Perkatory happened to be along our path of travel and has been a coffee shop my wife and I have…read morewanted to check out. The vibes did not disappoint especially for October/Halloween time frame. Although I am done for that vibe all year long and clearly the popularity of Perkatory proves I am not alone. Even being later in the day this place was busy with lots of groups hanging out enjoying the space. Being a coffee roaster they had lots of different beans you could take home too which is always a plus. Besides the vibes, the drinks my wife and I got were fantastic as well! Staff were friendly and drinks took no time whatsoever. My wife went an Iced Lavender Latte (w/ Oat Milk) while I went with a seasonal special of the Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte. Both drinks were well made with a good balance of the addition of the flavors and the espresso. Would definitely return for the overall vibes and drinks. If we were local it would be a spot we would frequently visit! Check them out!

The coffee here is always good. I love the honey lavender late they usually have a gluten free…read moresnack of some sort it is not always the same thing. The service is decent. You order they call you name and you take it to sit or leave whichever you perferfer

Always great coffee! Just tell them what you like and they make great suggestions. And it's always…read morefresh and absolutely delicious! The sweets are great too, nice variety in type and cost. Highly recommend!

Klekolo is an independent coffee shop in Middletown that likes to focus on the origins of the…read morecoffee. The day I was there, they were giving attention to a Peruvian Single Origin. I like this focus on the origin because it can tell you a lot about the flavor profile. I ordered a black iced coffee. It was better than you get in most coffee shops, but I have some places I prefer black iced coffee. I'd definitely return though. 4.25 Stars

I had the lox bagel with home fries and orange juice. Excellent fresh food and quick service…read moredelivered to table. A local staple in Middletown as the ambiance is contemporary with a hip feel.

Nice location, okay crepes…read more In this location for errands, and opted for a breakfast run. This one offered crepes, and after my last crepe fail I decided to give this one a try as well. There's two entrances to this place. One on the street and one inside the market close by. Walking in, there's a big queue line with 6 menu screens. Tons of options available, leading to a bit of analysis paralysis. Grabbed a regular menu and opted to figure out my order before queuing up. Decided to go for the bananas foster crepe and a spinach feta and mushrooms crepe for the savory check. Also got a seasonal latte because why not? Got a neat little placard to label my table, Then waited for the food to roll in. Was a short wait, but got both crepes and my latte at the same time. The latte was sweet and the flavors of the latte were there. Coffee got lost in the flavors, but it was good enough. The savory crepe was not bad. Good amount of mushrooms and spinach. Not a lot of feta but the flavor was there. Crepe was thin and cooked well. Overall that one was pretty good. The sweet crepe...that was not good. One banana chunked into 1/8ths coated in brown sugar and lumped in the middle. The butter and brown sugar welded to together leading to a hard mass of sugar cementing the large chunks of banana to the sugar puck. This coupled with the fact the toppings were not even distributed across the crepe, led to a lot of plain crepe. For the price, I was expecting better. Flavor wise the crepe was fine and the preparation of the crepe was correct. The execution was lacking quite a bit though, and that was the most annoying part of this endeavor. Overall, it's not horrible but the price for quality is lacking. It's good enough, but pricy.

Amazing cakes, great selection. Almost everything can be made vegan or gluten free. Service is…read morefriendly and personal.

We came in for a visit after moving away a few years ago…read more The business changed ownership The coffee is locally sourced Spacious enough for large parties

Great independent book store on Main Street in Middletown near Wesleyan. They have a wide…read moreselection of Wesleyan merch and of course a great book selection. I've always had terrific service and they do a good job of curating kids' books. On more than one occasion, my son picked out a book to later discover that it was an author-signed copy. My favorite Hartford area coffee shop Story & Soil took over the cafe space. The pairing of S&S and RJ has great potential.

