Coffee Shop No. 491 Fred and Larry's Coffee Banner Elk, NC April 7, 2025 This is my second time visiting Fred and Larry's Coffee Shop in Banner Elk, North Carolina. The first time was September 13, 2021; the ending stages of COVID so customers were not allowed in the shop. I ended up drinking coffee outside with three local gentlemen; one of the them was Larry. He is an owner and a Marine Veteran. We had some good laughs and I learned a lot about Banner Elk and the surrounding area. After visiting Fred and Larry's Coffee the first time, I realized I wanted to make exploring local coffee shops a part of my life; and here I am almost 500 coffee shops later. On my second trip I enjoyed a cortado while relaxing on Fred and Larry's big comfy leather couch. The barista was super friendly. She is definitely an incredible asset to the shop. Thank you Fred and Larry for making delicious coffee and providing a relaxing setting to meet new people and dream up new adventures in life. Enjoying life one cortado at a time! read more

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This little coffee shop is a must if you are visiting Banner Elk! I don't usually drink coffee but my husband has to have it. They make something for everyone with homemade treats as well. There may be a line - but it's worth the wait! read more

Ok...if you are in the area you must stop here!!! The drinks were delicious and our kids loved the cake pops . I had a maple pecan breve (obsessed) and my husband had a caramel apple chai. I had to keep stealing his for a sip - I could not decide which one to was better as they were both so so wonderful. The barista was super kind and quick. There was plenty of cozy seating and cute fall decor. I can't wait to come back! read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Look at this menu!!!! It was so tough to decide and I don't think you could really go wrong with any choice - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

Best coffee in Banner Elk. I've tried a black American and a specialty drink and both were incredible. Highly recommend and will absolutely be back. read more

The lady was so friendly and kind . Are coffee was a 10/10 we got the fire pit latte. Such a cozy and friendly experience

I was hesitant to leave this review, but I want to share our experience in case the same encounter happens to anyone else who decides to stop in for a cup of coffee and ends up getting insulted. My wife and I stopped in yesterday and had no problems whatsoever and we were excited to try a local coffee shop and support a family business. Today, however, my wife went to get some coffee with her mother, and we were met with a completely different experience... My wife had asked for an iced coffee and had asked for a little less ice. The person doing the order pushed back and made a reference to how they aren't Starbucks. Then, as they were adding cream, she had asked to confirm that it was the milk she had asked for and they literally told her "do you want to come back here and do my job ". Then they gave us our money back and said "we don't want to do business with rude customers ". Unbelievable... It's astonishing how some people can treat other others. It's pretty common knowledge that in the restaurant/food/beverage industry, customer service plays a huge role in the overall experience. It doesn't matter if you have the best product in the world, if you put a sour taste in someone's mouth with how you treat them as a person, it ruins the whole experience. it's really too bad because we were looking forward to coming here daily as our local coffee spot and recommending that any other people who visited would also check the spot out. After today, none of that will happen. read more

I would not recommend this location. The cashier shared a sweet story of how it was a family business, and then overcharged our order by $12.00+ in cash. I want to believe they did it accidentally. But I truly, truly feel that given it's a tourist location, it's easy for a business to take advantage of customers that won't be coming back again. When I realized I was severely overcharged, I tried walking back to the storefront but they were conveniently closed. The coffee was not fresh, felt very old; my sister and I are both very knowledgeable about coffee and we wouldn't serve this coffee to our worst enemy. Severely disappointed as we wanted to be excited about a local small shop and we were left with a very bad taste (physically and metaphorically). Other than the poor service and quality of the iced coffees / lattes we ordered, the inside seemed nice. Dimly lit with comfy chairs. Would be a nice place to work for several hours. We really wanted to like this place. Truly. read more

Such a cute little spot tucked into a shopping center in Banner Elk, NC. They are serving up coffee beverages, teas, and smoothies. They had a variety of local made baked good and they have live music some days! Would be such a cute spot to come watch some live music. read more

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Amazing coffee!!! I got a caramel iced medium roast coffee with cream only and it is absolutely delicious. My boyfriend and I have gone three days in a row haha. I love the vibe of the place, all they need is a chess board and Fred and Larry's is the perfect hangout haha I told the girl at the counter that I have a gluten allergy and she let me know all their syrups are gluten free! Makes for a comforting experience. This is some of the best coffee I've ever had and they even have some gluten free food options! read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Front counter - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

I have never seen a business close for weeks because of one employee injury. Find another worker or close down for good. Mountain Dog on 105 is just as good and is very well staffed year round. Oh I forgot the family also has a cannabis store next door and is always open. Dope over coffee read more

