Coal Palace Café and Books

This place is an amazing treat! It has such a variety of sandwiches and salads and sides. I love the atmosphere and the building! Service was amazing and the coffee was awesome! Highly recommend!! I had the roast beef bagel sandwich! Best sandwich I’ve had in awhile!

Turkey club sandwich was really good. It had roasted cherry tomatoes, cheese, and a special sauce. Crinkle cut fries or the fruit bowl or 4-5 other side dish offerings (lettuce salad, cottage cheese, macaroni salad to name a few). Yum! Really good service, and interesting decor. A part of Ottumwa's history. Cool atrium which still has the gigantic coal auger.

Had Taco Salad today. No problems noticed. Will be going back to try other food items.

A quaint little Cafe with plenty of options and good food and drinks.
Prices are really good on some items and high on others - but for the most part if you want food and a drink it's going to be $9 - $12, for breakfast or lunch.

Great bagel sandwiches here in town! Super friendly staff, slow service but AMAZING food! I love how Optimae created a job for individuals with disabilities. I think it’s a great place over all. Super clean atmosphere!

Had a delicious turkey sandwich on marble rye! Even took a moment to sit and read a western paperback. One of the many available to read and buy. I will definitely be back!

Would love to live near an establishment like this! I would definitely be a regular! The service was friendly but we did have to wait about 10 minutes for our order but only because it was freshly prepared. We were able to watch as they put it together. Or you can browse through the large collection of books and board games. Great place to go with a friend or by yourself.

Great service. Excellent food! Always hot and always fresh!!! Come here for breakfast at least once a week! Stop in and try it you won’t be disappointed

This a nice cozy Cafe. Good Turkey Deluxe Sandwich. Really friendly service.

They do a very nice job. There's not a huge selection, but there's enough that you should be able to find something. The treat here however, is getting to meet and help train a new cashier / Clerk. These employees are drawn from our towns special needs population. This could be their first job in a non sheltered environment. So not only are they learning to take and serve an order, they are learning customer service. They do get help from job coaches employed there & everything seems to come out correctly and everyone seems friendly.

Food: they have sandwiches, which I'd say are pretty good but the two soups I've tried weren't "pretty good, " they were VERY good. Desserts are a bit better than average. Service is GREAT FROM EVERYONE.