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The Daily Grind - CLOSED
Rating Details »
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Sandwiches, American (New) [Edit]
Neighborhood: The Heights4115 Washington Avenue
Houston, TX 77007
(713) 861-4558
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Alcohol:
- None
16 reviews for The Daily Grind
Hate, hate, hate. A lot of Grind haters out there and it is easy to see why. The food takes forever to get. I was even there when some of the staff didn't show up to work (I think). 1.5 hours later.... I got my waffle. Albeit for free. Highlights include:
1. House blend coffee; 2. waffles; 3. omelets; 4. decorum and outside seating; 5. right by my abode.
Hatings include:
1. the wait for food (which I think is getting worse over time); 2. the time it takes to get said house coffee when they run out; 3. the fact that by the time I usually get there they only have styrofoam cups for drinks; 4. do they really have wifi?
Don't go here it is Closed!!!! NOTICE this place is closed.
This place was a classic at one time juke box / good food hardwood floors and I would give you an updated review except for the fact that they are no longer in business!
They had serious money problems. We talked to the owner who said that rent was out of control and that they could no longer continue to operate along Washington because it was just too expensive. He mentioned that he was moving in with a coffee shop in the Hyde Park area.
Update: according to Swamplot a magazine a new restaurant will be opening soon.
El Taco will offer authentic Mexican food and feature an underlying wrestling theme.
The restaurant, which is slated to open by early June, will be open until 4 a.m. and will offer 24-hour drive-thru catering to patrons leaving area bars and to nearby municipal employees who work early shifts.
Interesting... Thats all we need is another Taco joint on Washington, Can't wait to review this place it will be round two.
Man. WTF happened to this place?
I remember going here 2.5 years ago and it was one of my favorites, thanks to the fun and helpful baristas that worked here. I really liked the pesto pasta dish (though in retrospect Empire Cafe does pasta much better than DG) and the Almond Joy coffee blend (espresso, milk, and almond and chocolate syrups--mmm). I even picked this place out when I went on a first date with a former longterm boyfriend, and during that era whenever friends wanted to meet up I'd suggest the Daily Grind. It was just a friendly, neighborhood spot that was a nice alternative to either corporate coffee or the same-old in Montrose.
Then, all of a sudden, it seems to all turn bad overnight.
Dirty--filthy--tables, food that took altogether too long to get to the customer, a distinct lack of clean silverware...it's like the Daily Grind just gave up. The servers that made this place great disappeared, and they'd have one harried person taking orders, making coffee and bringing out food from the kitchen. It's like the management was too cheap to hire additional help so they just let the quality sliiiide on out. I stopped darkening its door a good while back. The suck factor became too large to ignore.
Based on what I've read on Yelp, the Daily Grind doesn't seem to have cleaned up its act at all. It's only a matter of time before this place closes up shop and another intrepid entrepreneur uses the space for something better (one can only hope).
The Daily Grind has become such a disappointment to me. What started out as a wonderful local eatery with great food and a charming atmosphere has become a run down dive with horrible service and lackluster menu items.
For a number of years, I would regularly visit the DG for breakfast and have either an omlet or a breakfast sandwich with fluffy eggs on a toasted croissant and a side of delicious potatoes. The servers were always friendly and while service wasn't fast, it wasn't awful especially on weekends when it was routinely packed with people. They also had speedy wi-fi. It made for a great place to eat or meet clients.
Over the past two years, the place has gone rapidly downhill. I remember going in a couple years back and the soda machine was broken. It has never been fixed. Servers either ignore you or are downright rude and the food has taken a turn for the worst.
I've decided I'm done with the Daily Grind unless they take on new ownership and clean up their act.
Good Food, good atmosphere, local business... what's not to love. It might take a minute to get your food, but it is well worth the wait. Warm and comfortable and located in a converted home in Houston's fashionable Washington district.
My friend and I have breakfast there at least once a week. I waver between the steel cut oatmeal (fantastic) and the migas (not as good for you but what the hell).
Highly Recommended
I had the WORST experience I have ever had in a restaurant while at the Daily Grind.
This place MUST BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS.
Please read my blog post about this horrible restaurant and it's completely insane owner.
http://canerican.wordp...
