Starbucks

Leader by Risako:
Last week, our group went to Starbucks. It locates southeast of UCC mall. It was  clowded in the shop and there was a long line in flont of the registers. I orderd a cup of green tea flapetino because it is also sold in Japanese Starbucks. Unsuspectingly, American flapetino is less sweeter than Japanses one. I like both countries ones. The store clerks were kind and were smiling. I recomend everyone to go to Starbucks!!

Reviewer by Andy:
On 19^th Feb. 12 o’clock, we went to Starbucks to drink coffee. Although I am Chinese, I really like Starbucks coffee because it was tasty. In my hometown, there are some Starbucks, which means Starbucks has been famous around world. Coffee could help me become sober when I feel sleepy in the morning. I suggest that people could take a cup of coffee every morning. In Starbucks, I ordered a cup of coffee latte. That is my favorite coffee. It smelled well and I could taste the milk. Also, coffee latte could help me lose weight. It was very amazing for me, although there was no evident effect. I will go to buy coffee in Starbucks again.

Reviewer by Sherlmax:
Speaking of coffee shop, I think a word will come up in most of people's mind, Starbucks. Actually, I tried three types of work of starbucks in three times. you maybe mentioned that I used "work" instead of "drink", because I have to admit that every cup of coffee in Starbucks is a work of art on tongue.
The first one is Green Tea Lattle. Don't be cheated by the name "lattle". There's not any coffee inside. It's a unique drink. Although it looks so gorgeous, it tastes like a bottle of essential balm, for real! If you like mint, you should try. While for me, I should say it is absolutely not the "green tea lattle" in my world and value.

Secondly, I want to write a comment about White Chocolate Lattle. I think compared with hot coco, it's a better drink in the windy morning. It just look like the new snow on the roof of houses, which is so pure, but it is warn and sweet. Most importantly, unlikely those deadly sweaty disgusting cupcakes in Burge Hall, you will never feel sick about this cup of lattle. By the way, you'd better not to drink it in afternoon or later, unless you need to stay up late.

The last one is Caramel Frappuccino. I love Frappuccino! Whole Series! When my tongue first touch it, it just like an melted ice cream. Nevertheless, when I try the second time, it is a sweat dream in my childhood. I started to think of all sorts of candies which are placed on the table in spring festival when I was a child. That is definately the sweetest moment in my whole memory. Therefore, I think this drink is magical, you can have a try.

Prairie Lights Books & Café

The Lights Books & Café 

Leader by Zoe

I went to Prairie Lights Books & Café on last Thursday with Najwa and Ashgan. That coffee shop was excellent.  It locates at downtown and is very close to Van Allen Hall. Prairie Lights Books & Café is a rather unique coffee shop because it combines the book store and coffee shop. I love this idea. There were a lot of books which make me very excited. I wanted to order a cup of caramel macchiato, but they did not offer it, so I ordered a cup of caramel latte. It was not very sweet and tasted so good. I stayed there for three hours to read my books because I liked that atmosphere. A special thing was they had a window that I can sit on the windowsill and see the street. I felt relax and peaceful when I was here. In addition, Ashgan went there with her friend, and we had a very nice talk. I love that coffee shop, and I will go there again.

Comper by Najwa 

         Last week, Zoe and Ashjan and I went to the Prairie Lights Books & Café to enjoy drinking coffee and reading books. It was a very nice experience, and this was the first time in my life that I go to a cafe offering such a service. I liked the idea because it is a modern idea and allows the customer to enjoy coffee when reading his favorite book, or even when browsing his newspaper daily. The service was very beautiful and wonderful coffee flavor, sections on a variety of books and allow readers to enjoy. As I mentioned earlier this is the first time that I visit the cafe to these specifications. In Saudi Arabia cafes are usually private drinking coffee and enjoy a piece of candy, in Saudi Arabia there is no a special section to read or buy books. Also coffee and specialty drinks were very good, but the prices in Saudi Arabia hot beverage prices, especially the luxurious type of coffee is too expensive. So I hope that there will be a cafe in Saudi Arabia applies this idea that combines between enjoying the taste of coffee and enjoy educating oneself.

