Ad Astra Books & Coffee House

A great place to just relax! Has great events for the week like game nights, poetry sessions, open mic jams, books and the coolest baristas!

Ordered two drinks. The January special, Jamaican Blue Mocha and a chai latte. No wait and service was fast. The Mocha was supposed to be a large but was put in a coffee cup which is smaller than a small cup go go and charged $ 4 for it. The cup was filled ¾ and topped with whipped cream which was way to much. Flavor was good but overwhelmed with whipped cream. The chai was a small and also placed in a small coffee cup but only filled half way and the rest was foam. Overall the flavored were good but the quantity was poor which resulted in the lower rating.

Excellent coffee!!! Great atmosphere. Love the quiche and other pastries. They also have live music events. The staff is so friendly and give great service. Get a coffee and pastry sit, and relax! And did I mention the coffee is the best?

This place sux! Nasty bitter coffee! I read the reviews and they were positive so I thought I’d try this place out big mistake! The people who think this place sells good coffee hasn’t had Dunkin Donuts coffee now that’s excellent coffee.

Strongly recommend a visit here if you are in town. Kind baristas offer the usual lattes plus creative flavors of the day. Nicely curated assortment of books including a number of Kansas-​authored and –related titles and many gently used options. I especially enjoyed the cookbook section.

Very good coffee. Maybe the best in Salina. I don’t have extensive experience in Salina, but this coffee was good even for a much larger metro area. Quiet place to work with good internet speeds and plenty of books to read if you are interested. Staff was polite and helpful. Place is very clean.

Pros: This place is great! Good coffee, cozy, offers a lot of events in the evenings/​weekends! Enough plug ins for you laptops/​phones, the food is also good so don’t worry if you come hungry.
Cons: One of the baristas talks way too loud for us who are trying to focus/​study
The ladies room is out of toilet paper a lot.

This one of the best coffee shops in Kansas! Very relaxed with friendly people and some very good coffee! Sipping on a mocha cortado and it is just heavenly. A nice selection of used books in the back so a great place to relax with friends or family…

I’m so glad I found this place open on my trip down 81! I was feeling pretty sleepy when I stopped in for a break, but after a good strong iced coffee I was good to go and finished my last three hours on the road without an issue.
The inside of this place is nice and cozy; half second hand book store half coffee shop, 100% chill. The lady who made my coffee was helpful and nice, and the other patrons were friendly too. I would love to have a place like this to hang out closer to where I live. If I’m ever in the area again, I would certainly stop by.

Hands down the best coffee in Salina for those that are true European/​Australian/​barrister made café coffee.
Staff are friendly and it has a great ambiance with the older style quaint bookstore.
Sip away your afternoon.

Great coffee — espresso-​based drinks properly prepared. Yummy breakfast burritos. We tried the veg and meat options and liked em both. Pleasant ample space full of curated new & used books. Genuinely independent shop.

Excellent place! Good coffee and great service! Not to mention the prices are great!

Great friendly service and killer atmosphere. I will be back. Great place to draw or read. The book selection is quite. This place loves David Sedaris.

Hand crafted lattes, helpful staff. I was visiting from Dallas and the barista recommended a drink for me; Irish something cream and it was pretty good! A bit overpriced. But I don’t mind supporting my local hometown businesses.
Really laid back and low key place to study or take the kids to.

Interesting book selection, excellent coffee and a beautiful space. Go, Ad Astra, go!
And psssshaw to the Starbucks brick & mortar; there’s never been a Starbucks I’ve wanted to explore for hours and this coffee stands on its own anyway.

Best iced chai I’ve ever had! Friendly service, relaxing atmosphere.

A-​MAZING! I just moved to Salina from Seattle and after working for Starbucks for 4 years and I have to say that Ad Astra has the best brewed coffee I have ever tasted!!! I could drink it all day everyday if it wouldnt give me heart palpitations. The employees are all very friendly and look like they enjoy being at work. My favorite so far is the butternut coffee, this week they had a vanilla caramel kaluah flavor that was also tasty. I will be back quite often if not everyday. I also enjoy browsing the books, but for me its all about the coffee.

Wow! If ever a new place deserved big time support, against big odds, Ad Astra Books and Coffee is the place.
Prompted purely by the only other review already posted, we turned off I70 on the way from Denver to KC to stop here. The mere mention of pourovers in the middle of KAnsas was enough to justify the 30 minute detour.
I’ll get some of this wrong but maybe an owner can respond and correct.
Anyone who likes good coffee should head here because:
— this is one of only 2 or 3 In the Entire State of Kansas doing coffee to this high a level
— the coffee is excellent. We had a very nice, smooth and balanced Nicaraguan along with a delicious blend incorporating the Nicaraguan with beans from Sumatra and PNG. Locally and freshly roasted-​wish I could remember the details on the roaster.
— good baked goods! They’re sourcing from a mix of local artisan bakers. Here in Salina! Go figure!
— plenty of comfortable seating and free, fast wifi
— it’s also a bookstore in a town that hasn’t been invaded by B&N. Books thoughtfully chosen. Partly inspired by Politics and Prose in DC and that’s pretty good inspiration.
— William, one of 7 owners, moved (back?) here from Cali, is a super nice guy, and he knows his coffee and espresso.
— they even have Hario v.60s on the shelf for sale underneath the tees
Ad Astra proves that great coffee done by passionate and capable people can happen most anywhere. After all, it’s happening right here… in Salina… about 100 miles west of Topeka!

Not only does this bookstore have a wonderful selection of new and used books, but they also have a great café. Get the pour-​over coffee and you might be momentarily transported to the hillier climes of San Francisco and find yourself marveling, «we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!».