If I could give negative stars I would. I have never been called a piece of @#$% by a restaurant owner before in my life. Our food took over an hour to get to us, we complained and owner went into a fit of rage calling us 'Pieces of @#$%' and told to 'Get the $%&*' out of there.
I will NEVER go back to that place and I hope to warn you all of this insane woman and her over priced food
What The Daily Grind lacks in service, it makes up for in healthy portions of good food.
This little place tucked down on Washington Avenue is a great escape, if you can find a down time and a place to park. As it turned out for us, a late lunch on Saturday can be an excellent time to go - ample parking and seating. However, even with the wide open spaces and without the rush, don't expect much in the way of friendly and helpful service from the folks here.
As a trade off for the extra time and attitude, you get a great looking off beat coffee shop with some of the best chicken fried chicken you've ever had. The portions are ample and everything is tasty.
So, if you're looking for a great, inexpensive meal and don't mind waitstaff that seems less than thrilled to see you, try out The Daily Grind.
A good cup of coffee is worth risking a scowl any day.
I like this place a lot, and the inside is just so visually appealing. I've gone here for both early evening drinks and also an early morning eggs benedict. Both times, it was fun. And they have free wi-fi! I'll be back.
EDIT:
Okay, so I did go back, and I'm demoting it 3 stars, and I most decidedly will not be back again.
I came for the free wi-fi, and I was also famished after a long morning bike ride. I ordered my veggie muffaletta, and the cashier swiped my card through the machine. As soon as I signed my bill, I saw the disclaimer sign they had up front: "During peak business hours, the wait may be longer than normal: 45 minutes". I was like, "WTF?"
They weren't kidding around. About 45 minutes into the wait (and when I saw guys who arrived 20 minutes after me get served), I asked the cashier when my food might be arriving. She said something along the lines of, "The kitchen is very backed up". The problem with this is that the place was not packed to the brim, and the flow of customers was sporadic, at most. I was there for 45 minutes - I definitely had the opportunity to see exactly what the pace of the business was: it was nothing that should have caused service to "grind" to a halt, as it were.
I got my food about 10 minutes later, without the side I had requested. I finished my (admittedly yummy) food, and surfed on the internet for a few minutes. The cashier from earlier tapped on my shoulder and informed me that they were closing for the day at 2PM, and I would need to get going. WTF? It took them exponentially longer to get me my food than it took me to eat. How are they kicking me out? If they had delivered the food to me on time, I wouldn't have stayed there so late!
Bottom line: putting up a disclaimer does not absolve you of bad service. Restaurants are about service. I don't plan on going to The Daily Grind ever again.
Good Gawd the wait is long. Went in on Friday, no line, not many people there. Waited a full hour for the food to get there. The portions on the sides were disappointingly small. I finished my meal before my friends got served. Sorry, but I couldn't wait any longer. During the wait I noticed not a single table had food so I don't care what the excuse is that's unacceptable.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/23/2008
Good food but expensive.
I went in during Ike Weekend and they were running off a generator with a… Read more »
Eh, this place is ok. The parking lot blows. When are they going to repave it already? My V-Dub doesn't do well whilst driving over potholes, but whatever. The inside of The Daily Grind is...interesting. It's not fancy, but it's cool. And by cool I mean its hip...but also cold. They need better heating. I ate there recently on a cold day and it was cold in there! If you're looking for cozy, this place isn't for you. I went really early for lunch in the middle of the week so I didn't have to wait too long for my food like a lot of other reviewers have mentioned. I got an omelet. It was alright. Nothing to write home about. It was bigger than my head, which I deem unnecessary. I swear it was made with about 27 eggs and possibly a half a gallon of butter. The hash-browns were delish and my favorite part of my Daily Grind experience.
On another occasion I went and had an ice coffee and it was really good, if memory serves.
I'm sure the bathroom is clean, so I'm not saying the place isn't well kept, however, it looks like it hasn't had a good scrubbing since 1982. A little paint touch up never killed anyone. I guess they don't watch HGTV like I do, but whatever.
Anyway, to finish up, I MIGHT go back to this place again for coffee or something...but only if Onion Creek burns down.
As a Katrina, Rita and now Ike survivor...I have to say that I'm very dissapointed with the reviews that have surfaced since the storm about this place. Everyone is in the same crazy situation whether it be a customer or a business...no one was able to escape what happened during Ike.