Fred and Larrys is an absolute must if you're in the area and love a good coffee. This is our second summer in this area on family vacation and we now have been by for coffee three times this week with two days left to go! Definitely try one of their specialty lattes. We were smart this year and grabbed some freah corfee to bring back to Florida to reminisce about our summer vacay in the mountains. read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

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I'm all for the local guys, but I can't tell you how this place has the ratings it has. Don't get me wrong, I didn't try everything but I did see the full menu and equipment. I ordered an iced latte, the larger size. First off, it's $8. If you charge more than every coffee competitor, it better deliver. This did not deliver. I think I got a cavity on my first sip. Just about the sweetest thing I've ever tasted. I couldn't even drink it. Coffee quality didn't taste like anything special either. I wanted to like the place, but I couldn't. read more

We stopped here for coffee and sweets after getting groceries for our vacation condo. I just had a medium decaf coffee, but my fiancé tried the caramel macchiato and really enjoyed it. The blueberry scone and raspberry danish we tried were delicious! They had so many sweets and breakfast items including: scones (sweet and savory), bagels - even rainbow bagels, muffins, danishes, huge cookies, banana bread, black and white iced cookies, gluten free chocolate cookies, and a vegan cookie that looked like peanut butter oatmeal. We wish we could have tried them all! read more

Found this cute spot while skiing up at Sugar Mountain. It was a great stop in the morning for some coffee. The staff was friendly and very helpful with many other recommendations in the area. We grabbed a cappuccino & a spiced chocolate latte. Both were well made and hit the spot. We also grabbed bagels to snack on. The have bagels, muffins and other treat but don't have a kitchen. The shop was very cute and they are open late. There are events (karaoke, musicians, etc) in the eventing as well. Would love to go back for a fun evening and some coffee or tea! read more

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Very welcoming and comfortable place! Their fall drink menu is amazing, definitely a good find read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

Awful ambiance. Huge group when you we walked in, none of them have drinks. It looked so dirty behind the bar. Like old musty products are being used. All I could hear was a girl hitting buttons on the microwave. read more

This is a Veteran started business. Service was super friendly and coffee was very very good. The place is small but has a cozy ambiance. I would definitely recommend you stop by. read more

Unfortunately due to COVID ordering was proceeded through the front door make shift window. The inside does look super cute though with a hand drawn menu board and all that kind of eclectic feel that comes with mom and pop coffee shops. They had a huge menu of holiday drinks. I wish the menu had described them a tad better as it was kind of going off a whim as to what some of the drinks were. I ordered three drinks. There were two people in front of me and they took over 30 minutes. It was about a 5 minute wait for coffee. After they handed me my latte i was only waiting for a coffee with cream and sugar and that was another 10 minutes. I wasn't sure if that's how they are all the time, but perhaps because I live a faster pace life, it was kind of inconvenient waiting that long. Overall the drinks were good, interesting flavors, and moderately priced. read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Outside, order and wait area - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

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Great atmosphere, delicious coffee & bagels and of course wonderful customer service. It's definitely a must for us when we're visiting Sugar Mountain. read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - White Chocolate Frappe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

I was on my way to tubing and wanted to get some coffee and breakfast with my family. we noticed after 9:00 the cafe was not open so we waited a little bit and still nothing. We then go and skii and tube we just arrived at 3:00 thinking that yes they do close at 3pm but noticed they didn't open at at 9am since they might be open a little later. They were still closed with all of there Amazon packages and syrup bottles outside the door. read more

Been here 3 times in the past week - obviously something is bringing me back! I've tried several items on the menu and all were good. I especially like the Red Bull drinks. Currently there is no seating inside and that is a reason for 1 of my star deductions. I'm not sure if they're renovating or if they aren't allowing people in due to COVID. It's hard to fully embrace the "coffee shop vibe" when you can't go in to order/listen to the music/sit and relax. There are tables outside but this spot would not be conducive to studying, having a personal meeting, etc. The speed of making drinks is slower than Starbucks but that's because there aren't 100 people working. If you want to support local business just take a deep breath and be patient :-) Customer service wise - no one is mean here but no one seems super happy either. I just wish the ladies taking orders seemed like they were happy to have customers. (This is the reason for my other star deduction). If we can't sit down inside, at least try to make the door-way ordering an exciting experience. read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Key Lime Milkshake and Red, White, and Berry Bull. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

First time here and was so happy to hear they had unsweetened almond milk and a variety of sugar free syrups. The girls were super nice. My drink was yummy and prepared exactly how I asked! read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Syrup list - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

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Good coffee, cool vibe, friendly staff, plenty of space to chill for a while. Veteran owned. Local roasts. Check it out!