Reviewer by Ashgan

Last week I and my group went to the Prairie Lights Books & Café to drink coffee. It is a café shop inside a bookstore, so you can read books from the store in the café. The place was so quiet just our group was talking. In the café, there was some students studying and some people use their phone and drink coffee. The light is yellow which its made us feel warm. I don’t drink coffee so I didn’t order. My classmates ordered and the smell was very good. After that, we spent 10 minutes to see the books in the corner. Zeo chose a Chinese book to read it with her coffee. I really like this place and I will go there again.

THE JAVA HOUSE

Leader by Hou

Today, we went to the Java House. I have never been there, but it't no doubt that it is good place, big, comfortable and quiet. It's good for study and chat. By the way, it connects the other room kind of restaurant, but i am not sure what is it. Yiduo and I went there nearly 11:20am, and then Mili came here soon. I ordered  Latte, and Yiduo ordered hot chocolate because she does't like coffee, same as Mili. There are not many types of coffee that we can choose, just normal, but taste is still good. It's good experience, hope next trip.



Reviewer by Mili:
The Java House in downtown is an amazing place to study or meet your friends. In my opinion the coffee there is the best in Iowa City, and the croissants are really delicious. The place has a beautiful decoration and a lot os places to sit, but the bad thing is that it is always crowder, so is hard to find a place to sit there... The reason for that is because a lot of people like to study in Java and love the coffee there.

Comparer by Yiduo:

  Today, Our group went to the Java House in downtown. Actually, I've been there many times in summer. My favorite coffee kind there is Latte. But today I didn't want to drink coffee so I ordered hot chocolate. I loved to go to the coffee house when I lived in China. China also has many good coffee houses. Some of them are much quieter than Java House. I loved to order Cappuccino in China. When I go to the Starbucks I love to order Caramel Macchiato.All of them are good to taste. Hope next activity!

Experience in Crepes de Luxe Cafe

Leader by Jiawei Li

Last weekend we went to the Crepes de Luxe Cafe, it is located in 309 E Collage St, Iowa City. It was the first time for all of us went there. This restaurant is truly wonderful in Iowa City restaurant landscape. It has a big transparent window, and hand-made menu which made customer feel relaxed in this kind of place. Although it is a coffee week, we didn't choose coffee without previous arrangement. We all hungry at that moment, so we ordered Valantin as a lunch. The Valantin is made up of chocolate jam and fresh strawberries. After ordered, the chef would showed how to make it in front of you, it is really attractive for customer during free time. It is a big plate of food, and tastes sweet and soft. The food, the presentation, the friendly owners and staff, and the affordable prices make it becomes a significant place to go. I really hope you guys can go there and try it. 

Riviewer by Vincent

I highly recommend this coffee shop to everyone! Both the food and the service are great!  What we ordered is the sweet one, Valentine,  I actually don't like the salty one :( Sweet always made with bumble berries and nutella which with high calories so that you need a whole-day-exercise to consume them. Compare to other coffee shop like Starbucks. This kind of big company like to have affiliate marketing branch so that we can see them everywhere, but it lose some entertainment a coffee shop should have. We can have crepes all day chatting and having rest. The only defect is their open hours. They close every Monday and open at lunch time and noon. That's why I think it's the best coffee shop to go than those normal, no characteristic Starbucks!

Compare by Ruiyu

This time our group went to the Crepes de Luxe Cafe. This is a really awesome place to have some desserts and drinks. I ordered a Le Reve, which was a crepe containing strawberries, bananas, coconut and walnuts, and a cup of mint tea. I really like this agreeable sweetness dessert. I had eaten crepe in China and I feel this Cafe has more better crepes. The mint tea was fresh as well. The clerks there were so nice and funny. One of them helped us to take photo of ourselves initiative. When Jiawei took photos he even posed to her. I think they were most enthusiasm clerks I have ever seen. It’s a really wonderful place to have a date with friends, or just go alone then talk with clerks. I like this place.

The High Ground Coffee

Leader by Lulu

I went to The High Ground Coffee with my group members who are Yuling and Jonny. It is on the campus. We used Google map to get there. It is an large open place with many tables for consumers. There is a fireplace. The place looks very lighting because of the tall glass window. It is a good place to relax, even if there are many people, it is still quite. Also, the servers are amicable and talked with smile. In High Ground, there are many kinds of coffee. You can choose one's you want. We ordered two coffee and one lemonade. I am not really like coffee because I think it is very bitter. Yulin ordered latte looks pretty good with cute cup, but Jonny chose a transitional America coffee with a paper cup. I do not know why they are totally different. It made us laugh. In addition, we asked an elder help us to take a picture. She is very nice. In a short, I recommend you guys to go there.

