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Category: Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhood: Pacific HeightsMon-Sat. 6:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
"Bay Watch is my favorite place in the Marina. I am not a huge fan of the Marina...why? Because I'm a jerk, that's why. Anyway, Bay Watch is…" read more »
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Royal Grounds is kind of a disaster....messy, unkempt, coffee not so good.
3 stars for being different in a sea of bland coffee shops on Fillmore and for the nice big tables and non-corporate atmo. A good place for relaxin' and chillaxin' or whatever you kids say.
Fro-yo girl here. I'm rating the fro-yo only, since I've never had anything but fro-yo here. The fro-yo feels like an afterthought, which is very sad. They have one machine and two flavors a day, non-fat chocolate and non-fat vanilla. They carry YoCream. As for toppings, they had four kinds: sprinkles, Oreos, and something else in a Tupperware container. Sad.
Fro-yo prices: Small ($2.75), Large ($3.50)
I had a small cup of French vanilla fro-yo. The mix has a nice, sweet vanilla flavor but Royal Ground doesn't know or doesn't care to maintain the fro-yo machine properly. The fro-yo was too soft and grainy/not smooth. I've had this same mix many other places and it can by quite smooth.
They also have coffee, many pastries, smoothies and free wi-fi. Quite a few people were there with laptops.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
Wow, the music playing here right now is god awful. The End of the Road by ..boyz II men?? really? and bette midler? i find it hard to focus on whats on my computer screen when this crap is playing!! The coffee is bad too !
Update: Now they are playing the Celine Dion Titanic song!!! Time to bounce.
I like their chai here. It had a bit of a vanilla aftertaste which is much different than what I'm used to having. I dunno how the coffee is but everyone at this location when I went seemed very friendly and helpful. The prices for food seemed reasonable too so if I'm looking for something quick I might stop in again. I know my BF's friend said her espresso seemed a little burned. There are lots of places to sit as well. I'll go back for the chai.
Overall, a good place to sit and do some computer work. Nothing special about this place, it's warm inside, the coffee is mediocre, and the free wi-fi is surprisingly quick.
I do like that the tables are wide enough to layout your laptop and notebook without feeling scrunched.
There is nothing extraordinary about Royal Ground. At times the service can be rather sluggish and the coffee just doesn't taste right. However, Royal Ground offers free Internet and opens damn early-- perfect for those days the BF drops me off at work.
Oh. Almost forgot to mention-- I love Royal Ground's ham, egg and cheese croissants!
Royal Ground's bland and unfocused decor does the bagels, caffeinated bevs, and free wi-fi no justice!
While you might feel more hip about going to Noahs, Peets, or Tully's for your morning joe or bagel, your tummy and your pocket will thank you for choosing the wiser option when going to Royal Grounds.
The Royal Grounds bagel is chock full of healthy sprouts, refreshing cucumbers and tomatoes, a half avocado, and cream cheese to keep it real. The chai latte (option sweet or spicy) is delicious, HUGE, and cheap!
Service can be slightly slow at times, but you can usually spark friendly convo with the gabby ladies behind the counter while waiting for your morning imbibe.
Can get a bit chilly as the wall size window are kept open all day.
$4 for a bagel that you'll feel good about eating
$3 for a drink that will keep you going for the rest of the day
$0 for WI-FI
*Do your laundry next door while you enjoy your joe!
I woke up in a haze this morning. I really needed a boost. After my trainer, which is in the marina area, I made a pit stop here. I have read so many good reviews and was looking forward to giving it a try. Also, its right on my way home, so it was an easy pit stop.
I had been sluggish and tired all morning. Even after my work out I still needed a little pick me up. Well this place did the trick. It is one of the best iced lattes i've had here in the city!!!
The espresso was smooth and creamy. Not bitter at all. I got a non fat iced latte (my usual) and unlike other places I didn't feel the need to sweeten it. It was perfect the way it was. It was so flavorful, rich and creamy. I was shocked at how good and simplistic the taste was.
