Reviews (100)
Chai lattes are mediocre but what keeps me coming back are the delicious apple fritters. So, so good.
Coffee is good but the employees are the least friendly people ever. They especially are unkind to children. Considering the neighborhood, they would be wise to have a little more patience. The last straw for me was an employee scolding my 3 year old for touching a piece of plastic designating the pickup spot, and he wasn't even hurting anything or getting in anyone's way. My son cried the whole way home asking why they weren't nice there. I'll be taking my business elsewhere from now on.
Very nice place to stop in for your morning top off!
I’ve been coming here for years and love the coffee, but really wish they would bring back the paninis or other food options.
Great coffee, but staff is not friendly. They made the fact that we were out of coffee an awful experience today.
The person gave me great options after explaining what I was looking for. Will come back!
Great place with great seasonal drinks as well. Always a good way to start the morning in the area
Comfortable please for good coffee ☕
My favorite cold brew in the city. I used to live around the corner and visit often and now I come in whenever I’m nearby.
Great establishment, nice vibe and had a very comfortable poop in theyre bathroom🧡
One of the worst experiences as a customer I’ve ever had. The coffee shop I wanted to go to was unfortunately closed :( So my roommate and I headed down the street to another one we found. We walked inside, the baristas seemed interested in something else so whatever. We walked up to the register and I ordered an espresso and then (a bit of a complicated request I guess) asked for an iced espresso with vanilla and oat milk. I’ve been in the industry for 3+ years and have made drinks like this many times. It is not an iced latte. I guess this lead to an argument, the barista corrected me and said that I was ordering an iced latte which I was not. You can charge for syrup and the additional milk I do not care. But he proceeded to charge me for an iced latte without my consent. We picked up the drinks and my roommates iced espresso barely had any oat milk so she asked for more. He said “next time just order an iced latte” like he literally didn’t just charge us for one? Every interaction with this barista was passive- aggressive. I left the cafe crying as i felt so attacked by this interaction, just so incredibly rude. To my point. There are several reviews calling out this coffee shop for having rude baristas and a passive-aggressive environment. Yet, the owner has done NOTHING. No, I don’t want to hurt small businesses but I want them to know that it isnt okay to be MEAN to customers and to make them feel awful. So please, for the sake of your feelings and happiness DO NOT go to Groundswell Coffee Roasters on Damen. Jason, we see your incompetence with creating a healthy culture at your shop and encourage you to fix it. Have a good day.
Groundswell has a great balance between a neighborhood coffee shop and a carefully designed place that takes its drinks seriously. Excellent coffee, lots of natural light, strong wi-fi, and friendly baristas. It can get noisy (the downside of concrete floors), but in my experience never for long. A good addition to the neighborhood!
Top notch coffee shop. Lattes are not overly sweet and drinkably hot right after preparation. Exceptionally smooth Espresso. Cozy atmosphere with limited indoor and outdoor seating. Do-Rite donuts sold here. They have one or two seasonal drinks per season, but I usually prefer those types of drinks from other shops.
Good place if you’re in the area but the coffee and the selection of pastries could be better.
Well, I feel much better now that others have mentioned how rude the staff can be at Groundswell. There have been a few good baristas... So rude and passive-aggressive. It's kinda funny in a way. Today I asked for a 12oz coffee and they just shoved it at me. I said thank you, and they said nothing. They'll treat certain customers with care and respect, but I must be some kind of nobody to them.
I really wanted to like this place and have given it so many chances. The matcha and coffee are both decent, but oh boy; the staff are EXTREMELY rude! The first time I walked in with a stroller, all three staff just stood at the register staring at me judgmentally as I struggled with the door. Then one of them made a comment to another one about how much they hate making matcha as they were making my matcha. Again, I still wanted to give it a chance. So, off and on, it’s been okay, but still somewhat uncomfortable with staff. Flash forward to this past week. I go in the early morning to get a matcha and they were a little busy, and I was the last one in the bunch. I stood for over ten minutes waiting by the side of the bar where they ALWAYS place the drinks at. I then asked where the matcha was as these two baristas stood there just gossiping, not saying anything to me. One of them then says in a very rude tone, “it’s over there.” Over there meant on top of the other side of the bar near the register, where they don’t put the drinks at. Not once was I told that my matcha was over there. Furthermore, I ordered a large, and my matcha was extremely tiny. They said it was a large, but I’ve ordered the iced one before, and it was much bigger. I’m done with this place, and I really hope that management starts caring about making their customers feel welcome and invited. It has to be bad when I would rather take my business to the local Starbucks…
My Latte was really good. That's not as easy as it sounds. The staff was friendly and welcoming. Will dine again.
Disappointing experience even though I heard good things about Groundswell. I agree with the other reviews about the attitude from staff here- no one wants to be treated like an inconvenience simply for existing and that’s what the staff made my friend and I feel like here. Glad I saw other people post and we’re not crazy. Not coming back.
This location has decent iced drinks, and tried the Kolache. However, the second interaction after trying their drinks…a man barista not very friendly. No matter what friendly comment, and even tip..just wasn’t having it. I can get unfriendly service any day why not be nicer?
Great coffee and donuts. Loved my Cortado.