Visiting Shamballa Cafe today really makes me wonder: why do I even bother with chain coffee shops?…read more First and foremost: the coffee is awesome! I went with what was in the vat today: a medium roast that I believe was called blue moon. I forget the provenance of said roast (I remember it was South American), but my oh my was it good! Exactly what you want a medium roast to be: balanced, with notes of whatever chocolate or berries or leather is in there. I couldn't put the cup down! Whereas getting the sludge from the big chains down the gullet sometimes feels like a morning chore. Why is the coffee so good here? It turns out that the owner (a very friendly guy named Emmett) roasts it himself. He had several varieties on offer that were roasted within the last 24 hours, maybe even this morning. That particular minutiae is a blur as I wasn't caffeinated yet when we discussed this. But it's yet another huge benefit a local cafe provides: freshness! Another thing: Shamballa is a great restorer of faith in community and our fellow humans. Emmett and I discussed many things in my fairly brief time in his shop, but I'll never forget the empathy he displayed when discussing some current trials & tribulations. It turns out he's been down the same road, and his well-wishes and kindness made for an even finer accompaniment to the coffee than the coffee cake muffin pairing that was purchased on impulse. A double espresso was consumed on-site while 2 large coffees were taken to go. The espresso was awesome, 100x better than Sbux or Dunkin'. Total for 3 beverages? Less than $8! For later, I grabbed a 1/2 lb. of whole bean Guatemalan medium roast on Emmett's recommendation, and the coffee cake muffin was moist and delicious without being too crumbly or cloyingly saccharine. Drake's it was not! A ten spot covered the latter purchase. If I lived in Baldwinsville, I'd probably stop by here every morning! Except Sunday and Monday when they're closed. Be sure to arrive early, closing time is now noon. Please swing by Shamballa and see for yourself! Perhaps you too will ponder why we make grabbing coffee a chore, when it can be a true morning delight?

Great coffee. Great owner. Great vibe. Upon closing in the afternoon, the owner asked if I wanted…read moreone for the road at no charge. While I had had enough caffeine for the day, the offer was nice. Great for a remote office for a few hours, or a spot to hanging with some friends.

My kiddos love coming here for ice cream!!! It's always busy and they have a great assortment of…read moreice creams. My kids love hard ice cream so they are in their glory! We also love all the games they can play while enjoying their treats.

Popped in while we waited for our dinner reservation. I'm usually not the biggest ice cream person,…read morebut their flight option - and this brand of ice cream I never heard of - sealed the deal for me! We got s'mores, peach, a berry, a peanut butter cup & cookies and cream. Worth the $10 getting to try a few flavors I most likely wouldn't have. So many flavors to

Great place for tasty and creative breakfast and lunches. Clean, well lit cafe with comfortable…read more(stable) tables and chairs, large, clean restrooms, undemanding art and a family feel. Mostly 4 person tables with one large setup in the back of the room for large groups. The coffee is good and both breakfast and lunch entrees are substantial and prices are reasonable in the $5 to $7 range. This is the place to go when you started late or plan to skip the next meal. Takeout is also available. The restaurant is closed on Mondays offers breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays thru Sundays and dinners starting at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Friday & Saturday lots of parking behind and to the side of the building on a newly surfaced lot and some street parking as well on one of the village's main drags directly across from a consignment antique store and a unique emporium offering specially constructed cat furniture and toys

Never buy Pokémon cards from this place they sell fake cards. The cards are printed on hard stock…read moredon't contain legitimate code cards or energy cards. I confronted the person who sold me the cards the day after and let him know they were fake. He told me that he could not return them and that it was not his problem. Instead of meeting the situation with integrity if it was an honest mistake. He said that he was going to sell the cards anyway and showed absolutely no remorse for the fact that they were even remotely fake. I might be the victim this time of this SCAM. However I'm writing this because I would hate for a child or a kid to be ripped off in this way. There was no remorse no accountability. He told me he's going to keep selling fake cards and does not care.