Compare by Jonny

This Tuesday,  we decided to go to the coffee shop together with my group members: lulu and yuling.When we arrived the High ground coffee, we even couldn’t find where was the door! We used a lot of time to think about what we will drink. Lulu choice to drink juice, yulin and i drank coffee. We suddenly found that we love this coffee shop, the taste and smelling is very nice to have a try. Compare it to the coffee shop in China, I think it has useful function, i can keep awake the whole day! If we have chance, maybe later, we will go there again.

Reviewer by Yuling

Last Tuseday afternoon, I went to The High Ground Coffee with my group members who are Lulu and Jonny.High Ground coffee shop is not a samll coffee shop but it's enviroment and arrengement makes me feel so comfortable. I ordered a cup of Latte which is really good, I think it is better than other Latte I tasted in China. There are many different coffees, you can choose anyone you want. Also, there are some cupcakes and sandwichs. If you guys want to try some Latte, High Ground Coffee is your best choice.

Molly's cupcake

 Leader Bohua: last week, I went to the Molly’s cupcake with Fiona and Aya. The store is not very big, but there were a lot of people for tasting the delicious cupcake. When we came in the store, first thing I saw that there are some professional pastry chefs was making the yummy cupcakes, and there are many desserts that were putted on shelf. And also we ate three kinds of dessert, which is very tasty. I really like the store because when I ate the dessert, I could see that many dessert was made. We also had took a bite of each other’s before we left there. 

Reviewer Fiona: Molly's cupcake is not a big coffee shop but is makes me feel so comfortable. When I sit in there I can eat my favorite cupcake in there called red velvet. There are many different flavor cupcakes, you can choose any flavor cream on it. Also, the hot chocolate is very good. When you come here, you should try it. I hope that you can have a sweet time in here!

 

Comparer Aya: We went to Molly’s cupcake in downtown. I always go there with my friends when we have time. I love this place because I don’t have cupcake shop in my hometown. However, near my university, there is a bakery that you can eat cupcake or so, but they don’t have that many choices like Molly’s cupcake. Also, they sell drinks like coffee and tea, so that your mouth doesn’t get dry because of cupcake! Ha-ha Also, the reason why I like Molly’s cupcake more than the one near my university is because the interior is really cute. They have seats look like a swing and I love the inside of the shop a lot. Enjoy the atmosphere and sweets! 

Oasis

Oasis Restaurant

 Leader By Najwa 

      On Wednesday,  February 3, 2016. Ashgan, Zoe and I went to the Oasis restaurant. Oasis is ethnically a Middle Eastern restaurant.Oasis Restaurant has a delicious cuisine, such as falafel, baba ghanoush, Homes and Shawarma. At the beginning and what we girls love taking self-images.  Ashgan took the many images of selfies in front of the restaurant. And then after that, we have entrance to the restaurant and asked for a falafel. Zoe was excited to experience the falafel for the first time. The service was very quick in the restaurant after five minutes of our request for a falafel was ready to start to eat . We ate falafel and it was very tasty. Everyone was impressed with the wonderful taste. Oasis Restaurant in which not a lot of detail, it was a very simple decor, the restaurant area is very small. The restaurant was clean, the smell fantastic, the service is excellent. We can say that the Oasis restaurant  has a very tasty food.

Comper - Ashgan

     Last week, I went with my group to Oasis, it was my first time to go there. We ordered the popular food in the restaurant is Falafel, it made from a vegetable and a spicy with a special sauce told homes. Actually, this dish is popular in my country Saudi Arabia, but the falafel I tried her was delicious. I tried a popular restaurant in Saudi Arabia told Just Falafel.  The Oasis is more expensive than Just Falafel and Just Falafel has more opinions to the sauce. Although, Oasis is more expensive than Just Falafel but it is more.                                                                                                                                  

Reviewer- Zoe

     Last Wednesday, Najwa, Ashgan, and I went to Oasis. It is not far away from downtown. I really like their food. I think it is so different with other food I have eaten since I been there. I just ordered half of falafel, but it is enough for me. There are some black a pepper corns, green pepper, onion, tomato, and hummus balls between two pieces of bread. It is very delicious and healthy. I also like their interior decoration. There is some beautiful tapestry on the wall. I like this restaurant, 

and I am pretty sure I will go there again.

