Grinder

Came here for the first time yesterday. Usually a Tim Horton’s guy. I ordered a coffee, and when I learned it was fair trade coffee, I was sold. The worker who made it genuinely looked happy to serve me. I will for sure be making this place my coffee place! Great service, love the fung shuei of the establishment. Reno’s look great and I had a Starbucks-​y feel, minus the hipsters, bad music and lineups.

As for early April 2015, Grinder will have gone some major renovations. The place looks nicer, cleaner, brighter and more awesome than ever. I’m happy to say that coffee drinks continue to taste amazing and have not gone up in price.
Some pretty exciting things in the near future with the expansion of the kitchen and addition of new delicious recipes to the menu.
On a separate and unrelated note, I wish Unilocal would delete reviews that are no longer relevant as it negatively impacts a business. I see lots of negative reviews here that could send potential customers away. The sad thing is that they don’t apply to the current place, staff and menu!
Give it a try! James, Philip, Tatum and all the staff there are really amazing. And the drinks and treats worthy of your time. Come in, slow down and appreciate the little things. :)

Has steadily gone downhill since it changed ownership from Mercury to Grinder to g. It’s clear the new staff has received very little training. The foam on the caps and lattes is sub-​standard. Bring back Mercury!!!

Coffee and tea are average at best. Staff doesn’t really seem to want to be there (unfortunately it shows).
Place isn’t great for sitting (short or long time): noisy, awkward layout and bad playlist.

Love this little coffee shop! its in my neighborhood and has a great mellow feel — very cute décor and friendly staff. yummy treats and drinks, great choices to choose from and fresh daily goodies! Iv’e even been short once (on total) and they just waved it in good humor. The only reason i’ve brought it down to a 4 star is because i’m not a fan of their hours, they close at 4pm on the weekends. I’m usually only around during the weekends to enjoy a coffee and by the time i roll around for a second drink or a walk they’re closing up. Wish they were always open! (totally unfair of me — i know haha) all around, worth a visit!

Great coffee, great vibe… in my ‘hood! I like it!
Even the treats and sandwiches are really good.

I went there yesterday to have my phot taken by a nearby pro photographer. She liked it because it was cool and friendly with nice wood tones. I loved the coffee and the relaxed neighborhood-​friuendly feel and the confort level they had with someone doing a «shoot» in the shop. Then today, I read they offer their kitchen to help a group serving lunch to kids at the school across the road. How can you beat neighborhood coffee shops like that? –wayne roberts

Coffee was decent. Place was small but had a cool vibe. Next time I go (there aren’t a lot of options in this area) I’m going to try a sandwich because they sound quite tasty.

Not a fan, I thought that I would try this place out for coffee as I always prefer to support independent shops over TH and Starbucks… I tried twice and was extremely disappointed, first time I had there house brew coffee which was watery and disgusting the second time was over a year later and I ordered an Americano which I would go as far as to say it was the worst Americano I have ever had. Unfortunately I will never be returning to this establishment.

Great little spot. Got to try the sandwiches here. Fresh and clean atmosphere keep me coming back.

I had heard good things about this place, so I tried it out. The regular coffee is terrible. Like, worse than the stuff you brew in hotel room coffee machines. I will not be going back.

If you like tuna like I like tuna STOP everything and run *scratch that* SPRINT to Grinder for their incredibly genius tuna sandwich.
Soggy or stale bread is in my opinion a sandwich cardinal sin!
So I was reluctant to try this tuna sandwich delicatessen, as it was pre-​made and sitting in a cooler AKA soggy/​stale bread maker.
To my surprise the bread was über fresh multi-​grain which had been waterproofed (or soggy-​proofed so to speak) by two pieces of lettuce which ensured the tuna filling stayed wedged inside the sandwich without moistening the bread.
With me still?! ok the really awesome part is that the tuna filling (which contained the perfect amount of mayo and salt) also featured small slices of green apple. The result was a crunchy yet soft texture and a taste that was simply breathtaking. For $ 5 I was smitten.
Apparently they also put capers in the egg salad sandwich so that will definitely be the next sammy I sample there. I also ordered a small latte which rivals most places’ large and tasted great.
I wish the space was a bit larger but it is very cozy and intimate. As previously mentioned, Sunday afternoons feature a live acoustic performance of local performers and if they are as good as today I plan to come here EVERY sunday!
There is free WiFi, you simply have to ask for the code and they only take cash!

This is a really nice, comfortable neighbourhood place that supports the arts.
They have folk music on Sundays at 1 or 1:30 (sorry, memory fails) which is usually a single performer. For a buck, you can buy a download card with a song each from 4 recent performers.
My medium latte, in a «to stay» mug, was warm, tasty and big! (Quality of latte was above average… t’was no Crema, but pretty good.)

Of all the places we went to for the coffee crawl, this was my least favourite. I found their house blend to be watery and lifeless. It was lacking body and soul. I hate to say it, but I have had better coffee at Tim Hortons.
What I did like about this place is the cool art work and comfy couches. Very much a neighbourhood spot that I am sure will do well.
I will go back to give it another round. Next time I will have a latte.

Really nice staff.
Really nice location.
Really great coffee machine.
Really comfortable vibe.
Really lovely pitcher of water full of oranges.
This is all good.
They were all out of smoothies. And it was hot outside. So I was sad.

Attention: Delicious coffee served here! This was the final stop on the CMYE: East (er) End Espresso Crawl II. So good, I downed my double Americano faster than Nicole Kidman reaches for her Botox syringe. I probably could’ve had another double except I enjoy sleeping.
The space is inviting and the orange slices in the water pitchers are a nice touch. Too bad this café is so far from me and I wouldn’t know how to get there without a chaperone.