Curio Espresso and Vintage Design Café

Curio Espresso & Vintage Design Café was a wonderful place to start our morning in Nagano. The café has a warm, cosy atmosphere with comfortable seating and tasteful vintage touches, made even better by a nostalgic playlist featuring songs from the 2000s and 2010s. It’s the kind of place where you naturally slow down and enjoy your time. For food, my wife and I shared the pulled pork sandwich with onions and melted cheese, and it was easily the highlight of the meal. The pulled pork was tender, flavourful, and generously portioned, paired perfectly with melted cheese and sweet onions in fresh bread. Honestly, it’s one of the best pulled pork sandwiches I’ve had in a long while. Our daughter had the breakfast sandwich, which was hearty, well-balanced, and clearly made with care. Our son went for the apple pie, and it did not disappoint—comforting, nicely spiced, and not overly sweet, a great accompaniment to coffee. The drinks were equally solid across the board. I ordered the iced zesty mocha, which stood out for its clever use of orange peels—the citrus added a refreshing brightness that complemented the chocolate beautifully. My wife’s hot cappuccino was smooth and well-textured, while my daughter enjoyed the iced Mexican mocha with its subtle spice. My son’s café mocha was classic and well-executed. All the coffees were clearly made by people who know what they’re doing. Overall, Curio is a café we genuinely enjoyed as a family—great food, good coffee, a relaxed atmosphere, and thoughtful little touches that make the experience memorable. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a quality breakfast or coffee spot in Nagano.

The interior of the cafe has a chill atmosphere with relaxing jazz music. It's an elegant space where you'll want to stay longer. The cafe serves you with wonderful coffee specialities in a retro style cafe. It's a truly wonderful space. I had breakfast there with my family during 4 days in Kanazawa, and enjoyed a wonderful time.💞☕️ Zesty Mocha is highly recommended for coffee lovers!! Great place to chill absolutely for an afternoon brunch or morning breakfast. This place is very popular especially with many tourists in the area and besides Hotel Forza Kanazawa.

This is a very cute shop that feels a bit like home. The coffee was very good with both lattes having good strong coffee flavor. Had the veggie sandwich and it was good but not great. The dill flavoring was the highlight and I believe it can be made vegan. Yogurt and fruit was a small bowl of chilled berries and a plastic container of yogurt with the top removed. Presentation really hurt and would have been better to just get at a conbini. Yogurt wasn’t expensive but definitely wouldn’t call it breakfast. Very popular with tourists like me. I would return for coffee alone as long as there was no wait. Understanding that coffee focus is on espresso drinks not single origin pot over coffee and the like. The star was the atmosphere with a comfy interior and several “Easter eggs” outside. I believe owner is from us and everyone encountered spoke flawless English. Cash only.

The best matcha I’ve had in Japan in the past few weeks 😍 Truly amazing quality and such a cosy little place to relax. 😎 We also tried the veggie sandwich, which was really delicious, and the only small remark would be that the meat sandwich was a bit on the smaller side — though the taste was great as well. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, and we really enjoyed our time here

After a week in the country, we needed some food that's familiar and comforting and they delivered. We love a place that has a limited menu. To us it means the establishment has mastered their dishes to perfection which is exactly how id describe this cafe. The bread they use in the sandwiches is excellent and we had the best coffee (espresso based, not the S.O drip kind) in days. We ordered the pulled pork sandwich which was juicy and just the right seasoning, the day's soup with a slice of that divine bread. And the Mountain Berry dessert (I think that's the name) which is a divine medley of sweet and sour, soft and crunchy, warm and cold. Had a lovely little chat with the owner and we were a tiny bit happy to speak full sentences in English after a while. We left with a happy belly and happy heart.

This place is really cute, and I liked the atmosphere inside. We stayed for a little while, and the service was friendly - maybe a bit aloof, not overly warm or chatty, but still nice. The English muffin breakfast sandwich was delicious, and the coffees were good. We got the White Velvet and the Zesty Mocha (the ones in the pictures attached to this review), and then also tried two more I had the iced vanilla cappuccino, and my partner got the iced almond mezzo.They were all good, but honestly nothing I’d say was worth writing home about. We also tried the bagel, but that wasn’t any special and wouldn’t get it again. So yes, it’s worth checking out for the vibe and a decent coffee, but I wouldn’t overly recommend it compared to other spots. This spot was also a bit pricier than some others we’ve been to here.

It’s a cute place with delicious cappuccino and their signature sandwich with pulled pork is so juicy and tasty! Service wise I did not feel the vibe. They let you wait a long time after a table becomes available and when they start cleaning the table and making it ready. I understand the logistics but they stretch it for so long that it feels too strict and kinda rude to me. Staff is friendly in a correct way, but it doesn’t give me that warm and authentic feeling that you do get at many other places.

