Carol's Coffee And Art Bar — Restaurant in Town of Owego

Carol's has been a very important place to me ever since I started to frequent this gem on Friday, August 25. In a few words, I'll sum up what's best about this place; the rest of my review will be in great detail.

Friendly and warm atmosphere, cozy, inviting, affordable, plenty of options

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the pure friendliness of the person behind the counter, who I later learned was Carol. I've been to Carol's most days of the week since my first visit, and Carol has been consistently personable every time, as well as the rest of her staff.

The first menu item I ever tried from Carol's was an iced latte. I had already gone to Starbucks that day, so I tried a decaf, which was equally as good as the caffeinated version. I opened a sugar packet out of habit to sweeten the iced latte, but, to my surprise, ended up tossing the sugar because I didn't need any... and this is coming from a person with a Sweet Tooth. That day, I also tried the Michelangelo chicken salad wrap. I had never eaten chicken salad before. It was quite tasty, though.

After several more solo visits to Carol's, I brought my mom and my sister. I go to school in the area, but my mom and my sister were visiting from 2.5 hours away, plus an extra 30 minutes to Owego since I live in Vestal. I loved Carol's from the start, but I wasn't sure if my sister would find something she would enjoy because she's a picky eater, doesn't like coffee, and can be funny about eating meat. My family loved the food and it was so filling. (My sister and I got the Van Gogh roasted turkey sandwich this time.)

Lately, I've been trying desserts from Carol's, and I've had so many delicious ones! They're all so good, but my all-time favorite would have to be the blueberry bar, followed by peanut butter dream bar, apple crumb pie (or something like that), Russian tea cakes, and so on. Oh, and try the homemade bagels too.

The atmosphere of Carol's would be impossible to replicate. There's live music almost daily, but not all day long, so you can avoid the live music if that's not your thing. The place attracts a pleasant crowd of people, which is an added bonus. The baristas know how to take good care of you. Carol is there almost every day and she demonstrates exactly what outstanding customer service is. Sofas and chairs are available for seating. It's nice to look up from my laptop every few minutes and see the beautiful paintings and exposed brick. It's almost like a museum because you can see that there is so much history inside the shop, and if you pay close attention, you can learn a lot from the interior and the paintings.

Being from the Hudson Valley, I've had some exposure to "artsy" towns such as Beacon, Cold Spring, and New Paltz, and their respective coffee shops. Let me tell you: they can't hold a candle to Carol's and Owego. I've never been a person to care about local businesses, but Owego really is a special place and Carol's contributes to the village's character and takes hospitality, coffee, and real food to the next level. Supporting a business that is run by good, honest people is a win-win. It's always an uplifting experience coming to Carol's. I think it's a great place to come whether you're a regular customer or just visiting...

Truly unsatisfying experience. Three of us ordered medium coffees (service asked if we needed room at the top and we all agreed, while one specifically asked for just enough room for sugar). All coffees came filled to the top and included creamer which was never explicitly ordered or mentioned. Additionally, we ordered a BLT sandwich, a bagel w/ cream cheese and an egg + cheese bagel sandwich. My BLT came unevenly cut with ≈1/3 of the toppings coming out from under the top bread. The bagel with cream cheese came in 3 pieces???? The bagel egg sandwich came absolutely saturated in butter and I cannot stress this enough, squeezing this sandwich while looking at the cross-section showed butter oozing out the bagel throughout. With food and drinks aside I felt the atmosphere seemed a bit cramped, messy and loud. Stuff (products) everywhere, a fair share of clutter lining walls and covering almost every flat surface. In order to pay your bill for sit-down service you're required to stand in the regular line where people are ordering coffee or other things, adding many minutes between the finish of the meal and taking care of the bill. Live music (solo acoustic guitar) was played quite loudly which made conversations difficult but would have otherwise...

We're newish to the area and stopped in to check it out. What a cool, vibrant space. Carol's art is just gorgeous and it feels cozy, artsy, and homey. You can tell that love built this place. Being new to the area it was nice to feel welcomed as everyone seemed kind.

Even though we had never been here, I had seen such positive reviews and decided why not, I'll get a fruit pie here for my birthday. I requested a peach pie and all I can say is: wow! Buttery, flaky crust, packed with fresh peaches in a delectable filling, and a generously-sized pie at what I think was a fair price. It made my birthday special (and the next several days, too, since we had a lot left!). While there, my son also got a slice of chocolate cake and I got a coconut dream bar. The cake was what you think of when you think of what a cake should be: stacked, full of chocolate flavor, lots of homemade icing. The coconut dream bar had a rich, buttery coconut flavor with a hint of chocolate and was nice and dense.

We will definitely be returning here for treats, pie, coffee/tea and probably some live music, too. Definitely a must-stop for anyone...