Maplewood Deli & Coffeehouse

We stopped by this place for our quick
Morning coffee and breakfast. It was Sunday morning, and the place was fully packed. We got a table and the coffee was served on the table l. The coffee was very basic and nothing fancy. I ordered a bagel with cream cheese. I requested the bagel to be toasted, however on arrival I discovered that it was not toasted. Anyways, the place was packed, and maybe they were on running on a shortage of staff. Even we found the service to be slow. My partner ordered some vegan burrito with butternut squash and spinach. It was also very basic and underwhelming.

The atmosphere here is really friendly and warm. If you’re like me, seeing a bunch of healthy potted plants throughout the store makes it feel like home. Their staff is friendly and greet you with a smile. Their coffee is great and their pastries are amazing. If they have them when you go, you should definitely try the fruity pebble macrons! Grab some coffee and pop into some of the other great local shops around Maplewood.

I get my latte, my dog gets her treat. Everybody’s happy whenever we come here!

Man, I really want to like this place (used to love it when it was Foundation Grounds), I believe it's family owned now. Some of the family seems to be working together. It's a local place with pride, it would be GREAT for it to do well. But geeze, there were some major things wrong. It might explain why it was fairly dead on a Tuesday morning.

1) Food quality: I ordered the avocado toast with scrambled eggs. The toast was the best part, great bread! Avocado was fine...but insipid chopped tomatoes (if it's not tomato season, just don't use them), really pungent raw onion, that's about what I tasted. And the scrambled eggs...man, either they were cooked fresh and REALLY overdone or they're using powdered eggs (tasted like the latter for sure). Either way they were not good at all. Just not good. I give the benefit of the doubt though...maybe they didn't get a shipment of produce? Maybe they're in between eggs? IDK...just hope it's not like that all the time.

2) Service/atmosphere: this might be my bigger critique, for a couple of reasons. First, the man working the register was nice enough, but just extremely unprofessional. Was using chewing tobacco while working behind the counter which is, disgusting (and I would imagine some sort of health code violation?) At one point the woman behind the counter (whom I believe is the owner, and seems to be the "mom") asked the counter guy to make himself useful and maybe go wipe some tables/shelves. He jokingly responded, "ha, that's funny. Wipe down some shelves and tables, that's a good one." Cool if it was joking between family or whatever, but it was so loud...I was sitting in the dining room and heard it clearly. She was cussing it up and they were just being so flippant. At one point they were basically having a business meeting behind the counter, for all to hear. Talking about their struggles...talking about how the Living Room (down the street) was probably packed right now while they were not. Basically just setting a really unprofessional tone. It was kind of amazing.

Counter guy did go out and clean up a couple tables...he took dirty dishes from the trash can. But also walked by my table three or four times...not even offering to take my empty dish while he was taking the others. Now...it's a self-bussing type place...but my man, go the extra mile maybe?

Again, giving benefit of the doubt because of many other glowing reviews...maybe I hit them on a bad day/morning? Maybe they've had a bad week? If that's the case, I hope they start to find things looking up for them. I hope it can turn around.

Just a frustrating experience. It's such a great location and place...I just can't stand it when the employees of small places like this air their dirty laundry for all to hear. When there's little to no professionalism and care. It felt like a lack of care overall and therefore the customer doesn't feel cared for. I hope they can improve! I hope they can make it!

Excellent little cafe and a great place to work. Lots of natural light floods in through the big windows all around.

Edit: as of Oct 2020 it seems like staff is all new and don't know what they're doing when it comes to espresso. Had a really sour and watery double shot.

For some companies to claim to have an undying devotion to high caliber espresso machines, fair trade beans and single sourced this and that there hasn't been enough action on the coffee scene for the a primary ingredient, milk. Milk is a huge part of coffee culture, so to overlook it is just asinine in my opinion. Foundation Grounds has all the above AND the milk covered in an exceptional way! I have been looking for a place that made espresso drinks with almond milk but they are very few and far between. Then comes this jewel; it was a light ordeal to park (that's Maplewood for you) but I'm so glad I found this spot and I'm proud to declare this is going to be a new coffee Mecca for me.

I went in and ordered a Mocha. Normally, I would get hazelnut or toffee-nut because a lot of places Mocha is rather bitter for my liking. Something told me to just go ahead and give it a try on its own (I was already getting almond milk - so I was winning). Before I could sit down and make a phone call my order was up. A lovingly, handcrafted drink with very beautiful artwork was piping hot and ready for me.

I go to stir my drink and I lick the stirrer to gauge how much sugar I'll need to add. In my mind "oh boy they have done it, I don't need any sugar - what in Sam Hill is going on"? It was so good I had to call my mom. It was so good that I called over the Barista and told him that the drink that he just hand crafted up for me was ri-damn-diculous (in a good way)!!! I told him I was frustrated with other places not serving almond milk and also about how taken aback I was at how delicious the Mocha was without any extra additives. This place truly uses premium ingredients and that was apparent straight away.

I can't wait to go back and try some of the awesome food items that are on the menu. The customer service here is impeccable. They were about to close and they told me they don't kick anybody out. It really felt homey and relaxed in this charming location; lots of comfy seating and distinctive seating arrangements so everyone wasn't corralled together.

Will I come here every day? Due to the vicinity issues, I can't. Will I go out of my way to come here when I'm in the area? I certainly will. Will I tell the world and tell friends about my newfound love? You know this man! In my book this is my number one coffee spot and it will take a whole lot for someone to change that (maybe Matthew McConaughey will open up a place here and serve coffee himself; heck he might, he is doing car commercials now).

I've been coming here for years for the delicious coffee but I'm so happy I tried the lunch! I had the sweet potato burrito with a honey lavender latte and everything was perfect. Couldn't ask for a nicer way to spend the afternoon.

This is my second time visiting Maplewood Deli and Coffeehouse (formerly known as Foundation Grounds). The staff has been SO welcoming and friendly each time.

Their latte's are top-notch (seasonal honey cinnamon pictured), and their food is great as well! It's such a warm and inviting environment to sit and work or visit with friends.

There are several neat touches throughout the space, but my favorite is the "Pay it Forward" coffee board where you can purchase a coffee for someone, for instance, having a bad day. They can redeem it using the sticky notes (pictured below).

Definitely one of my favorite coffee spots I've visited in STL so far!

Lovely little place :) . Only my second time here and the people recognize my face! (And my love for hot chocolate) the hot chocolate is amazing, it isn't all chemically and incredibly stripping as the stuff from stores. It's really subtle and I enjoy it alot.

Their food is really good too, the grilled cheese panini has a more unique taste.

Love this place- I plan on becoming a regular :)

One of the best selections of breakfast burritos and sandwiches that you can buy. If you didn't know better, you would think that you had a chef in the kitchen preparing Gourmet each morning. The coffee is very good, and while it is hard to distinguish excellent from great coffee, the atmosphere of this establishment makes a morning outing outstanding. Seating can be limited but it is typically not a big deal. What makes this place so good, is the combination of great food, with good coffee, a perfect environment, in a great location. So... It is the combination of all of these things but make it a place to return. There is a rewards program for purchasing coffee and the availability of coffee condiments is on par. Typically, there is a fair mix of casual encounters, with business meetings, and the single person enjoying a meal or drink.