I will definitely be coming back! I think this place has some great coffee!!
Your run of the mill coffee shop. Nothing terribly special about this place from the decor to the menu. Free wi-fi so that's cool.
It's convenient for me; it's right by the 24 Hr Fitness that I'll sporadically visit. So after a workout I'll walk over here and grab myself a chai latte.
Good chai though, I'll admit. One of those and a half and half cookie puts smile on my face.
Therefore, 3 stars.
if you want food poisoning, drinks that are 75% ice, and bad, horrendous service, come here. otherwise, take your business to peets, coffee bean, or starbucks down the street.
the middle eastern woman, possible owner, is actually a terrible person and doesnt know how to treat repeat customers.
A convenient coffee shop/laundromat/internet cafe. The food is decent, and when it's crowded, the atmosphere is boisterous. People talking, laughing (not a good spot for studying or quiet contemplation when it's crowded), playing games, chatting, working, writing. . . . oh yeah, and some of them are even drinking coffee.
I've been here both when it's been quiet and when it's more revved up, and as long as I'm not trying to focus, I prefer the crowd. It adds a bit of life to the place which I enjoy. It's that whole being alone but not feeling lonely because there is so much going on around you thing.
Yelp defines 2 stars as "Meh. I've experience better." That is exactly what the the Royal Grounds Coffee House brings to mind.
The tables and chairs are all wooden and no couches to sit down and read. It is connected to laundry mat so not a bad idea if you need to do laundry, but otherwise there are far more comfortable coffee houses to relax at.
I could see maybe liking this place if it were the 80's and hanging out in a coffee shop / laundry mat was the cool thing to do after lugging my laundry up and down stairs. It seems like the hipsters hipster would hang out here. These characters are not the sort I usually enjoy talking to, they are too cool, and just bask in their glory, but low and behold... have no friends. anyway, that is my uber hipster rant.
I don't live in the neighborhood, but end up here at night often enough to know that when it's cold and you are waiting for a bus that is not due for another half hour, you will migrate to the closest warm place as fast as possible. For me it is usually Royal Grounds sheerly because on fillmore street they are the only place open so late where you don't really have to spend money. The coffee is okay at best, and their tea, as with most tea is adequate.
All in all, two stars for being open late.
Located on a street that's filled with coffee shops from main chains like starbucks and peets and fancier locals like the grove right next to you, you would think this coffee with a not-so-appealing store front to have something extraordinary, may it be the coffee or the service, to survive and have busy tables all the time. WRONG. the reasons why they are always busy is because they have free wifi (but so does bittersweet cafe up half a block from royal grounds) and they are right next to a laundromat (with the same owners - might i add). I go there because i like the size of their tables - which is big enough to spread out a book and my laptop with room for a mouse.
Their coffee isn't terrible but there isn't anything special about it either. I would say it's at most at par with starbucks, which means it's at most a "meh." Also, I've always find their pastry suspicious. Perhaps that's because I've never seen them move around much and they don't look/taste very fresh. I tried their walnut banana bread once and it was greasy on the outside but dry in the inside (beats me how they make it that way)
Here comes the WORST part of this place: their service fluctuates with the mood of the staff. At times, if you are lucky enough, you will get a smile from the lady with the ponytail (she's always in a pony tail whenever i go there). but that's probably after you've said the fifth thank you to her. I know I'm not special - you don't have to give me special treatment - but you can certainly be a little bit more friendly or -- what's that term again? - POLITE to your customers. Point in case: often times people who sit out on the street would smoke, sitting right next to the window one day, bothered by the smoke, after asking my nearby patrons if they minded and got their "go ahead," i closed the window. within 30 seconds, the ponytail lady came over and gave me crap for it ("sit away from the window if you don't like being next to the window.") yea, i know, i can even LEAVE your cafe. the point is, you're working there; you should be working for the comfort of your customer, not for your own.
