Grounded

I’d only ever popped into Grounded before today. I won’t be popping in again in a hurry! The service was poor. The man seemed pretty unhappy and took 20 minutes to make my friends coffee! Someone had come to help him by the time we were leaving so perhaps it was just a case of bad timing but I’d finished my tea by the time the coffee was on the table with no apology, just a ‘do you want milk?’ so we decided against getting lunch in there.
I had ordered a piece of frittata before I realised though and it was delicious. The menu looked really good with lots of variety and the cakes looked very tempting!

Grounded is a nice, pretty generic coffee shop/​café near the top of Gloucester Road. It offers exactly what you’d expect from this type of place: decent coffee and a large but relatively uninspiring menu: full english, sandwiches, something on toast, panini’s etc
It is an alright place to hang out for a few hours. There’s nothing particularly striking or different about it, it’s just an alright, wholesome café with a nice outdoor seating area at the front.
I had the bacon and eggs on toast, which was actually very disappointing. The toast hadn’t been buttered, the bacon was over cooked (for me) and the egg was fried (I expected poached) and had and over-​cooked crunchy bottom. I’m quite surprised they got it so wrong. It’s bacon and eggs on toast, after all!
The coffee was good. Again, not amazing, but it was decent.
What else? Um, the staff were OK. Not very engaging or memorable. He did get me the tomato ketchup that I asked for. That was good!
Uuuuum!
Ah, the blackboard. They have a big blackboard with the menu on it.
Na. I’ve got nothing else. Sorry! 3 stars!

So café grounded has had its spot on Gloucester road for maybe around 2 years now and its a welcome addition. It appears to have lifted a fair amount of inspiration from ‘the lounges’ that, although once quaint, interesting places to go, are now beginning to monopolise in many districts of Bristol.
The feel of grounded is suspiciously similar to the lounges, and whether thats co-​incidence or intentional doesn’t really matter. It works as a cosy, inviting place to grab a coffee and a quick bite and is equally at home as a place to go for a few drinks and something a bit more substantial. The atmosphere can very from day to day, it is sometimes a haven for groups of young mums, and can get really noisy at times with lots of children screaming and playing, I don’t mind this personally although when you are looking for a quiet relaxing drink it can get too much. There is one of the lounges nearby so if you do really want this relaxed informal style of café and the sound of children’s laughter and screams really are a problem you shouldn’t be put off making the visit.
The food is of a good standard, although the menu doesn’t seem to change and sometimes feels more like a business model rather then a labour of love. It really would be nice to see some specials up there. Having said that, I’ve been here many times and have never had a bad meal.
On an evening they offer pizzas in addition to the eveing menu, I would say they are the niciest pizzas in Bristol, however I am yet to try Napolita pizza in st werburghs which fellow Unilocaler David P assures me is exceptional. Think we need a ‘pizza off’ to settle this one.
I went there recently to meet my mum for a cheeky midday brunch.
I’ve noticed sometimes the food does take rather a long time to come out and this time it was exceptionally long considering the fairly simple order. This can be frustrating at a lunch time when time is against you.
My food was lovely, I went for bacon and scrambled egg on toast, they told it came with fried egg but they accommodated my request for scrambled with no fuss. It was a simple, fairly light option so I wasn’t expecting to be blown away. But it was really nice, the bacon clearly from a butcher and left me wondering whether it was from Daltons butchers a few doors down.
My mum had the scrambled egg and salmon, and was raving about it so much I had to try it. It really was exceptionally nice and I am looking forward to having this on my next visit.
Despite all my criticisms Grounded gets 4 stars from me. It’s a great place to go for either a coffee or an alcoholic drink in a more relaxed, intimate environment and you feel equally at home having either.