Urban Grind

CLOSED for renovation. Planning to reopen as «HEAT» — a wine & beer lounge restaurant.
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I’ve been here many times this year to get work done and liked it a lot. The lattes and food were good. But now it’s closed. :-(

My friend and I usually frequent café on park up the street. But we decided to give this place a shot since it was near by. And it was alright. Completely not kid friendly. They don’t have high chairs, and when my son cried because he banged his nose on the corner of their flower pot the customers looked annoyed, (which isn’t the establishments fault. But it was just the ambiance there) The tables were very small and we had to occupy 2 tables to have enough room to eat. The staff were very friendly and nice. But I really did feel out of place. Like I wasn’t cool enough to sit there, or hipster enough, which just made me and my friend feel a tad uncomfortable.
As far as the food goes, it was alright. I felt a little greasy afterwords and the food had one one, rosemary. Other then that it was kinda mushy. Te potatoes didn’t have a lot of flavor and were mushy and my scramble also was mushy along with my friends. All I could taste was jalapeño and rosemary. Kind of a shame.
I gave it two stars cause the food was edible and the staff were really nice. Oh, and it sucked that tea didn’t have refills. :(

Great place to kick back and have your poison. Have tried several of the changing dishes and have always had a great meal. Owner and staff are very friendly and concerned about you. They get to know you and you them if you keep coming back.
Haven’t tried dinner yet, but breakfast and lunch are fantastic.
Always have a great conversation while we are here. No BLARING music. Great atmosphere.

My friend invited my husband and I to meet her here for breakfast on a Saturday. I was apprehensive as the reviews are lower than what I prefer, but I did notice they’re all old and some newer reviews say it’s under new management. IT IS!
We met at 10am on a Saturday morning and practically had the place to ourselves. There were a handful of patrons scattered around us, seemingly have a Saturday morning coffee while they worked – FREE WIFI!
I had the veggie quiche with fruit, and my husband had the Betty (or Betsy?). Both were tasty. I thought the food was a bit expensive for a walk-​up to order place, but it was worth it to not have to wait for a table on a Saturday morning. (They do bring the food to your table.) Also, a pot of tea or cup of coffee are each reasonably priced, and coffee has free refills (duh?).
***My friend did tell me that the owner will be closing for a month’s worth of renovations soon, so you may want to check that out before you make plans.***

We went here on a whim, and I’ll admit this review is a bit overdue.
We had our dog so couldn’t go inside to order. The server told us that they are expected to go «full service» next year (2012) but are currently a «go-​in-​and-​order-​at-​the-​counter» type of place. I said «okay» and went to consult with my group.
To my pleasure and surprise, the server came out and greeted us, told us about the specials, served us up a mean pitcher of mimosas (huge and for only $ 12!!!) and continued our entire visit by serving us nicely. This I perceived as extra and unnecessary effort that my group and I (just 3 +dog) greatly appreciated. The food was killer, the mimosas were yummy and reasonably priced, and the servers were personable and went the extra mile. We thank you, and apologize for the delay in review. Definitely recommend this place.

One of my new faves :)
the only reason I docked 1 star was because the coffee and tea drinks are a wee bit pricey :(
Decided to go here out of convenience. Since I live right down the street AND they have an awesome coupon in community magazine, I just walked here one weekend for brunch and it was super yummy. My first visit I got the vegie quiche which was great and it came with fresh fruit. The second time I ordered the cornbread/​bacon pancakes and omfg they were delicious. I felt like such a fatty afterwards since I ate them all but damn they were good. Each time I went I also got a mimosa for only $ 1.50. Score! Furthermore, the staff is really really nice! Especially the guy with the pretty blue eyes! Anywho, I’ll def be back very soon :)

This morning the girls and I headed out to the Urban Grind for some brunch. We were not disappointed! Under new owner Sam Khorhish and with the help of Chef Pascal Courtin the food is beautiful and super tasty! The kids had the fluffiest tastiest pancakes ever and I enjoyed the best Quiche Lorraine I have ever had. The girls were delighted because Sam came over and shared some tasty treats. We will be back because the food was really good and the owner is pretty cool!

Went here for brunch. The awesome part is that they have $ 1 on Saturdays and Sundays! No complaining there! My friends had omelets and I had pancakes, we were definitely satisfied too.
My only complaint is that I asked for yogurt and fruit with my pancakes on the side. It was an extra $ 2 — unfortunately it was like apples and cherries when I expected strawberries and other breakfast fruit. lol. AND the yogurt was plain and definitely needed granola. haha.