When I'm going out to get my morning joe I really don't need to go stand in line at Peet's where hundred people in front of me have the most complicated orders for "coffee" ever. I don't need to be "seen" by all the Pac Hi locals exchanging information about neighborhood going-ons. That stuff is all fine and good, but I just need my coffee. Black coffee in my old, beat up (I say "well seasoned") commuter cup (a barista at another hip coffee joint refused to touch it).
So I stop into Royal Ground, where my commuter cup always gets a warm welcome and the line is always pretty short. I guess if you're used to an overly-animated hipster chirping at you about "brewing methods" then the service here might seem a bit rough, but to me it seems refreshingly honest.
They also serve an assortment of pastries, breakfast and lunch items, all of which are pretty good. They also sell cigarettes if the coffee just isn't going to be enough for you.
On my walk home from the bus stop today, I decided to play the "let's-go-eat-somewhere-new-right-now-and-then-imm ediately-yelp-it" game. I just invented that game, we'll see if it catches on.
And by immediately, I mean I'm still in this place. Hooray for procrastinating on real work, huh?
Oh, right, this a review, not a blog. On with the show. I'm not much for coffee, but their colorful, chalky menu caught my eye, so I stopped in. I am, however, much for sandwiches - so that's exactly what I got. Not the normal turkey or ham variety, no siree. Today I stepped it up with a BBQ Chicken sandwich. The variety here isn't the widest, but they have the popular sandwiches.
It was made right then on the spot and has that home-made look. And that's fine with me, it's the taste that matters. Verdict? Not bad, not bad at all. In fact, I'll just go ahead and say it's a good sandwich.
Other reasons why this place is a nice place to stop for a bite to eat: free wi-fi (duh, I'm using it now), a decent breakfast bagel selection, lots of local flyers and papers, and, well, it's close to me. It's got a neighborhood coffee-shop ambiance about it. And for all you laundromat fans, this place shares a wall and a door with the one next door. You could make it a laundry-coffee outing. Good marketing, guys.
Some people here note the less-than-stellar service. Yeah, I'll drink to that. The girl who helped me wasn't outright rude, but could stand some improvement in the customer service friendliness area. Oh well, I'll be back.
I'm giving this place four stars not because it's anything above and beyond your average joe cafe, but because it's open so early. To my knowledge, it's the only cafe in the Japantown/Fillmore St area open before 8am. For me anyway, cafes open after 8am are kind of useless, especially if you're in San Francisco on business and need to be on site at 8am pronto.
Coffee was decent, a little on the bitter side (tasted like Starbucks). Was disappointed that my coffee was served in a paper cup even though I told them I was eating there. The almond croissant was dry on a Sunday and marginally better on a Monday. Not super fresh though. I've been here with the morning crowds and they seem exclusively interested in their laptops or morning papers. Not a place you'd really want to come to to soak up the atmosphere. More interesting was the morning scene unfolding outside with business people emerging from their overpriced apartments and headed off to the Financial District en masse.
Works for me as a functional, early-bird breakfast stop. I would have given three stars for overall experience but I am thankful for their pre-8am opening times, so they get four.
What is wrong with this place? If I acted as snotty as these girls, I'd be perpetually unemployed, broke, and black-balled from working anywhere who'd had the displeasure of experiencing my 'tude.
Yet these girls remain, fastidiously applying lipgloss and living on their cell phones while you try to order your morning joe.
The final straw was being hung up on last week when I tried to call in a breakfast san. I was told, and not very politely, "You have to physically come in to order. We don't do "to-go" CLICK.
Oh honey. I'm sorry you're coated with bad tattooes and don't know how to do your makeup (odd, considering Benefit's counter staff is here every single morning). I'm sorry your roots are fierce and that you work in a coffee shop, but none of these things give you the right to be a bitch to your customers.
Get over yourself! And get some Wrecking Ball for that heinous mar on your arm.
I have noticed an open-door phenomenon here that seems to revolve around a select few's personal… Read more »
A very nice little place. The soy au laits are fantastic. Free wi-fi and cool music. Also, while I don't live in the neighborhood, I have to say--connecting this place to the laundromat is ingenious.
