Matt Meyer

It’s incredibly disappointing when the quality of the eatery’s food doesn’t match the quality of its storefront, service, atmosphere and location.

Work found me on Main Street in Palisade, and, on an off chance, I wandered into Mumzel’s Crumpets Cups & Cones.

The building itself is older than any of my living relatives, but what the owner has done with the place is amazing. The lofted ceiling, daylight hours and Western Colorado weather make the skylight the only necessary source of light. It’s a little dark, but in a cozy, intimate way. Old wood and long, wooden beams extend toward the ceiling while old pictures fill the walls. There’s a used books rack in the corner, and they have the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel and Palisade Tribune on a table. The nicest old lady in the world was working behind the counter.

The kitchen area is visible from the dining area, and there’s a small coffee bar that faces in toward the open kitchen.

It looks like it’s part of a different era, and the building has the perfect amount of old.

Conversely, the signage sticks out on Main Street in Palisade. The sign is far more modern than anything around.

In order to correctly review a restaurant called Mumzel’s Crumpets, Cups & Cones correctly, it makes sense to try each.

The day I visited, the coffee machine was broken. No cups.

The ice cream was icy and creamy, and it is really hard to screw up ice cream. Regardless, let’s check off ice cream. It was exactly what ice cream should be. Score one for cones.

For crumpets, I tried two different items.

First, I tried a cinnamon roll. I feel as if I’ve been spoiled by places like Dream Cafe and Pufferbelly’s, but a small fist-sized cinnamon roll that’s not absolutely drowning in glaze and cinnamon butter is hardly a cinnamon roll at all. It also gave me a stomachache. Crumpets were looking wobbly, but I decided to give it another go.

I bought what was described to me as a carrot cake muffin, which sounded good. What it actually was — a carrot cake muffin packed with celery and coconut — was absolutely disgusting. No decent tasting crumpets.

I tried so hard to like Mumzel’s Crumpets, Cups & Cones. It’s a such a cool place, and everyone there was incredibly friendly.

Mumzel’s is billed on Urbanspoon as a coffee shop. It feels like one. It also tries to be a bakery, and it’s so hard to like a bakery with mediocre baked goods. If you need somewhere to sit down, read a newspaper and feel like you’ve travelled back in time, Mumzel’s is that place.

If you’re looking for an ice cream cone, you’re set.

If you’re looking for decent food or a working coffee machine, you’re better off checking elsewhere.