over the phone and stated I would call when I got there so someone could run them out. Even added a tip. Parking there is ridiculous and being a Sunday was full. There was one spot but the car next to it was parked crooked and I couldnt swing in to take it. I didnt want to park across the street and the employee have to come looking so I swung into a large spage in front of the dumpster and called to say I was there and was told the employee, Gavin would be right out. It was obvious I wasnt parking there bc it has a do not park bc its by the dumpster and I was parked at an angle to let people in and out. Gavin came right out, my car was running, the window so he can hand off the bag and he begins chastizing me for parking in a sign that says not to park. Yes, Im aware of that. I also knew nobody was going to be accessing the dumpster on a Sunday to empty ir, if an employee was going to toss something, there was plenty of space and I was there for about 3 minutes knowing if for whatever reason iy took long, I would move. I wasnt parked,; I was available if For whatever reason I needed to move and I wasnt hogging a space for someone who was going inside. There was no reason to say anythinh.. It was obvious I was only there to grab a bag. It upset me enough to vent. It was uncalled for and I felt it was unreasonable when I try always to...

Service and atmosphere was good. But the coffee my wife got was just ok. Me and my daughter, after a hot day toddling around Downtown Prescott decided on a refreshing lemonade and Arnold Palmer. After we both sat down with our refreshing glasses of iced beverages, we took a sip. Only to be assualted with the sensation of putting a spoonful of angry Yellow Jacket Wasps in your mouth and starting to chew. One would expect sipping an ice-cold Lemonade and Arnold Palmer, your taste buds would be pleasantly rewarded with a sweet and tart mixture of flavor. Taking the edge off the nearly 100 degree temperatures and dryness that has accumulated over several hours of shopping and attending the Prescott Highland Games. However, at Wild Iris, their idea of these tasty beverages must be juicing lemons, straining the concoction through used dryer sheets, and serving them over bleach ice cubes. Needless to say, it was a bit of a shock to the system. Both myself and my daughter poured out our respective glasses, and vowed never to return here again. Also, i ordered a choclate and butterscotch rice krispie treat. It was days old and soggy. I relalized this only after taking a bite and thinking to myself "How nice that they pre-chew the food. Let me take a drink of my Arnold Palmer to wash this mushy mess off my pallet." If you've gotten this far and are thinking to yourself, surely this guy is being over dramatic. All I wanted was a semi-sweet Half Iced Tea, half lemonade after a hot day in the sun. What I I received was basically Lemon Pine Sol over ice and a soggy square of...