Free wi-​fi and okay coffee.
What’s pretty interesting here is the bathroom with the oneway mirror. It’s awkward peeing and looking at other customers/​desserts at the same time. Come here and give it a go.

Um… yeah. No.
Everything here is off. The guy up front is a dick. He wants you to feel stupid. I’m a pretty mellow guy, but he managed to piss me off within 1 minute.
The ketchup and utensils are on a wall around the restaurant, and if you don’t know, then they will act like you are retarded.
The corn bread was better than average, but how do you overcook scrambled eggs?
The artwork was the only real draw here. Quirky, interesting and cool. The baked goods looked good too, but I was so turned off by the attitude here that I wasn’t interested in being here longer than it took me to tip 64 cents to my «servers», who served a grand total of nothing.
Dude the seating is so stupid it cannot be explained in a Unilocal review. If you enjoy sitting while eating, don’t go here, it’s worst than the service. It’s disgusting. The stools are wobbly, coming apart and different heights, the benches have a massive lateral wood block in the middle of your back, and hard seating surfaces. The chairs are made for people who are under 87 lbs… seriously though: Calista Flockheart could collapse one of these less-​than-​ikea chairs.
I’ll say it again: Um… yeah. No.

I moved down the street from this place about a month ago, and it is becoming my go-​to place. I was hoping to find someplace with more people and ambience, but the benefits outweigh these drawbacks.
1)Great coffee– I am a brew drinker, but at some coffee shops I have to default to americano if the brew is bad. Not so here. They also have tons of interesting specialty drinks, though, so I may have to venture out sometime.
The iced tea is great too, and they usually have 3 different flavors.
2)Good food selection– what do you crave? delicious pastry? salad? sandwich? pancakes? omelet? yeah, they have it all.
3)Great place to do work– free internet, good music that’s not too loud, lots of tables, high-​tops, and banquettes, big open space.
4)Friendly staff
5)Cool bathroom– not a necessity, but a bonus
Also, I’ve yet to have to wait in line.

Just moved down the street from Urban Grind and was excited to be so close to a coffee spot that wasn’t Starbucks. I really like supporting smaller businesses, so when this morning I realized I lacked any breakfast food I wanted to venture out and try out Urban Grind.
I really love the atmosphere of the small, family owned coffee shop. We were greeted a few minutes after entering and the lady was very warm and friendly. I was really craving a breakfast panini, and so was my fiancé so we opted for the sausage/​egg/​cheese panini and the bacon/​spinach/​cheddar/​egg panini. I really liked them a lot. Perfect for a quick bite to grab before work. I wished the bread was a bit more toasty/​crispy but thats a personal preference, it was quite tasty otherwise.
Oh and $ 6.50 for a panini AND fresh fruit? Very reasonable.
I already had my coffee for the morning but I look forward to trying their coffee/​desserts as well.

3.5 stars.
From reading the previous reviews, it seems the reason for the lower reviews is the food quality and the service.
It doesn’t seem like a place to go to with the intention of eating, more of just a free WI-​FI and coffee place.
Service was quite friendly in fact, a nice bloke took care of our drink orders.
He was genuinely friendly and easy to talk to.
Some of the other reviews complained about the furniture not being comfortable, I disagree.
I am a fan of mid-​century modern, but I won’t let that influence my review… much.
Seats were comfy enough and quite stylish.
The bathroom had a nifty one way mirror you can look out of while you handle your «business».
It did lack an actual mirror though.
Pretty clean establishment, friendly service and decent coffee. Worth a try if you’re in the area.

Grading a coffee shop is difficult, and giving Urban Grind 3 stars is very VERY generous. The reason they get 3 starts is they have everything a basic a coffee shop needs: Free WiFi, decent coffee and friendly people. You get a star each for those three things, and that is essentially where it ends… the problems?
Every food experience I have had there has been very poor: Muffins are dense and dry, bagel sandwich was untoasted, BBQ chicken salad was overwhelmed with blue cheese and red onions… I want to try their much touted pannini’s but they have been out the last couple times I was there.
They also have very uncomfortable seating. Stylish? Yes, but I find my back and a$$ hurting when I sit for more than 30 minutes. They also have sort of awkward access to plugs in their bench seating areas.
Overall, I will keep going because it is so close to my girlfriends place, and it does do the top three things they need to well enough… but seriously. If Urban Grind put in some more comfortable chairs, got someone who could bake, and went for more substance than aesthetics with their food… they would be a must go experience.

