Cafe Paradiso

Try the London Fog! Excellent! The four stars are for their prices otherwise it would be 5 (besides the frequency card) they need to have various discounts — also their lounge and stage have a perfect, relaxed feel! And the location is ideal!

I have lived in Fairfield for 18 months. I buy coffee somewhere in this town at least once a day. Café Paradiso is far and away the worst. I have tried so many times to give them another chance, and another chance. I want to like them because they are so loved in our community. They make an effort to support local artists, have regular touring regional and national acts come through, and they do make good drinks. The coffee is good quality. However Im being quite literal when I say every time I have been there, I have experienced some hiccup. My food order forgotten, or my drink mixed up or made after people who ordered after me. Limited seating and very high prices.
I will provide two recent examples.
I ordered a breakfast wrap. There are only 3 options. I ordered the sausage. I was with a friend who ordered the potato wrap. Now, it doesn’t take much for me to walk up to check out the griddle after 10 minutes and see that my order is not being made. No orders are being made. It seems like the cashier sees me and remembers my order, so I walk away hoping for the best. Ive been in service a LONG time. Hotels, restaurants and bars. Almost 20 years now. I am not an asshole to the help. Another 10 minutes goes by. They are clearly busy. There is a man with a ponytail at the griddle now, cooking away at something. He turns around after a minute with a wrap on a plate, I ask, «is that a potato or sausage wrap?» Referring to my order.
His reply: «this is my lunch»
Interesting. Now, I wouldn’t say anger is what I felt exactly, but I did want to take that wrap from him. Obviously this is a gross insult when we have been waiting for over 20 minutes for even one wrap. There was another wrap on the grill, so I asked the cashier, «is that a potato or sausage wrap?» She doesn’t know, but says, «you can have it».. Oh, can I? I can have a wrap when I paid for 2 almost half hour ago?
So I just say, «Ok. Is the second wrap coming or did that guy just get that?» She says yes its coming. Now we don’t know which wrap is in my hands or which wrap she is about to make, but for $ 5 each, I cant help but feel burned.
Second example, shorter.
On a few different occasions I have ordered 2 shots in a cup with just a little water added. The cashier has called it out as a double short americano. This is in-​line with Starbucks nomenclature. But, I still don’t assume a coffee shop is going to adhere to that. However, yesterday I wanted a little more length to my drink, so I asked for double tall. I confirmed w the cashier, so just 2 shots in the small cup, with water. She confirms.
Around 8 mins later Im standing there looking at a drink that was called out as a large americano. I ask the barista if she has a double tall coming out, she says its the large americano thats been there — in what I would consider a tone that borders pretentious. I tell her a double tall would be in the tall cup. She says they call that a small cup. I tell her the cashier understood, seems like just a miscommunication. She offers to remake the drink, I decline. I let her know if someone says double tall, they are referring to not the smallest cup, not the largest cup, but the «tall» cup. To be clear, I don’t think every coffee shop should bow to Starbucks terms. The reason it is called tall is because it is in relation to the real coffee champion, the espresso. A very very small cup. Do I need to educate her? No. Im just again thinking in my head how even though Paradiso is the most convenient and central place in the square, I would rather walk to Revs where I have never once got the wrong drink or food. Its not a miracle, its good service and good management.
If you haven’t had a bad experience at Diso, just wait. You will. And I know Ill be doing my best to rip the hipster mask off the place in hopes that someday someone who gives a damn will manage the place properly.
Thanks for reading.

This is a truly unique coffee house/​music venue!
Really wonderful free trade coffee, both Almond Milk and Soy Milk for us vegans to enjoy with our brews! Nice selections of menu items for hot food and bakery goods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner experiences!
The place was pretty packed on Saturday morning at 11 am. And I realized why when I was there! Great service, clean bathrooms, amazing hot drinks, and local Kombucha.
They have live music here as well, and the stage is really cool and has a beautiful mural behind it. They have a songwriters night once a week, and would be a great place to see a show I think! I would love to come back and try more! I did have to get a refill on the coffee for the road, cause it was so good! Way to go Paradiso!

They don’t have drip coffee, only americanos, but those americanos are so so good. They also use Radiance Dairy milk in everything, which is the best milk. I live in New Orleans, where I can get coffee as good as this several places, but nothing comes close to Radiance Dairy milk. When I am in Fairfield I go to Paradiso as often as I possibly can.

Depressing interior, bad acoustics, low ceilings, nothing gluten free, pompous staff. No pour over coffee, only Americano.

Best coffee in Fairfield. Though all the other places that have coffee, sell absolute garbage. This place actually has a good bean.

Best coffee in the state. Delicious local milk makes for a perfect cappuccino. Also love the Sunday brunch: rosemary potatoes and apple pancakes, yum!