Falbo Bros. Pizzeria Trip

                                                          Falbo Bros. Pizzeria Trip     
                    

Leader Fiona: 

I was visited Falbo Bros Pizza on Friday with my group members. It was looks like a fast food restaurant, and the place is a little bit far from the downtown, so there was not have much people. But the pizza was smells good. We went to there to have lunch, so we were really starving at that time. When we decided bought which pizza, the clerk told us to choose the lunch special. Only five dollars you can have a soft drink and two pieces of different flavors pizza. I ate the sausage Pizza, it was really good. I like this restaurant.

Reviewer Bohua:
Last weekends, I went to the Falbo Bros Pizza with Fiona and Aya. Firstly, we used the map to find this location, and we took a photo on Falbo Bros Pizza. For me, I am very like this restaurant because there is the lunch special that we just need to pay five dollar, and we can eat two different pizza with drink. This combo is so cheaper and delicious. Sometimes if you are so busy, I think this combo is a nice choice. Furthermore, the kitchen is open space, so you can see how to make a pizza. Maybe you can learn something when you eat there. In summary, I like this restaurant, and I will go there again.

Comparer Aya: 

I would like to compare Mesa Pizza and Falbo Bros. Pizzeria. For pizza place called Mesa, they have a lot of weird pizza such as mac and cheese one and one with French fries. They sell a piece of pizza for about $3. If you want to try extraordinary and interesting pizza, I recommend you to go "Mesa." I think they have good pizzas. For Falbo Bros. Pizzeria, they have good lunch deal. We ate "lunch special" which offers us 2 pieces of pizzas and a drink for $5. However, in my opinion, the pizzas for lunch special are pre-made ones, so it was good, but it was not good as I expected. In conclusion, I like Mesa's pizza more. Their pizzas are pre-made too, but they bake it again before they serve it to us. In my opinion, pizza in Falbo Bros. Pizzeria was not warm enough. Both of them were good place! I would like to go there again!

                             

Basta

Reviewer by Jiawei LiWe went to Basta Pizza last Friday, it is located in the Iowa avenue, it is really closet to the campus. We  chose the" The Union Jack" pizza and "Garden pasta", the pizza includes Italian sausage, pepperoni,mushroom, onion and sweet Italian peppers. When it comes, it's really appetitive and fresh.(you can see it through pictures). The decoration in their restaurant likes put you go back to ancient times. During their excellent service you can feel their restaurant are very professional. Maybe because of all of the group members are Chinese, so we cannot appreciate the food in Basta. We just think it tastes so-so. Maybe we need to try more tastes next times. It is a good place to eat and relax!      

Leader by Vincent
We went there on Friday Feb 5th after class for lunch. At that time, Basta was full of students and local people. The environment there was quiet, with the small cloth stand near the chairs, it showed the classicism. As it was the first time we went there, we just ordered one pizza called "SALSICCIA". That contained homemade Italian Sausage, tomato sauce and two kinds of cheeses. It was delicious that the taste of sweet and spicy stimulated my taste bud. We are the only pizza just in few minutes, which may because we were too hungry. So we ordered the Garden Pasta that also contained tomato sauce but three kinds of cheeses and mushrooms. It was still good. In a short, I will recommend you guys to go there.


Compare by Ruiyu
Our group had been to Basta last Friday.I think it is a pretty great place to have a meal.
I’d like to compare Basta with some restaurants that I have been to in Iowa city.In this restaurant,the staffs are very nice,as well as others.When all of us had arrived,waitress stood with patience waited for ordering.During we were eating,she came up to us and asked if food was tasting good so far.In addition,the environment there was wonderful.It is better than most restaurants I have been to.It has been decorated comfortable and mild.Music had been played in gentle volume.All of these make people enjoy their food.
As for food,I think it is a little bit expensive than others.And the taste was not that amazing,maybe because I am a Chinese.But it still better than some Chinese food restaurants.We ordered a meat pizza but I didn’t get the satisfaction of meat.But cheese on it was very nice.I think maybe this restaurant is good at making cheese-food because I have seen a kind of pizza on menu which is made with several kinds of cheese.
In conclusion,it is a good place to enjoy a meal and cheese,but not very good for someone is keen on meat,like me.
                                        

Airliner

Leader by Andy :
On Friday, February 5th, we went to Airliner restaurant. When we got there, there were only several people. However, it was crowded a few minutes later. As for me, airliner was a little bit noisy, but it might be a good circumstance to enjoy the meal. We ordered a BBQ chicken pizza and 3 cups of water. We waited for a long time for the pizza, because there were too many people. Furthermore, the airliner survey was very nice. She also helped us take a picture. That was a good time for me. When I have free time, I will go to Airliner again with my friends.


