It may not have been perceived as such at the time, but the closure of Caribou Coffee outlet in April of 2012 near Grandview Heights may have been a precursor to the (botched) conversion of all of the Buckeye State's Caribou Coffee locations into Peet's Coffee & Tea stores. While some people may say a chain restaurant is a chain restaurant is a chain restaurant, I knew there were enough differences in both the atmosphere and coffee drinks between Caribou and Peet's to distinguish the two in most people's minds. Also, you cannot discount brand loyalty, so it was no surprise to me that Peet's (a chain I had much experience with back in the Bay Area) didn't last too long after its somewhat forced entry into this market.
Caribou Coffee's Grandview-area fans, like other Ohio-located fans of the chain, may rue these events even now. But some solace exists in the coffee cafe which followed in the Grandview location's footsteps, the brainchild of none other than that store's displaced barista, Samantha DeMint.
Grandview Grind, which opened up a few months after Grandview Caribou's closure, isn't much farther than a block than another local coffee purveyor along Grandview Avenue in long-time area roaster Stauf's. If one were to look at strictly their exteriors, Grandview Grind doesn't match its neighbor in visibility (the cafe's storefront faces out an inlet parking lot rather than the main drag) or in that sometimes tough-to-define "cool factor" (Stauf's resides in the brick-built Bank Block, one of the first ever strip malls ever built in the country dating back to 1927.)
However, once inside, most customers will find Grandview Grind as comfortable a place as any other coffeehouse that might come to mind, with a flair for the local. High ceilings give the interior a more spacious feel; other sections of the space sectioned off with couches, shelving (some featuring locally-produced products such as Glenn Avenue Soap) and lamps might make you feel like you're at home. Artwork from local artists dotting the walls and the chalkboard drawing of the day by the front door offers some eye candy should you need a break from your reading material or using the cafe's free wi-fi for some mobile device dabbling.
"It's all good" can refer to either the drink menu (all the usual drinks are featured here, and we've found our drinks consistently well-made) or the coffee beans available: a number of roasters (locals like Thunderkiss, Backroom, Cafe Brioso, Boston Stoker and Luck Brothers, as well as Denver-based Novo) have been featured and available in bulk purchase at one time or another.
This applies to the tea side as well, with the cafe offering loose leaf teas in bulk as well as basic tea and "tea latte" concoctions Pair any of these drink bases with some of the cafe's homemade baked goods or some of the pre-packaged food items (like the French-styled pastries of Columbus-based Patisserie Lallier) and you're almost promised a pretty good start to the day. Grandview Grind also gets additional bonus points for early-risers, as it probably has the earliest opening hours of any locally-based coffee cafe in the area (6 AM Monday thru Saturday.)
Grandview Grind
1423-A Grandview Ave (5th by Northwest - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 485-9005
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