Shoreditch Grind

TOTALLY APPALLING! If you go into any café, bar or restaurant, as a customer you expect to be treated with at least a measure of respect, however upon entering Shoreditch Grind, I was made to feel inferior and spoken to as if I was a second class citizen by the staff. In no uncertain terms I was told I was not welcome, “If you’re only having a cup of tea, you’re not sitting here for 20 minutes taking up space. You’ll have to take it outside!” I was a paying customer and to have been spoken to so rudely by the staff -never in my life have I felt as mortified and degraded as I did then. THE BEHAVIOR OF THE STAFF WAS UNEXCEPTABLE; I WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN.

This place is disgusting.  It has a food hygiene rating of 1 out of 5 "Major Improvement Necessary".  Check the food standards agency website.  It also has weird coffee, incredibly rude staff.  It is clearly very poorly managed.  I will never go again and advise to stay away, there are better options.

Disappointing -  style over substance

(1)  Coffee was nasty and acidic

(2)  Rude, obnoxious, stroppy, stupid staff.  Take these people to a pret or itsu or somewhere else with exemplary staff training and show them how its done.

(3)  For god's sake put the pastries under glass or cellophane or something instead of leaving them out all day for dust and dirt and people sneezing, coughing and breathing over them.

The only positive thing I can say is that the decor and design is quite unusual, although it looks better from the outside than from the inside.

QUICK TIP:  The following day I went to a little unpretentious coffee shop just across the road from this place called Kaffeine.  Lovely smooth beautiful coffee (served by a pleasant polite gentleman).  The best coffee always happens in unexpected places.

Esspresso's here taste foul. Like they've been made with oxo cubes.

My favourite coffee this side of the river!

Everything is great here

Great place. Favourite coffee shop in London. Delicious food & coffee! Be sure to visit.

great coffee best cocktails in shoreditch

The rock stars of coffee!

Some of the best coffee in Shoreditch. Amazing coffee-infused cocktails. Awesome vibe. Not to mention, super-convenient location.

Amazing coffee, delicious food, hopping vibe- great for people-watching, safely tucked away from the hustle & bustle of the city- and yes, even espresso cocktails and martinis. Is there anything this place doesn't have?

I can't start the weekend without a large latte and smashed avo and poachies on sourdough toast. Great service, fun and lively atmosphere and brilliant price (just over £10)! Perfect!

They do a mean espresso martini if you fancy something stronger. 

One of the best coffees in town! I love this place in the mornings.

Average coffee and VERY expensive.

The worst customer service I have ever experienced. The woman at the counter was exceptionally rude (not sure if she is a manager/supervisor. She huffed and rolled her eyes when we said we asked to have a quick look at the menu before ordering (mind you we were the only ones waiting to order...so we were not holding anyone up). When we placed our order requesting skim milk it instantly became a huge issue, prompting a further episode of huffing and eye rolling.

Once the ordering stage was over we took a seat and waited for our drinks. The staff had no idea as to where the drinks had to go, and ended up giving them to other customers. When we followed it up, and told the staff that our drinks had been given to others, the same woman who took our orders made a huge ordeal about having the coffees made again (and actually given to us this this around). She then proceeded to glare at us as we had our coffee. This was extremely uncomfortable.

Although the coffee itself was quite good, the service was not existant. The staff attitude needs to be addressed promptly.

I would never go back.

Really bad experience.  The girl serving had such a rude nasty attitude.  The coffee was pretty mediocre, although I understand that this place is Australian and this is how they make it.  Also, the girl serving kept licking her fingers, which seemed unhygienic, as did the pastries which looked nice but were left out uncovered all day without cellophane.

This place rocks! Properly amazing coffee, ultra cool vibe to an awesome soundtrack! Shoreditch Grind is an instant icon! Sure, its busy, and it can sometimes take a while to get a coffee, but i'd rather wait a few minutes for something amazing than drink that rubbish from the chains! Also the food menu is also getting bigger and better all the time! A++++ !

Easily the best coffee i've had in London, and an amazing vibe! The food is also pretty great. I'm a regular and the service is great and super friendly, contrary to some of the other reviews. My only complaint would be that there is often a long queue, particularly in the mornings! Overall a great transformation of what used to be a really bad corner of the roundabout.