Fred & Larry's was once my favorite coffee shop because of the quality of their espresso drinks! The last time I went here, I was charged $7 for a cappuccino - no flavors added, just cinnamon powder on top. I know the economy is tough, but I think that's a lot of money for such a small drink. read more

Coffee drinks were on the sweeter side, but absolutely delicious! The vibe is very cool, comfortable, and chill. The people working here are extremely nice and welcoming. We came back several times during our one week stay, if that says anything. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area. read more

One of the few places around that is still not allowing customers inside. Instead they have a table set up at the door and you order your coffee. That's fine with me, it's their business. The problem was that it took 34 minutes to get my cup of black coffee. I don't know what was going on this particular day but it was the most ridiculous experience I've ever had ordering a cup of coffee. I understand they were following a process of fullfilling the orders as they come but have some awareness of the situation at hand. It wasn't just me waiting 30+ minutes for my order, everyone was...and that is unacceptable. I gave them 2 stars because the coffee was hot and good. I may return one day but definitely not until they start letting people inside. read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - A huge line waiting on coffee - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

Absolutely love this coffee shop! Amazing atmosphere, ambiance with a cool, relaxed vibe. Our coffee and food were amazing. Gluten free options that were delicious! Fun tie dyed bagels. The coffee specials hit the spot! Café Miel and Chocolate chip waffle lattes' were fantastic. The ladies serving us were helpful and efficient. Highly recommend!! read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Atmosphere - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

I saw this little place the day before we came to get breakfast, and made plans to arrive in the morning to try it out. They opened at 10am, and we were there at 10:02am. There were a few people in front of us, but our order was taken quickly. The location is very cute and relaxing. The type of place I could see an open-mic night or something having a lot of success. Breakfast options included bagels, muffins, and lots of options for caffeine along with milkshakes and smoothies. Bagels and muffins were fresh and tasted really good. I ordered the chai latte and that tasted really good. My wife went with her go-to which is a chocolate mocha, and she really enjoyed that. Overall, a very nice experience. Even the other customers were friendly, striking up conversations while they waited in line... and not in an obtrusive way either :-) I'd definitely come back. read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

Nice coffee shop with a laid back, cozy vibe. We came here because the other coffee shop was closed for painting. I'm so glad because this coffee shop has greatly improved since the last time we were here. The coffee was delicious. The decor was warm and inviting and the lighting and music added to the experience. We will definitely be back. read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - New pillows add to the comfortable seating. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

Finest tasting coffee I've had in years! Larry is an absolute delight! He buys, makes and serves incredible coffee!

This is a great coffee shop! Many different options for coffee and also offer muffins / bagels (including gf options). Staff is also super friendly. read more

Got a vanilla latte, medium roast drip coffee, and caramel frappe. All were delicious, definitely recommend!!

Imagine going to a coffee shop, they give your drinks to another couple in an SUV, realize their error after 5 minutes when they bring the couples actual drinks, then Fred and Larry "changed the cups and top it off with more steamed milk" and try to give them to you. Nasty. They guy literally saw no problem with it and I had to take the two (used??) drinks, and BUY TWO MORE to get my own drinks. I paid for 4 large drinks; what's just hilarious is my second round came out in small cups, and one of them was 50% foam. Perfect. To Fred and Larry, Veteran to veteran, this was absolute crap. Young man with cowboy hat needs to understand why this was an issue. read more

So glad to have a local coffee shop with such character and options for all. Tried quite a few drinks and all of them were delicious!

I've been here 4 days and been to Fred and Larry's 4 times. Everything is good. It's a cute little place to just sit and hang and everyone has been really friendly. read more

Pricing is $$$$. I stopped to get a latte and got the large which is 16 oz. I expected the $4-$5 range which is typical in tourist areas but still high for 16 oz. Upon charging my card it was $6.50!!! Prices were not posted for most items so its a big surprise to the customer. For a regular no frills 16 oz latte. And the quality was terrible, the espresso was burnt. I would never stop again nor recommend this place to anyone. read more

Great fresh brewed coffee. The pecan muffin and chocolate croissant were incredibly good. The service was done with a smile. The ambience is great for a little café. read more

The absolute best coffee ever! I've never bought coffee anywhere that I really loved except for Fred and Larrys!

I'll start this review by saying that the white mocha and banana bread coffees that we ordered were amazing. The warm pecan praline muffin was to die for. HOWEVER, we STILL had to order through a window. Two years later and we're still ordering from the parking lot. We're on vacation, coffee in the morning as a family is our thing and we enjoy doing this every time we're up here. It ruins the experience. It's ridiculous. So if you aren't a mask wearer, do not go here. If you want to lounge around and enjoy your coffee, do not go here. Also, the girl taking our order looked absolutely pained to be at work. Terrible customer service. No hi, no you're welcome, no nothing. So, in short, great coffee, terrible environment and unpleasant experience. read more

This place is absolutely amazing. The coffee is unbelievably good and the shop it's self is sooo cute!! read more

Fred and Larry's Coffee - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina