Urban Grind Coffeehouse

07/29/09

great place for kid play.

by jodilovesryan

I went in here with my son to have a pop and apple juice. I decided to order a sandwich which they were out of but didn't come tell me till I came and found them to find out where my sandwhich was. I then changed order to a roast beef sandwich which had 2 pieces of roast beef grilled on a very very soggy piece of what was suppose to be sour dough. Thought the service was slow and very unfriendly.

• Pros: great play areas for children/free wi-fi
• Cons: slow sad service

05/20/09

I had a great experience

by ssmith2526

Hmm...I'm not sure what it was like before to cause the bad reviews. I'm hoping that my experience wasn't an anomaly because I had a GREAT experience. There are two large play areas for little ones with lots of toys for kids of various ages. Great sitting spaces, computers, wifi, the list goes on and on. The food prices were very reasonable and the staff were friendly and nice so I was very pleased with my experience and will definitely go back. Family friendly places are few and far between so when I find one I like I'm happy, happy, happy! P.S. they are pet friendly too :)

• Pros: large facility, great play areas for kids, good prices
• Cons: none

04/03/09

The negative reviews confuse me!

by CSMobileUser2

I tried this place today after a recommendation from a friend as a wifi location to work in. I had a great experience, so unlike many of the reviews. The baristas were helpful and friendly, the space totally fit my needs as a telecommuter, and the kids area looks like so much fun I want to take my kids back. I liked the coffee and had a yummy sandwich for lunch. I came away knowing I would go back. The baristas said it was under new ownership and that they were trying to make it a community gathering spot. Hope it works!

• Pros: Example: best croissants in town
• Cons: What are the drawbacks?

01/13/09

Not much point in posting, I guess

by mimiv

I am certainly not the first person to post on CitySearch about how terrible this place is, and I'm not sure that it's even worth doing anymore. People have complained about the awful, awful food, service and coffee that they've received here, and yet, people continue to patron the shop and they continue to remain open. Honestly, it's baffling. I suppose that if people continue sharing their experiences at this place and continue to bring the star rating down, people who utilize this site for choosing their coffeeshops can at least be accurately informed. So, for those of you who do that, I would highly recommend that you stay far, FAR away from the Urban Grind. I've had very similar experiences to those posted before me, and I don't feel that there is anything new that I can really add to what they've already said, but I will say that I agree wholeheartedly with the other one-star reviews. This place is completely useless. The service was terrible, my food was cold and stale, they were out of what I wanted originally, and my drink was bitter and full of grounds. There is honestly not one redeeming thing about this place and I sincerely, sincerely hope that it goes out of business soon because the building is seriously amazing and I would like to see something worthwhile move in.

10/14/08

TERRIBLE

by misolecito

I used to walk an extra distance on my coffee break to go to the Urban Grind. The coffee was so good. Dark, dank, thick delicious coffee. The kind that you take a drink of, and then are forced to reflect upon "damnit that's good." The kind that really totally makes your morning.

My past three visits to the Urban Grind have burst my bubble, wasted my money, and just really p'd (citysearch won't let me describe exactly how p'd off I really am) me off. The first of the three was a morning before work at 7:05am - they reportedly open at 7am, and the door was open, but there was no barista in sight. I stood at the counter at first quietly and politely saying "hello?", then finally in hurried frustration "HELLOOOOO????" "IS THERE ANYONE HERE?????" A sleepy and rude morning-breath toting barista came out after over 5 minutes of waiting and informed me that she "hadn't finished opening yet." She did, however, serve me a cup of VERY BAD coffee - just maybe a hair step up from 7-Eleven. Um, let me clue you in on something - PEOPLE DRINK COFFEE EARLY IN THE MORNING. If you own a coffee house, you should be open and ready to serve at least coffee early in the morning. And FYI, 7:00am is LATE.

The next visit was a mid-morning coffee run. Again, the same barista - this time I'll call her a "barista" - served me old, terrible, weak coffee and acted as if it were a huge imposition that I had ordered it.

This afternoon was the absolute end to all ends. I will not be going back there, nor will anyone from my office. Three of us went to get after lunch coffee. I wanted coffee, and the other two people wanted lattes. The SAME stupid "barista" informed us that they were "out of espresso" and that there wouldn't be any until "my boss gets back to roast some." WHAT??? Are you f'ing kidding me? She offered us coffe, which we got, and it was...SURPRISE...F'ING WRETCHED. I just got back to the office to throw it out.

Geez.