I'm spending a few days in Middletown with friends and the second I saw the Wesleyan RJ Julia…read moreBookstore I knew it was a place I needed to scope out. This massive bookstore is located right in downtown Middletown and has a massive selection of fiction, non-fiction, romance, horror, and every other genre you can possibly want at a book store. Downstairs seems to be pretty much only Wesleyan merch which doesn't exactly interest me, but is a cool spot to have as a student or even just downtown who lives in the area. The design of this store is big open floor and it's very nicely decorated. The best part? The haunted Connecticut section that we just had to get something out of. Overall, the Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore is the perfect book store for downtown Middletown. The store has a massive selection, a ton of parking thanks to the downtown parking setup, and a solid staff to help with whatever questions you may have. Great spot.

Family-friendly, affordable, and super fun!!…read more I've visited Back Again Board Game cafe many times over the last year and I've always had an amazing experience. The price is unbeatable, $10 for entry to play over 1000 games, and the beverages are yummy! My favorite thing to order is one of their monthly flavored lattes and a cinnamon roll or piece of coffee cake. Plus, there are daily events/games, so there's always something new for me to try. Lastly, the service is unbeatable: everyone is kind, personable, and treats you like a valued guest. I 100% recommend trying out this very fun and unique cafe!

Back Again Board Game Cafe is an AMAZING board game cafe, and one of my favorite spots in…read moreMiddletown. I tend to swing by Thursday nights for trivia, but I've also been plenty of times during normal board game hours. This place offers plenty of fun events, in addition to a huge variety of board games. Not only that, but they offer a plentiful selection of coffees and teas, as well as frequently-changing specials that never disappoint! This recent visit, I attended trivia and I purchased a tea flight. 4 full cups of tea for a very reasonable price!! They can do any 4 flavors and ask about your preferences, so I told them I wanted to try unique/quirky teas. They did not disappoint!!! I was given 4 teas, 3 of which I purchased full supplies of immediately afterwards. Their lychee lime tea was one of my favorites--fruity with a strong and distinct lychee flavor, which was great. Chocolate chili tea was so unique, it reminded me of Mexican hot chocolate. Mountain Squall was a delicious chamomile with some minty refreshing notes, and finally, Volcanic Inferno was insanely unique and interesting! It's a strongly smoky, delicious tea that reminds me of a smoked whisky. These teas were not only delicious, but EXACTLY what I had in mind when I asked for unique teas! The cafe is so good that I'd come here for that alone--it's a bonus that there's also so many lovely games to play! There were plenty of bags of tea to purchase (I wound up snagging bags of Mountain Squall and Volcanic Inferno for home), as well as some other cute board game merchandise and snacks. The game variety is amazing. While I'm typically there for trivia, there's SO many fun game options. They also run activities pretty much every night--Thursday Trivia, Sunday Blood on the Clocktower, Sunday Dread, Friday Beginner DND, etc. There's always something to do! I love coming here and I am ecstatic to have a board game cafe so close to home for me. I certainly recommend that if you're considering coming by here, you should swing by and try it!

Really loved this location of Pedals, located in a quiet plaza in the middle of nowhere of Durham…read more It's near Durham Dairy if you are familiar with the area. My sister and I stopped to get a quick breakfast because we were passing through. Pedals had a variety a freshly pressed juices, smoothies, coffee, and a few baked goods. I got the Main Mango smoothie and my sister got Beet You Up The Hill. A lot of their items had fun names and the mix of ingredients were a bit wild, but oh so good. My Main Mango smoothie was a blend of mango, coconut milk, banana, cardamom, lime, and maple. It was nicely blended as well and bright. The staff were very helpful and let us take our time with the menu. The shop wasn't busy and our smoothies came out quick. Parking is a limited near the shop. I can't wait to return to Pedals to try something new and their Middletown location on main street.

I stumbled upon pedals at a farmer's market. I really enjoyed the juice, but had completely…read moreforgotten about them having store fronts until I dug out the bottle to figure out how to get more juice! I found the location in Durham to visit. I love the sweet green juice, and tried to the apple juice the other day. They're a bit pricey, but delicious. The smoothies were also great! Service is friendly, location is light and bright. Great place to sit and d enjoy and smoothie, bowl, or juice.