The food is nothing to write home about, but the wi-fi, the wi-fi saved me. I spent countless weekends or nights at Royal Ground plugging away while our internet was down. Convenient enough so I walk home at 11 p.m and cheap enough so I wouldn't feel the pinch of purchasing coffee or a pastry while I clacked away.
When will we be able to view the body?
Ooops...wrong place.
Do you have a book of Emily Dickinson's poems that I could check out?
Damn...wrong place again.
Oh...I'll have the nonfat latte please.
Ding-ding-ding-ding...we have a winner.
Shhh...it's very quiet in here, so don't think you can hold your revival meeting here with all the studious-looking young folks tapping quietly on their laptops and sipping their small cups of tea. And it's sure bright in here, so just forget about bringing your voluptuous secretary here to start that extramarital fling you've been dreaming about since she bent over to pick up your pen.
The coffee is decent, and there is quite a pastry selection...but I prefer a place that sends out a more comfy vibe with a little more opportunity for socialization. And the place does feel a bit unkempt, especially around the cream-and-sugar station. Ah well, I guess when you're there to write your thesis, all else falls to the wayside.
COFFEE - 3 stars...a decent caffeine rush
AMBIANCE - 2.5 stars...the least they could do is have Mahalia Jackson sing "Trouble All Over the World" as we pass by the coffin
SERVICE - 3 stars...shhhh
TOTAL - 3 stars....Poindexters unite!...here is your java joint!
At the risk of offending my other local cafe (Java on Ocean), I am dropping a 5'er on this place for a few reasons . . .
1: Urban-Trendy-Hip quotient pretty high;
1: The folks here actually look local, all ages;
1: Staff, just snarky enough to be endearing;
2: FREE WiFi
While parking sucks in a big way around here, whenever I have a meeting in this area, this is where I can be found.
When I lived in Pac Heights this place was my second home. Unfortunately I didn't have laundry facilities in my apt so I would have to rock the granny cart and wheel my dirty clothes down the hill to Royal Ground. I never had a problem doing laundry. Sure it would be crowded at times, but all in all it was never a dirty horrible experience. There is also free wifi. I am not a huge coffee lover unless it is Mon-Fri mornings at work, but I did frequent the unsweetened ice tea and I sure did enjoy it.
This place saved my life the first week i moved to sf. long story short, i had a bad experience on muni and didn't want to repeat it, so i found myself hiking 4 miles up hill to my house. not a bad walk, unless you are absoutly starving and freezing cold!!! For some reason, my hunger kept me from entering any place for food until i was 10 blocks away from home and it almost seemed not worth it to buy anything, but i walked in, got a ginger cookie, sat and ate. The hot chocolate was not too good, but i have high standards, so ignore that. My ginger cookie was AMAZING! It was moist and had the perfect amount of spice! i almost ordered another one to take home for later that night, but i am tryyying to lose weight... 3 weeks into the big move, and i haven't gone back yet due to a knee injury (not mine though), but i am very excited to finally be able to return this week because my injured bf goes back to school and i can live again!!
Good hot chocolate, bad hot cider. Nothing special about this place, other than the fact that it isn't a Starbucks. They should turn down the radio and maybe play something - anything other than top-40.
A casual coffee beverage place that 'feels' less expensive than the surrounding businesses. The interior has big and small wooden tables. I got a "mango tango" smoothie, essentially chopped mangos blended with Odwalla orange juice. It's good of course but pricey for the simplicity ($3.5). Their selection of baked goods on the counter looked enticing. This seems to be only wifi place in the area?
So I'm a Berkeley grad student, but I live in the city. When I have to study, I like to study in a cafe. I always took for granted all of the study friendly (read: big tables, open late, well lit) cafes that litter the Berkeley landscape. I still can't find one that I love in SF, so if you know of any good ones, please please let me know, I'm going to take my Qual soon.
So, I studied for my Stat Mech final at Royal Grounds. It's the best study cafe that I've found, thus far, but I don't love it.