What a fun place this is to shop! This is a beautifully arranged store full of very interesting…read moreitems. The first thing that caught my attention was a whole shelving unit of different types of noodle bowls. Of course I had to buy one. On the other side of the wall was a coffee set up as well as a number of frozen drink machines which I think are called slushies. As I made my way through the neatly stacked shelves, I came across loads of international snacks, both sweet and savory. I couldn't help myself, but to buy some gummy candies, a Mars bar, and a bag of nougat candy. There are exotic Kitcat flavors and a number of candies that are hard to get. Compared to the international shop at destiny, these prices are much better. There's also a fairly long series of cases of different drink items. And since this is a smoke shop as well, there is also lots of smoking items. Their shelves of candles and also cat litter. It's strange but wonderful and you need to take a slow walk-through to check everything out. The young men behind the counter was especially lovely. I'm sorry I forgot to ask his name. This is a good example of shopping local for Black Friday. I got a number of stocking stuffers as well as treats for myself. I also grabbed an Asian pair. So random.

This place is very small with only four or five tables. When we came in there were two men sitting…read moreat the counter on their phones and it took a bit for them to acknowledge me to order. I tried to order two toasts, two coffee, and a muffin. They could only figure out how to ring in one thing and I had to point to what I wanted until times on the menu. The food came out fairly quick which is confusing because our food was cold and half was undercooked and half was overcooked. My coffee was forgotten but they went and brought it out. I ordered vanilla ice coffee which I think they forgot the vanilla. I didn't finish it. My son ate my bacon and I ate some of the overcooked eggs. The avocado was brown which I know happens but I bit into something hard and pulled out the end bit of the avocado so was kind of turned off after that and didn't eat anymore. There is a lot of things on the menu so maybe other things were good. It felt like two high school kids trying to run a Restaurant and it didn't hit the mark.

Service is great, environment is pleasant. Drinks are gross Banana iced coffee. The drinks are…read moreexpensive and disgusting. I alternate between each to try to find a decent one. Nope just watered down coffee. I hate to waste my money so I force myself to drink them. It's a convenient location close to me. I'll have to go get my own drinks and make them at home. Can't waste anymore money at those places.

I ordered a meal deal this morning. I arrived to the store about 12 minutes after mobile ordering…read moreand still had to wait another 40 minutes before receiving my iced coffee. This whole experience took over 45 minutes just to get an iced coffee. The store was so busy and the employees were frazzled and frantically trying to complete orders. I ended up having to leave the establishment WITHOUT THE FOOD I PAID FOR, because at this point I was going to be late for work due to having to wait for so long. It is extremely frustrating when you pay for something and do not receive it. So 45 minutes for an average iced coffee and wasting money on food I never got.

It had been many years if not decades since we had last visited the previous Jack's reef at their…read moreold location. We decided to take a road trip to check out the new Reef restaurant. The dining room was spacious and clean and bright as were the servers and the bartenders who expertly served us. They have a happy hour from 5 to 7 that varies each day so on this Thursday was half price on selected appetizers as well as $2.50 domestic select drafts. We got there about 10 after five and the bar quickly filled up, which seemed to be regulars, which was a good sign. We decided to linger a little bit over our first drinks and ordered deep fried cheese curds with a delicious margarita type tomato sauce. I had never had fried cheese curds and they were plentiful and came out steaming hot topped with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, unfortunately I did not take a picture as we were hungry and dove right in. When it was time for our second drink, I pondered over their wine list, but decided that with my Reuben and mac & cheese dinner a cold draft would suffice. My husband ordered the Philly cheesecake sandwich and onion rings. The mac & cheese and the onion rings were up charges of $2.50 and they were worth it. The cheesesteak sandwich was not shaved beef, but wonderfully thick pieces of beef on a perfectly toasted bun type with cheese and peppers. The onion rings were generous as well as crisp and not overly breaded. My Reuben was perfectly toasted on a delicious rye bread with just the right amount of sauce to not make it soggy. The star was their mac & cheese served in a steaming hot crock! It was creamy, not too cheesy, but cheesy enough to know that you were digging into a delicious bite of mac & cheese.. well done kitchen! All in all the meal was so large we could only eat half of it and brought it home for another day. We would certainly return as we enjoyed every bit of our evening. The patio looked invited and will be opening soon. They also have live entertainment to enjoy.

Joined some family and friends for birthday celebration. I've never been to this little hideaway…read morenear Jacks Reef. Probably because I'm not a snowmobiler, and this place had more sleds than cars parked. Place had a friendly feel, waitress was in training and did a great job, asked right off if we going to split checks and made sure the drinks kept coming. Had the special Philly Cheesesteak in a bread bowl and wasn't disappointed. If you're a snowmobiler or not looking for some comfort food in a relaxed atmosphere stop by "The Reef"!