The main barista here really knows what he is doing, and the espresso is quality. So is the milk! You will not get some Starbucks like crap here, this is excellent stuff.
Another reviewer mentioned the staff being rude or snotty. I have to say, I have never ever had a problem with the staff being rude to me, but I have noticed them acting toward others the way the other reviewer described. As a business owner myself, I know the hardest part of customer service is dealing with high maintenance individuals. That being said, some people are just better at customer service than others, and it would behoove this place to hire cashiers who are polite, even to their difficult customers. Maybe some customer service training is in order.
I wish they sold those local croissants instead of their hard scones.
If you aren’t someone who likes to be caffeinated, you can skip the drugs and get a local kombucha or root beer. Yum!

Stopped in several times while visiting. Very tasty beverages and welcoming atmosphere. Can’t wait to be visiting again.

This is it, right here. On the occasion that I’m in town, I must MUST get a bag of Paradiso roast before I leave. It’s like a little sack of gold, only you use it to make tasty beverages. Plus, Café Paradiso features Radiance Dairy happy hippie milk, which is a total game changer. I made the mistake of ordering a latte here once. No latte since has been good enough.

True to life barista; remembered my last order from months ago.
The coffee is up to snob standards. Feel at ease ordering anything that stimulates your palette. Be sure to try a «scone». Scone is in quotes because the nearest recipe comparisons have referred to these as «rock cakes» (possible distinction w/​o a difference). These are oven-​baked blessings from the pastry gods. About four attempts from home have yet to yield this je né sais quoi that sits on the plate by my large capucinno with a heart perfectly crafted in the foam.

Weekday morning Paradiso is a great way to start the day! The barista, Armahn, is friendly and knows what the regulars want. The lattes and Americanos are the best around. Blueberry scones hot from the oven are amazing!
DO NOT get a scone from Paradiso on the weekend unless you love the taste of baking soda. I have had scones on two different Saturdays more than a month apart and both scones left such a strong taste of baking soda in my mouth they almost ruined scones for me. BLAHCK! The omelettes, soy sausage, and pancakes are very good but pricey.
If you are lucky to go on a Friday morning there will be the most scrumptious croissants in the Midwest – well worth the calories!
Atmosphere will make you feel like you are in the NW.

This place is really cute and makes some great coffee. I got completely addicted to the dirty chai and the regular black coffee was great too. I also like their breakfast burritos. Although… I wouldn’t call them burritos, they’re more like a breakfast panini.

5 stars on the coffee! Always a Barista that knows how to pull a good shot. Very friendly, often busy atmosphere. I will be back!

I was a bit of a coffee snob having lived in Seattle for 15 years before moving to Fairfield and didn’t expect to find much in the way of quality espresso in a town of 9,500 in the middle of Iowa corn fields. But Café Paradiso knows espresso! They have a high quality machine and train the staff well on how to use it. You will not find better coffee within 50 miles of here (unless you come to my house and like French Press).
Warning though — some of the staff can be extremely rude and snotty. My wife refuses to go there anymore due to how pretentious the staff can be. I’d give them a 4.5 on the coffee and a 2 on the service (depending on who’s running the counter). Hopefully you’ll come when either Heather or Dora are behind the counter — both of whom are friendly and unpretentious.

These guys are good. The owner Steve is an obsessed fanatic, which is absolutely necessary if you want coffee on this level. He is a very savvy coffee connoisseur who has developed his own «Signature Blend» of self-​roasted beans that is perfect for a slow draw espresso, although there are times when he is out of one or more of the beans he uses and you need to kind of endure the slightly less than perfect result until the beans come in. His barrista’s are very knowledgeable and skilled, however, and overall consistency is on the level of the best brew shops around. Amazingly, this café is in a small town in rural Iowa… go figure.

Mocha was delicious. It tasted like hot chocolate.
Espresso was strong, rich, effective.
Barista was charismatic, engaging, and warm.
Atmosphere was open and welcoming. Overall it personified what a coffeehouse should be like. The most important part though, of a successful coffeehouse is the coffee. And that was amazing. So five stars it is!

Fantastic coffee. Pastries are good/​fair. Staff is excellent although this place can get busy and things can be a bit slow. Depends on what time of day you go in. The welcoming staff and amazing coffee are worth the trip!

Oh how I LOVE the iced caramel lattes here! They make homemade caramel here and it is AMAZING in a latte! If you are in a hurry, anywhere in Iowa isn’t a good idea. It is a very laidback/​chill place to be. But this is the BEST coffee BY FAR in the town. The service is a bit slow but worth the wait! YUMMY YUMMY! My husband and I LOVED IT and are kind of coffee snobs from Seattle.

Yeah the coffee is pretty good for fairifield, but that doesn’t say much. It’s nothing spectacular. Service is always a little slow.
The whole set up is great though, and the people there are super.