Pros:
Open late (11pm)
Well lit (There is nothing sexy about the lighting here)
Good Coffee
Pretty Cheap
Cons:
Kind of small (lack of tables, I had to wait for one)
Annoying dental students (sorry to be a hater, but they had taken the place over)
Not much food (the only options are a few sandwiches that are nothing special, especially in the food snob haven that is San Francisco).
Not great people watching (this place is not sexy enough to attract an interesting to look at clientle)
All in all, not bad, not great. But until I find someplace better, I'll be back
The food isn't so great, the smoothies and coffees fall short of expectations, the juices and desserts aren't fresh, but what excels here is the service. The staff take good care of you, smiling or no, and if they see your face often enough you start gaining the liberties of a friend dropping by the home for a visit. At a rather miserable time in my life I would hide away day and night here with my laptop, taking advantage of the free wifi. The staff seemed to understand that I didn't want to go home and let me be, and didn't make me buy anything to stay there. When it was closing time they always let me take my time, and even engaged in cheerful conversation over sodas.
The wifi, like I said, is free... if you don't have your laptop you can use one of the public desktops at a charge. Just know that beginning around high noon, sunglare is inescapable and scorching as it floods through every window-lined wall of the cafe. Bring some sort of glare shield and plan accordingly.
Next door is the laundromat. You can take your order and bring it here, read one of their mags, or check out the poems and announcements posted up there while you wait for your clothes.
If you must try something from the menu, try the egg sandwich. The old man has this amazing, ghettofabulous technique of breaking an egg into a little takeout foil carton, scrambling it, then cooking it all in said foil carton over the coffee burner... and the egg miraculously comes out fluffy and flavorful, all things considered.
The only reason anyone must go to this lackluster excuse for a hangout must be the fact that the free Fillmore wifi doesn't jive with macbooks. I spent $2.50 on a stale rice krispy treat here yesterday, and was greeted with a confrontational cashier when I tried to complain. After ripping a chunk off and stuffing it in his mouth, he seemed to scold us. "What? It's what we have. It's fine. You want it? What? What? WHAT?!?!?"
For the love of Christ, you douchebag, rice krispy treats do not have a shelf life of four years. Furthermore, I'm not going to eat anything that your hairy-ass fingers have been inserted into, and I don't care if it's a solid gold steak.
The tea is overpriced, the wifi is apparently pretty spotty, and yes, the rice krispy treats are stale. I give one star for the fact that it ain't Starbucks and I used to go to the Royal Ground in Berkeley to study all the time.
Don't drink much coffee and so this review isn't based on that. More about a location for getting some work done.
Square tables. They have them. Not that other places don't, but lots of places have round tables ans round is bad for studying.
Also, good lighting. Big windows on two sides since it is on the corner = good light during the day. Dim at night though.
I also saw this heavy duty extension cord coming from where the computers are in back for people to plub in laptops. It was ugly, but to me, it said that the owners are nice and care about the patrons.
It is also connected to a laundromat which is random but hey, if you live in the area, you can do your laundry, walk directly into Royal Grounds and relax.
They also have the biggest pot of tea I have ever had. Usually, places give you this small tea pot which isn't bigger than a venti at starbucks, but here, the pot was huge and so I didn't even finish. So that was good for long hours of sitting and drinking some tea. So far, never had this in a coffee shop, but how cool would it be if you could order a pot of coffee/tea and it was an insulated one. I have one at home and it is great. They have this at the Wynn Buffet in Vegas and I thought it was a great idea. But that would mean people would sit longer and I read a blog rant about how us patrons don't pay enough to make up for the hours on end we spend there which I am sure is true since I generally buy one, maybe two drinks at most.
Royal Ground is a great spot for an afternoon study session or gathering with friends. They offer free wireless internet, outlets-a-plenty, a clean restroom, a friendly proprietor, and a great location (California at Fillmore).
Nice mellow feel in the cafe... It's quiet and an excellent place to get some work done, as long as you don't get distracted watching Pac Heights residents and their adorable dogs prancing past the large windows!