Reviewer by Risako:
I think Airliner is good pizza place. We can choose pizza's size, pizza dough and taste. The waitress would tell you her recomendation or the most popular pizza if you can't choose. We chose small Chicago dough BBQ chicken pizza. It included BBQ sauce  a lot of cheese and it was good tasting. I think small size pizza is big enough for 2 or 3 people. The price was not so bad, it was about 12 bucks for one small pizza.We waited for long time to get pizza, so I recomend that you should make reservation before go there.


Comparer by Sherlmax :
We ordered the BBQ chicken pizza, and I want to make a comparison between the Airliner pizza and the pizza in Burge Hall. First of all, let's talk about the pizza crust, and I have to say that both of them are sucks like a nightmare. If you have chance to eat in Burge, please remember, DO NOT TRY TO CUT THE PIZZA CRUST APART, BECAUSE NO ONE CAN DO IT! It is even harder than a man's heart, so just shut up and chew it. How about the crust in Airliner? Just imagine, there was a piece of wax in front of you, and beside there was a mixture of tissue and flour. A chef put these things into a microwave and after 15 minutes he stuffed these things into your mouth. This is how I feel when I was eating the crust in Airliner, but when I get used to it, I felt better. After all, I did not want to waste my money. Well, let's move on to the topings of that pizza. Burge pizza is totally ordinary, you will never miss it or remember how it taste after finishing the drink on your table, just like men will never learn whores' faces by heart. While if you ask me how the toppings in Airliner taste, I can tell you clearly even after several days. It was full of cheese and chicken, and some onions was hiding in the huge cheese cloud. When my tongue touching the cheese and the sauce, there was a firework show putting on my mouth. I have to admit that I was shocked by its amazing tasty. If the Burge pizza is a whore, Airliner pizza just like an actress who dressed in rags, sneering with those person who can not understand her beauty and give them a bomb scornfully. This is my feeling. Lastly, I put some pictures for you.

The Mill

Leader By Mili: 

On Thursday, February 4, my group and I decided to go to the pizza place called The Mill. The restaurant was very peaceful; there was just us and a couple sitting on another table, the music that was playing was good, the decoration was interesting and the waitress was really nice. We ordered a pizza called ¨Dirty Bird¨ I have not tried before. It had grilled chicken, bacon, green pepper, red onion, mozzarella, and bbq sauce. It was really different than the pizzas that I used to order. I cannot say that The Mill makes the best pizza in town because I will be lying, but it was fine. The most interesting thing is that I ate almost the whole pizza alone, because Huo and Yiduo do not like pizza… We had a good time, we talked about favorite food, mutual friends, goals for the future and places that we have been or we want to visit.

Reviewer By Hou:

We went there last Thursday. The name of the restaurant is The Mill, and it is behind the Starbucks. I really like this place. The Mill provides several different kinds of pizza, such as BLT, CLASSIC, DIRTY BIRD, etc. I think the layout and the environment of The Mill are great. There are not many people as we thought because maybe it was not time for lunch, so it was quiet and comfortable to eat. We are looking forward to the next trip...

Comparer By Yiduo Zhao:

Last Thursday, I went to a restaurant which is called The Mill with my group. The restaurant is small and quiet, it made me feel comfortable. We ordered a small size pizza, because our group members do not like eating pizza except Mili. We ordered a pizza which made from grilled chicken, bacon, green pepper, garlic, mozzarella, asiago and pesto sauce. It has a interesting name, 'Dirty Bird'. Actually, I ate pizza many times in China. I always eat pizza in Chinese concatenate pizza restaurants, 'Pizza Hut'. I like to eat pizza which made with chicken. I think pizza made in China is good to taste, especially for Chinese. In my opinion, there are not many differences between American and Chinese pizza, maybe American pizza has more food material, it's also more popular than pizza in China.