Service and food is excellent ! Beautiful place!…read moreCoffee is great and different flavors

I normally try to give places the benefit of the doubt, but our experience at The Bees Knees Bistro…read morein Wallingford was honestly very disappointing and upsetting. My family and I arrived while it was raining outside with our young daughters in strollers, expecting to sit down for a meal and get out of the weather. Instead, we were told we could not come in with the strollers and essentially felt unwelcome the moment we walked through the door. As parents of babies who are still too young to sit safely in high chairs on their own, the strollers are not optional for us , they are necessary. We were not being disruptive, rude, or inconsiderate. We were simply trying to have a meal as a family. Rather than attempting to accommodate us or show any understanding, we were left feeling like having children made us an inconvenience. What made the situation even worse was the fact that it was pouring outside. Any level of kindness or flexibility would have gone a long way. Instead, we felt embarrassed, frustrated, and honestly shocked by the lack of compassion and customer service. Families with young children already face enough challenges going out in public, and experiences like this make it even harder. We ended up leaving and taking our business somewhere else that was far more welcoming and understanding toward families. It is disappointing because we were genuinely looking forward to trying this restaurant, but first impressions matter. A restaurant does not need to be "kid-centered" to still treat parents and babies with basic respect and decency. I completely understand that restaurants may have space limitations or policies, but there is a respectful and compassionate way to handle situations like this. Instead, the experience came across as cold and dismissive. There are many restaurants in the area that are happy to accommodate families, and moving forward those are the businesses I will continue to support. Unfortunately, after this experience, I will not be returning and would not recommend this restaurant to families with infants or children who still require strollers or extra accommodations. I wont be going back and giving them .you business, nor will I be recommending this place to anyone. Totally rude and discrimination towards those with babies. I did not feel cherished like their website says every guest is. Its sad because this will and im sure does effect their business. I will never give them my business after yesterday. No attempts at accommodating us or evening offering to let us sit outside, lazy staff, but yet there were 3 teenage girls taking names for the wait list. What a joke.

Service was subperb and kind thoughtful. Watched over me like family. Was overtired quite…read moreexhausted it did nt scare them away. Gave me privacy. Such consideration with out asking !!!! Food was very good. Kindness. Thoughtfulness. Special ambiance wonderful views on deck inside. Too Thankyou. From bottom of my heart Only thing missing was a person to enjoy. As much by my side. I. Have returned to out side view but I ll be back. To inside. Soon. More regularly Your staff Superb Thankyou

Super cool restaurant right on the Connecticut River. Excellent food, great modern atmosphere,…read moregreat service. I got the Cobb salad with grilled chicken and husband got the smash burger. Kids got kinds meals and came with a cute frog toy for them to play with. Our server was very attentive and food and drinks came out fast. We will certainly be back!

What a cute place! Cozy and inviting! We were lucky enough to come at a time when Chan was there…read more What a lovely & talented woman! We ended up with a box of goodies that were all amazing! There were red velvet/ cream cheese little cakes, chocolate with graham and marshmallow, cheese danish, jalapeño cookies, fruit tarts, and one that had cheese and meatballs. Amazing. They also serve coffee, lattes, espresso...go give Chan some love.

#40 in my NEW ENGLAND & NY COFFEE SHOP SERIES…read more This is an Asian-owned, female-owned bakery and coffee shop with delicious Asian-inspired pastries and fun drinks! We came on a Sunday around 10:30am and they were almost out of some of their pastries. Definitely go there earlier. But that just shows how fresh everything is! Firstly, all of the pastries looked delicious! It was so hard to just pick one so we needed up picking 3. Cheesy hotdog bread, kbbq short rib bread, and a cranberry cream cheese pastry. They were all SOOO GOOD! The bread is so soft and the flavors were delicious. They have lots of fun seasonal drinks, caffeinated and non-caffeinated. They also have boba! I got an ube banana latte and my friend got their seasonal Coquito latte which was recommended. Both were delicious (and very strong). The service was immaculate. I didn't catch the cashier's name but she was younger with brown hair. The sweetest person ever! Definitely made the experience more enjoyable. The owner, Chan also gifted us a piece of delicious oreo cake for fun! It was so yummy and not too sweet. I cannot recommend this place enough!