I have yet to try the coffee or any of the food items, but the tea selection is impressive. I will definitely be a regular here while I'm working on my graduate school applications!
Eating/drinking wise not my favorite place, but free wireless and late (relatively speaking) hours kept me coming back.
It's a good place to bring the laptop and get work done (I did my taxes and grad school apps here hehe). Not a huge space, but enough space to comfortably do stuff if you manage to claim a table.
Local coffee shop, free internet, laundromat attached, good sandwiches...honestly, you can't go wrong. Went on a Saturday hoping to get some work done, but found myself catching up with friends and people watching. It's a great place to pretend to get some work done.
The coffee is terrible.
Tasted like old reheated folgers...blech!
From their bagel sandwiches to their cafe mocha to customer service, this cafe has it all. The place is homie, relax and chill unlike the other cafes/restaurants along Fillmore Street. My favorite is their cafe mocha, every sip of that drink for the last four months hits just the right nerve. They take their time making the drinks and food right, and I don't mind that! It's nothing fancy like The Coffee Bean or Peets, but they definitely got the right formula in making great espressos and breakfast sandwiches. People who come to this place are nice and cool too i.e. ME :) Heart this coffee place, does the job for a quick dash of coffee :)
One star for free Wifi.
I came here late looking to get out of the apartment and sit at a coffee shop nearby to work.
This place was empty, the door was open and it had the classroom vibe; wooden chairs, shaky tables, big white tiled floor (don't quote me on that one), excessively bright room with I believe even a big fan, closing the door would be a start. The barista was defensive and annoyed but warmed up, the coffee wasn't great and the pastries stale as mentioned.
It's the antithesis of "The Grove" which is a very inviting spot with tasty food and open late in the Marina, but has no reliable wifi.
I went here for the first time on a Sunday and thought it was okay...
It's an interesting space and I dug the labyrinthine trek to the bathroom, but the service was a bit slow and it was so quiet in there that it seemed like everyone would be able to hear any conversation louder than whisper level.
My iced mocha was pretty good, though, but that eerie quiet made we want to leave after getting it. Could've been that I wandered in there during 'study session' or something, because a lot of people were on their computers.
I'll definitely make it back sometime, just to see if this was an exception or the rule.
Although I love Peet's coffee, I come here for the environment. This summer, I've been studying for a standardized test....or attempting to. Home: can't concentrate. Main Library: can't snack.
At Royal Ground, the other studious-looking patrons keep me on the straight and narrow. (Quite arresting when you first walk in: everyone is sitting, one person per table, facing north.) I order my coffee, grab a table, sit down facing the same way as everyone else (otherwise, I'd glance up and it would feel like I was in front of a tribunal). During the day, I don't notice the harsh overhead lighting, but I do at night. The other reviewers are right: if you'd like to carry a lively conversation with a friend, this probably isn't the place for you. But if you need to get some work done, this is it.
The best thing about this place is the free wireless! It's great.
Their coffee and sweets is just regular coffee shop fare, but sometimes they have home-baked stuff out on the counter, e.g. chocolate chip cookies and falafel, and the home-baked stuff is good.
It's just a nice place to come with your laptop and do some work, and get a cup of coffee and a sandwich.
So, what if you put a coffee bar into a business school classroom? Yep, you get the Royal Grounds Coffees shop with an ATM and some other accoutrements to boot. Need a cheap funeral home? This place might be available as well - it was dead quiet with all the patrons sitting, staring at their laptop screens - all looking towards the wall where people walk in (giving it the business school classroom effect big time).
Okay - so I hated the environment. what about the goods? Well, I went with my usual in coffee shops - hot chocolate. Oh yeah - I don't really get excited by coffee, but hot chocolate is always a sweet treat. There was a ton of whipped cream on my hot chocolate here ... dare I say too much? The drink was luke warm. I'm sorry ... I just don't have anything good to say about this place.... maybe I had an outlier experience, but I can say I prefer any random Starbucks to this place based on that one experience.
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