Reviews for Groundswell Coffee Roasters in Chicago, IL
Groundswell has a great balance between a neighborhood coffee shop and a carefully designed place that takes its drinks... seriously. Excellent coffee, lots of natural light, strong wi-fi, and friendly baristas. It can get noisy (the downside ofconcrete floors), but in my experience never for long. A good addition to the neighborhood! Read more
Top notch coffee shop. Lattes are not overly sweet and drinkably hot right after preparation. Exceptionally smooth Espresso.... Cozy atmosphere with limited indoor and outdoor seating. Do-Rite donuts sold here. They have one or two seasonal drinks perseason, but I usually prefer those types of drinks from other shops. Read more
Well, I feel much better now that others have mentioned how rude the staff can be at Groundswell. There have been a few good... baristas... So rude and passive-aggressive. It's kinda funny in a way. Today I asked for a 12oz coffee and they just shoved itat me. I said thank you, and they said nothing. They'll treat certain customers with care and respect, but I must be some kindof nobody to them. Read more
I really wanted to like this place and have given it so many chances. The matcha and coffee are both decent, but oh boy; the... staff are EXTREMELY rude! The first time I walked in with a stroller, all three staff just stood at the register staring at mejudgmentally as I struggled with the door. Then one of them made a comment to another one about how much they hate making matchaas they were making my matcha. Again, I still wanted to give it a chance. So, off and on, it?s been okay, but still somewhatuncomfortable with staff. Flash forward to this past week. I go in the early morning to get a matcha and they were a littlebusy, and I was the last one in the bunch. I stood for over ten minutes waiting by the side of the bar where they ALWAYS placethe drinks at. I then asked where the matcha was as these two baristas stood there just gossiping, not saying anything to me.One of them then says in a very rude tone, ?it?s over there.? Over there meant on top of the other side of the bar near theregister, where they don?t put the drinks at. Not once was I told that my matcha was over there. Furthermore, I ordered a large,and my matcha was extremely tiny. They said it was a large, but I?ve ordered the iced one before, and it was much bigger. I?mdone with this place, and I really hope that management starts caring about making their customers feel welcome and invited. Ithas to be bad when I would rather take my business to the local Starbucks? Read more
This location has decent iced drinks, and tried the Kolache. However, the second interaction after trying their drinks?a man... barista not very friendly. No matter what friendly comment, and even tip..just wasn?t having it. I can get unfriendly serviceany day why not be nicer? Read more
Generic cafe atmosphere, coffee is decent, food is decent. There?s nothing wrong with this place, just not much to write home... about either. I had a cappuccino and a breakfast wrap with ham. The coffee was on the sour side and smaller than average with apretty but usual foam design. The wrap had a nice wheat wrap, and was handmade, but took a long time, wasn?t very warm, and theegg chunks were pre-cooked. There was also too much sriracha sauce on it. It overwhelmed the flavor on several bites. I will goback to try other menu items but not soon. Read more
The baristas are skilled and know how to assemble a good beverage. My cappuccino was the perfect balance between espresso and... foamy milk. It also helps that they use the right quantity of high quality coffee that makes their espresso shot strong andperfectly acidic. Apart from great coffee the shop is really cute and peaceful. They have outdoor seating underneath thesidewalk trees. Read more
One of the worst experiences as a customer I?ve ever had. The coffee shop I wanted to go to was unfortunately closed :( So my... roommate and I headed down the street to another one we found. We walked inside, the baristas seemed interested in somethingelse so whatever. We walked up to the register and I ordered an espresso and then (a bit of a complicated request I guess) askedfor an iced espresso with vanilla and oat milk. I?ve been in the industry for 3+ years and have made drinks like this manytimes. It is not an iced latte. I guess this lead to an argument, the barista corrected me and said that I was ordering an icedlatte which I was not. You can charge for syrup and the additional milk I do not care. But he proceeded to charge me for an icedlatte without my consent. We picked up the drinks and my roommates iced espresso barely had any oat milk so she asked for more.He said ?next time just order an iced latte? like he literally didn?t just charge us for one? Every interaction with thisbarista was passive- aggressive. I left the cafe crying as i felt so attacked by this interaction, just so incredibly rude. Tomy point. There are several reviews calling out this coffee shop for having rude baristas and a passive-aggressive environment.Yet, the owner has done NOTHING. No, I don?t want to hurt small businesses but I want them to know that it isnt okay to be MEANto customers and to make them feel awful. So please, for the sake of your feelings and happiness DO NOT go to Groundswell CoffeeRoasters on Damen. Jason, we see your incompetence with creating a healthy culture at your shop and encourage you to fixit. Have a good day. Read more