Fuel 103 1st Street West, Mount Vernon, IA 52314

"Multiple time I feel I was treated differently at this coffee shop. The first time I walked around and the lady working there stared at me like a hawk. The second time I just walked in to get something to eat and right when I walked in the lady asked if I knew what I wanted then rolled her eyes. I was still looking at the menu as I just walked in. Maybe it wasn't intentional but when you are a black person in a non diverse town/state, you start to question why you are treated this way."

"Great local coffee shop. Very eclectic and warm inside. Excellent home baked goods and the coffees are delicious. It is also a fun little gift shop with many unique things that you won’t find anywhere else. it is a great place to enjoy your favorite coffee & do a little shopping."

"Our coffee drinks were great. I mean really good! Prices very reasonable, good service. I liked the eclectic vibe of this place. I recommend this place and will definitely be back."

"Very pleasant small town mainstreet spot. Great coffee. Scone i had was delish."

"There is nothing like a local coffee shop with some flavor. Fuel offers just that experience. Upon our planning process of my son looking for colleges, I always peek around at towns to see where we will go once we're there. I was so excited and Fuel far past my expectations! In 38 hours we went 3 times! Each time just as wonderful! My husband and I stopped in to grab coffee Saturday morning after a Cornell College drop-off. A caramel macchiato for him and a peppermint mocha for myself. Did you ever get a peppermint drink during the holiday season and feel like elves are sword fighting with peppermint sticks In your mouth? Like it's so overpowering you can't even enjoy the coffee or the chocolate? This far and away was the most balanced peppermint mocha I have ever had and I think about it every day! The caramel macchiato also was no exception as it wasn't ridiculously sweet or overly caramel flavor it just tasted like a kiss of caramel in a sea of perfectly roasted coffee. I wish I could show you the delicious pastries we selected but the camera had no time to eat 1st as we jumped right into a piece of carrot cake and a jalapeno cheddar scone. The carrot cake was so moist and also not overly sweet with their cream cheese frosting. The scone... If you are a scone eater you will know that you run into some flaky crummy scones. You will not have that experience again if you get scones from Fuel! A balance of heat and cheese with a texture that was moist enough to enjoy but a proper scone crumb. They must use a little sugar on the baking pan but that was a perfect balance to complement the savory. On our 3rd trip I grabbed a raspberry chocolate scone because the jalapeno was sold out. And I and I also loved that 1 as well. Not overly sweet and the tartness of the fresh raspberries really shine through! The staff was comprised of mostly college students who were just lovely to speak with. There are 1,000 things to look at and I'm sure every time you pop in there'll be 1,000 more to seek out and find. We purchased a sticker for our cooler and an awesome Iowa hat for our son as a reminder of the trip and hopefully, this will be our stomping grounds for 4 years if our son is accepted to Cornell."