Grind — Restaurant in London

In such vibrant and busy metropolitan town, finding a cafe or restaurant isn’t hard, but finding a GOOD one is.

I used to love Grind. Every time I visited London, I stopped by for a cup at different Grind locations and even bought their coffee pods to have their coffee at home, not to mention promoting them on my social channels - but today’s situation had completely changed my mind and I will no longer support any Grind cafe.

What was meant to be a nice, slow breakfast, turned out to be a nightmare, very expensive nightmare.

Ordered beetroot latte (I’m a huge fan of beetroot coffee) but I was served something cold and soup-like… surely not even close to a latte.

Then the breakfast - ordered 2 simple meals (mind you, the restaurant wasn’t even busy) and waited 40 minutes to be exact, the staff was literally avoiding us the whole time, until I called the person over and asked if we’re going to get the food today at all. We were sat opposite the kitchen so I saw one of our meals just standing on their counter for at least 15 minutes…

The waiter apologised and offered “something to drink on us” as a compensation for the wait time, so we both ordered cappuccino.

Food was served 45/50 mins after ordering. Shocking. Can’t imagine what it’s like on a Saturday afternoon if you can’t handle half empty restaurant.

Food was okay but nothing outstanding (and cold obviously…)

We were too hAngry and in rush to raise complaints and after finishing most of the meal, we asked for a bill, tapped the card and left in rush as our parking ticket was due to expire.

I didn’t check the bill until we sat in our car, and to my surprise they did charge us for the “apology coffee” that was meant to be free of charge as a compensation. Plus obviously the service charge - for the staff who wasn’t even welcoming and constantly checked their phones, while our food was waiting on the counter…

I am a very easy to please person, but this experience was rather terrible and I will never again be...

I've been to the Grind so many times before, London Bridge and Greenwich, so was really surprised and saddened by the turn of events when we visited the London Bridge on Saturday. On reflection I've only ever been there in a small mixed group (of mixed ethnicities) or in a couple (again mixed ethnicities). This time were a group of eight, of mostly black people (two were white). I had a much longer review written originally, with a detailed account of the events, but in the end I'll try to keep it short as possible on this platform as we're going to raise a formal complaint anyway. They racially profiled us and we were essentially asked to leave. For no reason at all! I can had on heart say we gave them no reason to treat us the way they did. We had ordered one round of drinks, half the group were drinking soft drinks. We were dressed smartly, not that it should matter. When we went to order another round that's when we were told we had to leave. After a few reasonable attempts to understand what the issue was, where the staff just kept repeating the same generic nonsense we calmly paid the bill and left. It was honestly such a horrible, exhausting and disrespectful experience. If you're black, especially in groups going here, just be weary. In fact, in all honesty, just avoid altogether. Life is hard enough without choosing to spend our money in places where we're not wanted! We were absolutely disgusted by The Grinds behaviour, particularly the manager on the day and will be following up. However, I must give a shout out to the member of staff who first served us (I don't recall her name, but remember her being Italian). She was lovely and was baffled when she realised we were being asked to leave and even tired to intervene on our behalf. But whoever the management was, they were stuck firmly in their ignorance,...

The girls and I hit up Grind London Bridge on Saturday evening for a bit of a boozy dinner — and honestly? It was perfection.

We had a reservation, so no stress getting a table (which is a win when London’s running at 100% capacity on a sunny Saturday). Now, let’s talk cocktails: their menu reads like a dream — lychee, dragonfruit, kiwi, watermelon — it’s like choosing between flavours of summer itself. Every drink sounds like a first-round draft pick.

It was over 30 degrees, so we were in full cocktail mode. I told our server — the absolute star of the night — Samuel — that I had a soft spot for watermelon and hadn’t had any chilled, ripe watermelon in ages. I ordered the watermelon and tequila cocktail (stunning, by the way), and not only did he help us choose the best drinks, but he brought me actual watermelon on the side. Like, real, sweet, chilled watermelon. Just for me.

Who does that?

In a packed restaurant where the vibe is already buzzing and they don’t need to do extra to get people in, this kind of thoughtful, above-and-beyond service stands out. I’ve probably told 15 people already about Samuel and the watermelon. It’s rare to feel that seen in a London spot, and I want whoever manages Grind to know: he made my night.

The drinks? Fantastic. The music? Always a vibe. The location? A literal 3-minute walk from London Bridge Station. The atmosphere? Date night or girls’ night certified.

I’ve been to Grind plenty of times — but now that I’ve had personal watermelon service, you can bet I’ll be back again (and again). Because some nights are about cocktails — and some are about the stories you’ll still be telling three months from now.

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