Austin Grind — Restaurant in Austin

One degree off in every way that counts.

I drive by It's A Grind most mornings on my way to work, so this would be my Go-To place if they made some very important changes.

Their coffee is awful. Obviously that is an egregious oversight in a coffee shop, and it saddens me to even have to use that adjective. Unfortunately, I've tried their lattes, cappuccinos, drip (french, breakfast, seasonal, etc), blended, iced, and mochas, and each and every time it tastes burnt, flavorless, or a bizarre combination of both. In an attempt to mask this I have also ordered flavored varieties... to no avail. Still bad. Their website claims "micro-roasted", and I call BS.

They don't allow for tipping when using a credit card. To each their own, I suppose, but this really bugs me. Unless that's a part of the franchise conditions, you need to change that policy.

Inconsistency. Every other time I've been there, my order has either been wrong, lukewarm, under-filled, or a combination thereof. Several of the times I felt like I was speaking Sumerian, because what I ordered and what I received weren't even remotely close. The last and final time, I ordered a large double dirty chai, was handed a blended mocha java rush ten minutes later. They ended up giving me a freebie card as an apology this time, but by that point I was just done. Still haven't used it.

Dark, echoey, and uninviting. The interior ambiance needs some work. It could be inviting... but there's just something very dark, cold and uncomfortable that made me want to always get my coffee To-Go. Most of the time, I'd walk in and there would be zero music, with the only sound being two girls chatting with each other echoing out from behind the counter. It's a coffee shop, folks, not museum.

Counter vs Drive Thru. Standing inside the building, being the only individual that is currently there placing an order shouldn't take 15 minutes to obtain a coffee in the morning. But if you happen to be standing there when there are cars in line in the drive thru, guess who gets serviced first? Every single person in the drive thru before you. A couple of the times I had to ask where my order was, because they had forgotten... again, only one...

The store is clean, they have made to order items that look okay, ice cream, and an assortment of Teas and Smoothie’s all of which look fine to good, wouldnt no I haven’t tried them. They have a drive through that seems to flow super well.

I ordered a 16 ounce Americano, not iced, with oat milk. They allocate the milk, and they got the right milk alternative. The drink felt like it was over 200 degrees. Glad I wasn’t driving I may have spilt it at the shock of the temperature. I expect drip coffee to possibly be that hot to hide the burnt cigarette flavor but not an espresso drink. The flavor was nutty as a primary flavor before it cooled down. After it cooled a bit it barely tasted of coffee. It was probably my mistake for ordering the 16 ounce, it was probably the same amount of espresso in each size just more watered down. It was so watery I ordered an espresso shot after to fortify, that also came out incredibly hot, and tasted watered down when I tried it before dumping into the Americano, it barely added any coffee flavor. Honestly not the worst Americano I’ve ever had, but I had to reach for the memory of something worse.

Staff was super friendly, polite, and worked with urgency providing fast service.

I dont live very close, and this cafe is looking for a different demographic than me, I dont think I’ll be returning.

All that being said this is the right coffee shop for someone in the...

The coffee is delicious and the service is exceptionally friendly. I took off a star for two reasons.

1. it cost one dollar to add flavored syrup to the iced coffee, but that charge is not listed anywhere on the drive thru sign. I wasn't told the total until I got to the window. I asked about the difference in price and was advised of the extra charge for the syrup. When I commented that it was not listed on the sign (see photo), I was told that "it's on the sign inside"... Now I don't order the iced coffee, I just stick with drinks that are actually the menu price.
2. THEY PUT AN UNWRAPPED STRAW IN MY DRINK. It's A Grind, I hate this. I don't stop often enough to remember to ask that they don't do this, and as a semi-germaphobe, it grosses me out as I'm drinking the delicious, delicious coffee. The prices are in line with what you would expect to pay for gourmet coffee, but unlike some of these places, they aren't playing around with the large size, it's 32 oz. That offsets or enhances (depending on your mindset) the $7.25 pricetag for the triple chocolate mocha, which is the most expensive drink on the menu. I haven't tried that one, but the honey toffee crunch blended is terrific. If they correct the sign, and stop using unwrapped straws, I will happily update my review to five stars.

Overall, great drinks and...