Erie Island Coffee Company - Cleveland

Fun first visit on E 4th, loved this shop will return! Quick stop for an early breakfast. Got a vanilla iced latte and next time I'm hoping to switch up the flavor! It was very decent coffee, but the area inside and out made up for the decent coffee. Will have to try something different next time.

Erie Island Coffee is certainly more than just coffee. Their sandwiches...or as they call them a Crush, are delicious. Picture this...agave, bananas (Gwen taught me how to spell that), and peanut butter between to pillowy slices of light bread, pressed and grilled to a perfect panini..ahem, I mean Crush. Tasty tasty tasty non the less. Now, I better not forget the coffee, I mean that is in their name after all. Several girls in front of me were raving about many of their specialty drinks. Now, I just went for a large black coffee. Oh boring, I know, I prefer to think of it as deep dark and mysterious just like the cup of dark joe in my hand. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the DM dark roast. The aroma had me thinking it may have been over-roasted but upon consumption there was a pleasant nuttyness that filled my mouth with liquid joy. My only eh , and why they lose a star, is that the atmosphere is a tad dreary and dark. That is just personal preference though. Perhaps they too prefer to think of it as deep dark and mysterious. Definitely worth a stop for a quick bit or your nutty caffeine fix.

We are out of towners and we were wandering downtown Cleveland. It was a Saturday night and we were looking for a chill/coffee place to hang out. We found Erie Island Coffee on 4th street across from Lola. It was about 745pm or so. Good amount of people inside. Some talking, some on laptops. Police officer was in the front window of the place-I am assuming watching the crowds of people on 4th street. Good amount of seating with seating also in the window front of the store. Place is decorated with local artists works, which all were great to admire. I got an ivory mocha frappe and my husband got a hot chocolate. I was surprised they were still selling sandwiches as well. Customer service isn't fabulous. Pretty hipster and the beards were prevalent. Not overly friendly or anything. Made my coffee good, I guess that's all I want anyways. Oh well. Coffee was good. Not too sweet and not bitter. Yummy and cute little place to check out and get away from the hustle on 4th street.

So, I totally still stand behind my previous review that Erie Island is sort've like platform 9 and 3/4 (yes, that was a Harry Potter reference . The location and ambience are magnetic, the coffee rules, the seating is comfortable and the people are welcoming. But here comes my gripe: the wi fi is sooooo slow. Like, so slow, that you can't even post a Yelp review or send a tweet (which is only slightly problematic when you work for a social media site. After asking the staff about it a few times, they maintain that people in the surrounding apartments continue to mooch off their wi fi, which makes it go so slow, and that they've stopped trying to fix it. This makes me beyond sad, because this could literally be my favorite coffee shop in Cleveland if I could just have a stable internet connection. I understand, being a coffee shop in an urban environment has some issues, but if coffee shops in New York can figure out ways around this problem, why can't Cleveland? Sigh. Bottom line: great for coffee friends. Bad for studying or trying to do work.

I've visited this place twice during my trips to Cleveland, and it serves its purpose for coffee and breakfast sandwiches. I prefer it over other spots because of its menu options. Occasionally, I attempt to make healthier choices and opt for a non-pasty breakfast. This time, I ordered a 12oz soy latte and a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich for just over $10. It’s a bit pricey for what you receive, but that's typical for this area of Cleveland. While I’m not as enthusiastic about the egg sandwich as some others seem to be, it's satisfying, and the bread is nicely toasted, which I definitely appreciate.