• Pros: NONE
• Cons: Terrible service, really terrible coffee, nothing could be worse

10/04/08

it would seem that i am beating a dead horse.

by msfreckles

this place has been flamed all year about its terrible food, coffee and service. it seems almost unnecessary for me to even write this review since i'm not really adding anything new to what others have said, but i guess it's important for people who are using citysearch to choose a cafe to know that this one is consistently bad. and it is. i've had similar experiences to other users; the baristas are incredibly rude, the food isn't very good, and the coffee is terrible, which, in my mind, is not acceptable for a coffeehouse. especially an indie one. the baristas clearly hate working there which is why they are rude and lazy, and whether they mean to or not, it gets passed across the counter to the customer. they're always out of something and it's always dirty, too. i honestly don't know how they stay open. with all of these negative experiences people are having, it's never busy, and it seems like they would go out of business really fast.

10/01/08

This places bites the big one!

by oldandcrusty

I live right next door to this place and would patronize regularily if it wasnt for the poor service I encounter upon every visit. Almost 3 years now I have tried to come back but am always disapointed.

The service is as bad as it gets. It is never busy, the counter person is usually sitting, they let you know how much you are putting them out by walking in there and wanting a coffee. They are rude, never say hello, thank you, smile, nothing except a bad attitude. The coffee bites too but I somwetimes I can look past that. Today I wanted a tea. I looked for the tea list but didnt see one so I asked the frumpy girl with glasses what she had. It seemed that I asked her rediculous question. All she need to do was hand me a paper tea menu. It was a really big deal apparently. There is someone new working there everytime I go in but they all share the same customer service skills. It's too bad. The space is really cool nad the art is nice, it's also about 100 feet from my house so it would be very convenient to go there. I just dont.

F*#$ them and their burnt coffee and terrible staff.

• Pros: cool space, nice art, big childrens area
• Cons: Terrible service and burnt coffee (always)

09/03/08

This place makes me sick.

by ophel

I love coffee which is why I tend to stay away from the Starbucks of the world and get a little more for my money at local, independent coffeehouses. When I heard that Urban Grind roasted their own coffee, I was really interested in trying it out, so I headed on over this morning to get myself a latte, and I am telling you -- words cannot describe my disappointment. The coffee was TERRIBLE. Just AWFUL. Not only were the shots burnt, but the milk was scalded as well. I guess the barista figured since I ordered vanilla in it, she'd just cover the burnt flavors up with syrup. WRONG!!!

And, the serivce was pretty bad, too. The place wasn't very crowded when I went in (probably should have been a red flag) and it still took the barista a good five minutes for me to even get noticed. No one was behind the counter when I walked up to the register, and when the barista did come out from the back, she didn't even bother to greet me. I actually had to go up to her and tell her that I was ready to order. I was going to order a bagel, and she informed me that they were out, so I asked her what she could make instead and she rolled her eyes and pointed to the menu. I just ordered a pastry. Then, I asked for my order for here and she put my drink in a paper cup so she wouldn't have to wash it, I guess. And, the icing on the cake was that my pastry was moldy. She took it back, but not without an annoyed sigh.

I will NEVER, EVER go here again. This place is horrible.

08/19/08

Horrible. Nice atmosphere, but avoid ordering anything.

by kiat

I went to this coffee shop for the first time, and the service was horrible. First off, the barista was completely rude. I was the only person in the entire shop, ordered my drink, and she "forgot" about my drink after 15 min. Once I reminded her, and received my drink, it had not been mixed and was horribly burnt. Avoid this place if you can!

08/16/08

RUDEST SERVICE EVER

by caffeinelvr

I love local coffee shops-- which is why it's been my mission to visit every independent coffee shop in Portland.... The Urban Grind was awful.

The barista was the most unpleasant person I've ever encountered behind a counter in my coffee consumption experience.

From the moment I asked what kind of syrups she had, and she snapped "look for yourself" it was all downhill.

My friend asked a question about what was in one of the drinks- the barista insulted her and said something condescending- implying that we were ignorant fools for not knowing-

After we got our drinks I asked where the sleave things were and she snapped "We're out".

When I took a second cup to insulate it because it was too hot to hold, she actually raised her voice at me and said something like,

"Why don't you put that back and take a napkin instead of wasting a cup!".

Um... Excluse me... but why didn't she serve our coffee to us in the CERAMIC CUPS that were sitting in a stack, clean... instead of the ridiculous paper cups if she was so concerned about conservation... We were there to eat breakfast. This was not a to-go order.

She was so rude, I was embarassed to have taken my friends there.

As it was I didn't order anything else and certainly didn't tip her. Normally I put 5 bucks in to support the independent places. I left feeling mad at myself for paying any money at all.

There are too many fabulous coffee shops in Portland to waste a trip at this one.

URBAND GRIND: TWO THUMBS DOWN, NO STARS. (the one star is only because you have to give at least one to post something) IF I COULD GIVE IT NEGATIVE STARS, I WOULD.

• Pros: NONE
• Cons: LEFT WITH A SOUR TASTE IN MY MOUTH