Common Grounds Coffee House & Desserts — Restaurant in Apex

Common Grounds is a coffeehouse located in the heart of Downtown Apex that has an airy ambiance with a hipster vibe. They have a rather interesting selection of coffees (both for the "just a cup o' joe" and "sweet and frozen" types) and their desserts are incredible. If you enjoy coffee and/or desserts, I would say it would be hard not to find something that you'd enjoy at Common Grounds.

Coffee: Five Stars (*)

Common Grounds seem to use two different sources for their beans - Torch Coffee (located in Morrisville, NC) and Carrboro Coffee Roasters (from Carrboro, NC, respectively). Yes, beans can be purchased at $14.99/lb and can also be served to you and your group in a french press while you're there (up to you). Selection of lattes, iced coffees, and frappes isn't the most extensive you'll see in the world; but, this is a good thing. A menu that takes too long to read means you're going to take forever to make a selection. They keep the menu tighter than some; and yet, still give you a wide selection. From "Coco Mocha" to "Ozzi" to "Nutty Irishman", you're sure to find some type of flavour mixing that you'd enjoy. At the same time, they will also have the classics (macchiato to a red eye, they're there).

Desserts: Five Stars (*)

Hooooooooly crap. Their cheesecake is somewhere between heaven and hell. It's heavenly because it's so delicious, rich, and flavourful. It's hell because you know you shouldn't eat a whole slice by yourself. I've shared their "Death by Chocolate" cheesecake (a slice of it, a MERE slice!) and we walked away with about 5-6 bites left on the plate. We just couldn't justify finishing it because of how intensely rich it was (which is a good thing!). I've tried some of their cookies and other sweets and haven't been disappointed yet, either.

Environment: Four Stars (**)

During a weekday, this place is pretty amazing to sit and "people watch" if the seats near the front haven't been taken yet. It's not a large location nor does it need to be; it's a small coffeehouse. I haven't seen a time where it was so busy that you couldn't find a seat (and even if you cannot, there's plenty of benches you can sit on throughout downtown Apex; they're kind of considerate like that). Maybe it's that I've always gone in here on a sunny (or just partially cloudy) day, but it does appear to be darker inside on cloudy days (not a complaint, but some seem to get grumpy about this).

Staff: Five Stars (*)

I've only had ONE issue that wasn't really an issue with the staff (it was my own doing/fault). I had asked for a Banana Chocolate frappe and ended up with a smoothie with some coffee in it (not necessarily a bad thing, just an odd texture). I may have only popped in here a handful of times at this time, but I cannot really say that the staff has been rude, nasty, or otherwise to me. In the example above, I was in a bit of a rush and wasn't clearly communicating with the barista (ergo, my own fault - not a fault of their own).

Overall: Five Stars (*)

I know some reviews have criticized them over their plastic utensils or styrofoam cups (which, I'm fairly sure they've got rid of entirely before I even started going there). However, I think the "bar" for the only coffeehouse in Downtown Apex seems to have people expecting a bit much from them. Even in coffeehouses I've been throughout the US that give you silverware and a plate (not a paper/plastic one) tend to have more employees handling everything than what I've seen in Common Grounds so far. It feels like there's a higher expectation of them simply based on their location; rather than the costs of what they're requesting. The coffee is amazing, the desserts are incredible, and they use local(ish) beans. What more can...

I never leave reviews, but if you or your children have severe food allergies (like me), I would use caution visiting this coffee shop. I went in the evening, so I am not sure if my experience would have been different had I gone earlier in the day. I am anaphylactic to milk and ordered a simple iced latte with soy milk, asking them to please not stir my drink with anything because I know the spoons some coffee shops use are often not cleaned properly in between drinks. I made it clear to the barista taking my order that I am severely allergic to milk and that cross contamination can cause me to have a reaction as well. I was literally asking for them to do LESS work, not asking to clean the entire counter or espresso machine or anything.

She made a note of my allergy on my drink ticket. I watched the other barista make my drink, and I saw him take a spoon out of the sink and stir my drink with it. He handed it to me and I politely asked if that spoon had touched any dairy, and if he had just said it came straight out of the dishwasher, sure, but he said "I think I just got fresh water." No clue what that means, but I asked if he wouldn't mind remaking it since his answer didn't give me too much confidence in the cleanliness of their bar area. He didn't say anything to me, just snatched the drink back and made a new one. He handed it back to me again without saying anything and was just very rude.

I worked in food service for 3 years as a teenager and I'm also a young adult. I would have never treated someone with allergies in that manner. I would understand if they were super busy and he just did it out of habit, but mine was the only order at the time. After all that, I still somehow had a minor reaction. Please train your baristas to take allergies seriously. There is a difference between lactose intolerance and a dairy allergy, and even if they thought I was exaggerating it doesn't matter. If someone says their allergy is severe, you treat it as such. I have visited many coffee shops in Apex, Cary, and Raleigh where I have never had an issue.

Not to mention, they were not busy and all of the plant milks were still just sitting out open on the counter, not in the fridge or anything. Also, they charge an entire extra dollar for plant milks. It does not cost THAT much more than regular milk, and it lasts way longer after opening too, especially if you actually...

Let me start out by saying that my wife and I love this place. Whenever we visit Downtown Apex we make a point to stop in here for great coffee or a dessert. In addition to the great products, we really enjoy the eclectic environment.

Here's where it all went south ...

We came in on Saturday afternoon and ordered 2 cold coffees ... a regular Carmel frappe and a regular vanilla frappe. My Carmel was superb, but my wife's vanilla frappe didn't taste quite right. It had a very strong aftertaste like a sugar free sweetener was used and not a strong vanilla taste. I tasted it too and got the same impression as well. When we told the barista that it didn't taste right he immediately got very defensive. He insisted that he didn't use any sugar free sweetener, but there's no masking the obvious aftertaste of a sugar free product. After the drama, my wife decided to get another flavor (carmel) at no charge and it was fine.

As I said before, we love this place and will continue to go back. I would rather support any small business instead of a large corporate chain every day of the week and twice on Sunday. However, it would be great to see a little humility when customers raise a concern about your product (especially when you're paying $6 for it). If this were a Starbucks, they would have gladly replaced the coffee without any hassle. I worked as a chef for many years and occasionally people would send back their food for various reasons. Instead of taking it personally, we would either recook it, or replace it with something else if requested. That's what keeps customers...