Grounds For Dismissal Coffee — Restaurant in Denver

I’m here like 3x/week so Idk why it’s taken so long to leave a review 😅. Go to any cafe within 20 miles of here and I guarantee you they’ve served my family before. We drink a lotta lattes… So it should say a lot that Grounds for Dismissal is our favorite coffee shop probably of all time.

The location is super low key. Very relaxing area surrounded by beautiful foliage, it’s nestled - almost hidden - in the center of a small business plaza. There are only about a dozen parking spots in front, but don’t be discouraged; the huge 3 level garage directly across has plenty additional spots. While it is not easily seen from the road, GFD is definitely the highlight of the neighborhood!

The owner Carissa is amazing. Be it cheffing it up behind the scene, being barista, or on the computer trying to better her business, she’s always hard at work here, but never to busy to stop and chat!

The food… man I swear this isn’t food that you’d expect from a coffee shop. They’re really back there cooking. Besides the usual cafe pastries, cookies, bagels (which are honestly 😗🤌) they’ve got whatever you could want for quick breakfast. I get a griller almost every time, which consists of a sausage egg n cheese cuddled up in between the most perfectly cooked pieces of French toast with a light sprinkle of powdered sugar. Breakfast tacos/ quesadillas, lunch sandwiches… you can check the menu yourself. Seriously try the bagels though.

As for the coffee. Jesus I know I said I would only drink coffee at home this year but GFD has ruined that for me. I can’t stop spending my money here lol. The lattes seriously get me emotional. First of all, ALL the syrups are made in house, I even had to buy a bottle for home. The coffee is so damn palatable. At some places it tastes like you get a cup of flavored hot milk, but at GFD you can taste everything! The coffee through the latte, and the flavor you chose through the coffee. Perfectly balanced. All the time. Idk what else to say.

Actually there’s sooo much more to say! They do iced flights, served directly from heaven it seems. If you made it reading this far then just go stop by and see for yourself or check their Instagram, cause I’ll just go on forever 😂

Kid friendly atmosphere, both inside and out ( but also quiet sections if you need to work) There is a turf patch out in front safely distanced from the parking lot, spacious enough for like 8 toddlers (don’t worry, there’s never actually that many), and ample seating to accommodate whatever size crew you’re rolling in with. Also board games, puzzles, etc. Art and accessories on consignment. They do punch cards.

At first, I was gatekeeping this place because I didn’t wanna “blow up my spot” but now I can’t help but direct my fellow coffee connoisseurs over here because if you’ve never been here you’re seriously missing out. I’m sorry for that y’all, I’m spreading the word now!

Truly...

Was super excited to try this place after seeing a video on tiktok. Although it was a far drive, I love nothing more than supporting small woman owned businesses. Sad to say it was by far one of the worse experiences I have had at a small business. We ordered the seasonal coffee flights even though they were above $30 but upon receiving our orders we realized that the flights were disgustingly sweet. We are not ones to complain but the drinks were so sweet that we could not take another sip. We went up to the counter to see if maybe we could even out the sweetness of the drink with either more coffee or cream but were disappointed by the service. The person at the register said “well those drinks are for Starbucks drinkers” to begin with what does that mean? I go to Starbucks regularly but have never received a drink that was ¾ sugar instead of coffee. I went back and looked at the comment and they mentioned the white girls who drink Starbucks does this mean because I am not white that I am not allowed to order these drinks?  The cashier also mentioned that we could’ve ordered the drinks less sweet, being that it was our first time at this location we would have never known that the drinks were going to be that sweet. Nowhere on the menu did I see any language to indicate that these drinks are filled with lots of sugar. But instead of helping address our concerns the employees just blamed us for not knowing their products. The customer service was extremely disappointing considering that this was a small business where I would expect better service. If I was at Starbucks the employees would not hesitate in accommodating the request of a customer. Overall super disappointment with the lack of responsibility of the owners and the employees. Would not recommend this place at all, save your money and spend it at other shops...

Edit: turns out the employee who laughed at us was indeed the owner, based on their response to the review.

This place has a lot to work on. Came in and asked about vegan options given the menu says in big bold letters “ask about our vegan options” and the employee laughs, and says “there are none.” Then she asks me to on the spot come up with vegan food suggestions for her to add to the menu. It sounds like there previously were vegan options, so I guess I’d recommend just adding those ones back.

Then we ordered a vegan mocha, again because the menu has “vegan mocha” explicitly written out with a star next to it, the employee laughs again as if she had never heard of such a thing in her life. To make matters worse, the “vegan mocha” provided almost certainly had dairy in it, which we learned after the fact given how sick it made us. I’m not surprised by this though since it seemed like we were the first people to ever order it.

Took about 20 minutes to get two drinks, and we were near a woman who waited 30 minutes for her food, so long she had to ask if it had been forgotten about.

Overall the service here is unfriendly. We were laughed at twice for asking for vegan options that were clearly listed as available on the menu. The employees were really closed off and unkind not just to us but to everyone else around us.

The vibes of this place on the first floor of a tucked away office plaza are pretty sad, and the outdoor space is bordering on infested with yellowjackets and...