By far the best coffee I've had in London - Thumbs up to the great staff, specifically the Australian barista, very talented!

I will never be back because: last time I was verbally 'attacked' by some slime ball rude manager(?) pompous guy in a blazer behind the bar, who was so aggressively 'chatty/flirty' that I almost walked out. At least that's what I think he was trying to do, but he was actually really insulting. That guy needs to leave.

the flat white is worth making a trip for but as the other reviewers, service is a big big problem here. They are apathetic and slow, the lady at the till having a face droopy would be proud of. The coffee has also been lukewarm on occasion, however the pastries have been a hit...ozone coffee roasters down the road on leonard street is far superior...

I think its great coffee!! Im from Australia and I think the place is owned by Aussies?? Thats how we drink our coffee its comes in small glasses and the milk is not overly boiled. I think if you guys are after big boiling cups of coffee then stick to Starbucks!! It does take a little longer to get a coffee than most places. Two reasons the place is rammed and secondly it takes time to make good coffee!

The coffee is average and the service is really bad. I will never go there again.

I want to like this place because the location is so convenient for me, but the coffee is just not good. I've had macchiato, late, cappuccino and mocha here but each time it's just been so bitter. Add to that the sizes are small compared to the prices charged, the barristers are incredibly slow seemingly making just one coffee at a time, and the the staff are not at all friendly, no smile no warmth. I never complain normally as I don't expect much to be honest but this place is truly awful. Also like so many coffee shops in London they don't know how to use Soya milk as they overheat and burn it each time. I still go occasionally though, as I like the space, but now I just drink tea and take a paper to read whilst i'm waiting.

Just terrible. For £2.45, I got a tiny glass of latte so lukewarm that I could have literally knocked it back in one gulp. When I politely asked for a hotter version, the sulky-faced barista said that was how they should be made and argued the toss for a minute before agreeing to make a fresh one. As she did, I heard her sniggering to her colleague (tattoos and asymmetric haircut, natch) that I wanted a ‘Starbucks latte’. So, to recap: tiny drink, huge price, and badly made by pig-rude staff. The atmosphere of hipster disdain was almost palpable and it was all just so unwelcoming. A master-class in how not to do it.

The decor and music made me think this was the kind of place I would like. The coffee, unfortunately, said otherwise. I asked for a strong cappuccino, and when I went to pick it up from the barista I said 'is there an extra shot in this one?' She looked at me witheringly, said rudely 'all our coffees are double shot' as if I was some coffee newb and turned away. I shrugged and took my coffee, hoping this could be my new local place. The coffee tasted like dirty dishwater, with the tiniest hint of coffee flavour. It was one of the weakest cappuccinos I've ever had, and I've lived in the US (!) I thought about taking it back and saying it wasn't good enough, which I NEVER do, but I couldn't be bother dealing with the rude barista again. Instead I forced half of it down and left. Terrible, terrible cup of coffee.

Extremely slow service.Pricing of their tiny Cofee cup also quiet a rip of. I do wonder if the Shoreditch Silicon Roundabout might be distorting the price/value...

The service sucks. The coffee is average. The 'witty' dialogue through their signage dreadful. Whilst the space is interesting and an improvement on the old empty phone shop, it's not a comfortable environment to relax in. Too bad.

Great staff and great coffee! Highly reccomended!

Cool vibe, cool people, coffee and cakes were excellent. I will be popping back to sample the sarnies very soon, Save me a stool !!

At last! A proper cup of coffee at Old Street! The coffee is awesome and the sandwiches are really good too. Love the vibe of the place and the old cinema sign that display new messages every few weeks. I hear they're adding a recording studio upstairs?

Thought I'd give this a try as it looked like a cool concept and was a bored of Starbucks. Wish I really hadn't bothered. Waited ages for the coffee and when it turned up it was luke warm and very milky. Not impressed! To top it off the 'try hard' stools are so uncomfortable, they're like some kind of torture device. I won't be going there again!

I found it strange they were guarded about there beans... Something to hide? Good but not great. That said it makes grabbing a decent coffee after exiting old street tube on the way to work that much easier.