We visited spring of this year and I’ve only just gotten round to this review. We were greeted with a reserved politeness bordering on sterile, which didn’t bother me too much initially. However, as we were placing our breakfast orders, my elderly father decided to abstain, as he wasn’t feeling too good. The woman made a passive aggressive remark, reminding us that this was a “food place”, which I felt was unneeded. Three of us were already dining and we would’ve still been seated at the table for four, given that that was the only table free when we arrived. Would they have wanted to keep the one seat empty to put a stranger with us had it been extremely busy? On this occasion, it was quite sedate, so I have to wonder why that comment was made if not to attempt to put us in our place. The breakfast food was standard. The bagel with cream cheese was as you would expect—nothing out of the ordinary. The croissant, on the other hand, was unfortunately burnt. As the breakfast was nothing to write home about, I would not return due to the owner’s unwelcoming demeanour.

Solid American style cafe with large portions. The coffee & lattes are both very strong and Starbucks sized. We also tried a breakfast sandwich and quinoa salad with a side of pulled pork. The owners are from Seattle and are very easy going in terms of adding sides off the menu

Coffee was great. Food wise, we ordered a veggie sandwich which was a bit disappointing due to lack of flavour and blandness. However, quinoa salad with chilli was delicious. Service was friendly. Coffee shop deco was very much a western style. Music was very relaxing. Overall great experience.

Their food was ok and overpriced. We came for a reprieve from Asian food but ended up leaving unsatisfied. Also, we saw the owner berate an older customer for not sending back a coffee that was not intended for him. Let me rephrase that. His employees made the mistake of serving someone else's coffee to the older gentleman and instead of the customer making a fuss over it, he just accepted what was given to him and moved on. However, the owner was upset that he had to waste that cup of coffee instead of being able to serve it to the correct customer, and relentlessly berated the older man. This went on for over 30 minutes. We were so disgusted we had to leave before we even finished our food.

Large and relaxing cafe. Full coffee and tea menu and a small lunch food menu. Hummus plate was fantastic- high quality olive oil; crasins in the salad and a fresh kabocha soup. They always have a vegetarian food option and usually mostly vegan. Bread and pastries from nearby bakeries. They have their coffee beans custom roasted to their own "Seattle" profile at an artisan roastery in town. Owners are super friendly and happy to chat in English. Less than 10 min walk from central station and they will watch your bags so it's convenient if you are on your way in or out of town.

Charming little coffee shop. Owners used to live in Seattle before opening up the shop. Had a flat white and cinnamon latte -- both delicious, some of the best coffee we had in japan (and we've been hunting good coffee down). Stop by if you're in the area!

Fabulous and friendly coffee shop. Italian sodas with fruit are great. Vegatarian chili is excellent, especially in breadbowl. Pulled pork sandwich also very good. Highly recommended.

We went here based on the positive reviews. As usual, yelpers got it right. The sandwich sets offered for lunch were delicious. Salad, soup, and a sandwich. Drinks were discounted since we ate there. We had tea, a ginger ale, an Americano, and one of the best chai lattes I've ever had. Also, the artichoke sandwich was so good I'm going to try making them once I'm home. Owners were super chill and friendly. The music was good and it was a great place to sit and enjoy the quaint little street before taking a stroll to the nearby temple.

Awesome place! Made an American feel at home when we were so far away. The pork sammich was decent and the meal plate was on point and worth it.

American vintage cafe in Kanazawa Japan! As an American living abroad for months, it was a much welcomed stop on our trek across Japan. The owner and his wife are lovely people who kindly gave us advice on things to do in Kanazawa. The husband of the duo even hopped on the phone to make a reservation for us at Plat Home a lovely eatery in town. Definitely stop in to get a taste of America or some friendly local advice!

Awesome coffee shop with friendly, helpful English-speaking owners. They were so kind to give us tips on what to see in Kanazawa and even made reservations for us at a restaurant we mentioned we were planning to go to for dinner. And their chai latte was the best I've ever had. They make it with fresh ginger. Enough said. You will not regret stopping into this American-style coffee shop!

The atmosphere and food are a delightful change from the ordinary to the sublime. Sol and Yuko are wonderful hosts and their warmth makes you feel welcome in a strange land. We highly recommend Curio Express And hope for their continued success.

The coffee is excellent and the sandwiches are just as good. But the kindness of these people is the best reason to have breakfast here. It's a cozy space and the owners are always ready to share their favorite addresses and recommendations of what to do in Kanazawa. You should start off your visit to Kanazawa with a trip to Curio!

We were were excited to visit after looking over the nice reviews here. The cafe itself is eclectic and cute but we found the coffee and food to be disappointing. It's unfortunate as we live fairly close by. The food portions were very small, over priced, and pretty bland. Our food didn't resemble anything pictured in the other reviews and the owner wasn't very friendly ... maybe he was having a bad day.

Found this cute coffee shop thanks to yelp. We had great Seattle style lattes and yummy lunch. The owner Sol is very friendly and gave us a great recommendation on where to visit and eat. Small local shops on this streets are also nice to visit.

Awesome coffee shop in Kanazawa! Friendly owners that helped us make dinner reservations!