This little coffee spot seems to cater to the laptop-​toting folks by supplying free wi-​fi and lots of tiny tables. Been here a few times in the past as one of those loner laptop users.
Recently went here with my husband and daughter instead of enduring a lengthy wait for Café on Park (a few doors down). The food was good, service was good, and we didn’t regret our choice, because we were pretty hungry. And we got to sit outside while we ate on a lovely San Diego day.
But, there is a reason there is a wait at Café on Park and no wait here. The food is not terribly memorable. I had a veggie scramble, and my husband got a french toast dish. Both were average. The one standout was the cheesy potatoes side dish — basically hash browns mixed in with gooey cheese and baked in a little dish so it’s crispy on top. Oh, and I had a $ 1 mimosa. So that’s kind of awesome.
BUT… They had no high chair. Not one. I don’t know if that is a «we don’t want your kind here» message, or if they are just too cheap to invest in one. Maybe my expectations for a coffee house were too high. But c’mon, if you have a sign out front that says «brunch,» then I’m expecting more restaurant and less Starbucks. My husband had to hike back to the car and get the stroller so that my kid had somewhere to sit.

So I am slightly biased since I go there a couple days a week and my man has my ice coffee out w/​soy milk on the side waiting for me! Yeah does your Starbucks do that for you? Psshh thought not!
Anyways, the have free wifi and plenty of room! Come for $ 1 mimosas on the weekend, where else can you find that?
I’ve never tried the food, but I have seen the panini’s are the best of the menu. I wish they had a full kitchen, so I wouldn’t go there with a full group for brunch just yet. But for good coffee drinks and baked goods, they have you covered!!!

Go for the coffee, skip the food, forget about the lack of service. Whew, a review in 13 words. I must not be feeling well.

$ 1 for a glass or $ 9 for a pitcher of mimosas on the weekends? SOLD.
Need I say more?

Meh. I’ve experienced better.
This about sums it up. My family came her on Father’s day. We originally were going to go to Café on Park, just up the street, but the line was way too long. We popped in on Urban Grind since they had what seemed like a decent menu for breakfast/​brunch.
Hmmm, where do I begin? Service was super slow, the coffee was weak (which is a horrible sign if you are a coffee shop. That’s like bad chips and salsa at a mexican restaurant.), mediocre egg scrambles, gummy, heavy-​handed cinnamon pancakes… and to top it off, we realized on our bank statement that we were over charged by $ 6 (which was strangely different than what our receipt said. Uggh.
No bueno.

Eh.
Here’s the thing about coffee shops that drives me up a wall. It’s pounded in our head time and time again that patronizing Starbucks is about as bad as slapping an elderly woman in the mouth at a bingo hall. Essentially, you’re as evil as Kim Jong-​il if you choose the juggernaut over the little guy. Yet, for some reason, it seems as though the smaller operations can give a flying shit whether you spend your money with them or not.
As mentioned in a previous review, the Starbucks right across the street just closed down. Trust me, I’m not mourning the loss by any means… but there’s a reason they were named one of Fortune Magazines «100 Best Companies To Work For» in 2007. For being as big as they are, they do a better job than most corporations in taking care of their employees. That energy trickles down to the baristas who, by and large, are friendly and very quick behind the coffee bar. Why doesn’t EVERY coffee shop model themselves after the superb customer service at Starbucks? Why must every «indie» coffee shop employee feel the need to fit the common stereotype of a java junkie? Why must they all act detached and careless? Why must they long for the opportunity to be featured in the next installment of Hipster Olympics on YouTube?
I know I’m ranting a bit here, but it drives me crazy. Urban Grind is better than some of the worst offenders in the city (hence the 3 star review), but they’re not THAT much better. It’s very much hit-​or-​miss, but a majority of the time, it’s a total «miss.» It goes without saying that I love the idea of supporting small, local businesses… I just don’t understand why some small businesses don’t reciprocate a mutual respect? Ugh, so frustrating!
Customer service aside, Urban Grind is a pretty dope spot. Great space, nice layout, above-​average food, free wifi (that seems to go berserk occasionally) and a nice patio to enjoy the great outdoors. A little tweaking to the employee screening process and they’ve got a winning formula on their hands. Unfortunately, I think it’s just the kind of job that attracts Dashboard Confessional fans and East Village (New York) wannabes. I guess it comes with the territory, but with so many other coffee shops in the vicinity, there’s no reason to settle for mediocrity.