Grounds Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Long Beach

There was a disorganized group interview for Moonbridge Donut Studio that was scheduled to be at this location on 9/27/24 through 9/29/24 from around 1pm-2pm. It was later made evident no one was welcomed. Apparently, there was no agreement upon both locations to have the interview there. It's very understandable there may have been tension given that both locations are somewhat competitors, but those who showed up for the interview were just as clueless and did not need to be treated in such a horrible manner. Once the owners—workers—whoever the middle aged, tall, brown haired man and female cashier were—found out about the interview, they brought out the worst customer service attitude ever. They became aggressive. Again, it's understandable; it was disorganized. But it did not have to be handled as it was. If this is any indication of how potential customers are treated, it's not worth stepping foot in here in general.

Edit 9/27/24: As mentioned in the review above; it was understood the the original business was disorganized and in the wrong, but still does not excuse the poor attitude of the staff to the clueless interviewees. It is clear from the reply below received by the establishment that the attitude here is disgusting.

Edit 9/28/24: It seems the establishment has edited their response to my first review. Once again, as stated; it is understandable there may have been tension because nothing was previously agreed upon between both locations. And again, it was the attitude given to the unaware "25+" people. The situation could have been handled completely different. It could have been calmly explained and everyone could have been peacefully asked to exit the café rather than begin confrontation. It's certain almost everyone—whom could have been potential patrons—will never be stepping foot in here again and will be informing family and friends to...

I was born New York City and raised in central New Jersey. So do I know bagels? Do I know Bagels? Fuhgetaboutit.

I had always heard that the words "L.A." and "pizza" don't exactly go hand-in-hand, but trust me, friend - bagels are no different. Southern California has an apparent Great Bagel Deficit, where the average bagel here can range from "Eh..." to "If I ever see that monstrosity tryin' to pass itself off as a 'bagel' again, it'll begin somewhere in a dark alley and end with it sleepin' with the fishes." Fuhgetaboutit.

Grounds Bakery, though? Lemme tell ya.

Grounds Bakery don't mess around. Grounds Bakery don't disappoint.

Hands down, it is the best bagel I have tried so far in all of Southern California. Fugetaboutit.

Now I'm talkin' weekly visits, friend. I can't get enough. It reminds me so much of Jersey, Bruce Springsteen plays every time I go there. I don't consciously put him on - it just happens.

Feels like...

I've been to this location several times, and it's not bad. I ordered an Everything bagel with veggie cream cheese this morning that was a bit disappointing. The (stick) bagel appeared to have only sesame & poppy seeds on it, I didn't see or taste any onion/garlic/salt, and the thin smear of cream cheese was a bit disappointing too, especially since the cream cream cheese was much more than the bagel (as expected). I'll have to try it again another time.

I also had a boxed lunch from here recently, which is pretty good. I tried the chicken salad sandwich for the first time. I didn't care for the flavor. There were large chunks of water chestnuts (I think) that overpowered the chicken. I removed several of them after a couple of bites because there were just too many. (I forgot to take photos.) Overall, Grounds is a good spot to get breakfast...