On to my review: This place is truly amazing to me. After the winds stopped on Saturday around 11am, I looked outside from my apartment and The Daily Grind was ACTUALLY opened. I know from previous hurricanes, that this is basically impossible to pull off. The owners had a generator running to keep the kitchen and tv going, the bare-bones staff was sweating like crazy and doing their best to keep the line moving, and the food was so comforting! The options were limited to a bowl of oatmeal (which was huge and topped with bananas, strawberries, and blueberries...$6) and a "plate" for $9. You had no idea what you were getting because they were trying to cook what they could in order to keep things from spoiling. Some had breakfast tacos, and we had a much-needed plate of scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, fruit and toast!! It did take us about an hour to get served, but everyone just went through a hurricane...so that's understandable to wait for food and coffee.
It was just nice to get out of the power-less apartment, watch the news, and talk to others. THANK YOU DAILY GRIND...I'll definitely be back!!!
My Dad and i have been avoiding this place because of the events detailed in my initial review, but we made another visit last week and were reminded of exactly why we stay away.
I was in Houston on business (it was quite nice to return home for 10 days without having to use up any vacation) and then Hurricane Ike entered the gulf and took aim for us. On Friday morning (storm made landfall friday night) my dad an i decided to see if anyone was open for breakfast. Empire? Nope. Brazil? Boarded up. Baby Barnaby's? Closed. Everyone was closed but Daily Grind, so we decided to suck it up and give it another go. Big mistake. The orange juice i ordered never came out. They were out of croissants so my breakfast sandwich was served on wheat toast without asking me. They ran out of coffee and people started freaking out. They had the beans, they just weren't brewing fast enough. I kid you not, for a breakfast sandwich and an omelet, we had to wait 90 minutes after placing our order. And its not like the place was super crowded like it can be, there were still tables open. I realize they may have been short staffed, but this happens for too often at this place.
I feel bad for ripping this place so bad because i love the heights, but i just cant take it any more. The food is actually really good. The jalapeno cheese grits might just edge out Baby Barnaby's potatoes for my favorite breakfast side dish in the city. But to say the service is atrocious is the understatement of the year. Not only does it take forever to get your food, and rarely do they get orders right, but the staff is so numb to it that they are unapologetic. Somehow Daily Grind remains crowded on weekends, so i guess the bad service isn't having a huge effect on their business, but eventually they have to get to the point where they will have pissed off enough people that their business takes a hit and they realize that they have to shape up.
Every time i go here it just ruins the rest of my saturday. Until i hear that things have taken a drastic turn for the better, i say 'no more'.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/1/2008
I used to really like this place. Waffles are great, so are the breakfast sandwiches, fruit plate,… Read more »
Like the food - generous portions, and tasty. But it's ridiculous to wait an hour for an omelet when the place isn't line-out-the-door busy, and the wifi has been pretty undependable for me.
The Daily Grind's atmosphere is definitely cool, but the service absolutely sucks! Be prepared to wait 50 minutes for a simple omelet when the place is busy. When I visited today (Sunday) around 10am, all the coffee urns were empty as were the water containers. The waitstaff are harried and unfriendly as is the "manager" I had ordered a side of sausage and the waitress simply informed me while (finally)serving my cold food that they were out of the sausage(they are ALWAYS out of something) without bothering to offer a substitution or offering to delete the item from my bill. When I ask her to refund me the price of the sausage, she got ticked and upon returning to my table, literally flung the money (about 2 dollars and some loose change) at me. Nice... needless to say, I won't be returning until they get their act together...
oct 2008, update... saturday, 11am... it was not such a busy day, our order only took 21 mins, about the time we got our delicious pecan coffee (my dad loves their mocha java coffee - calls it cowboy coffee cause it is rich and strong flavored) and water, and shared a scone ~ voila our mini omelettes arrived, smelled so good, tasted very flavorful, fresh ingredients. the pineapple and watermelon were perfectly sweet and ripe. the hash browns were a little too oily and cut into very thin shreds, i don't recall them this way before, but i ate them anyway, cause, they were good. i did not eat the jalapeno grits - they got cold too quickly and tasted not so great... hmmm. the owner stopped and talked to us, he was very nice and shared some wonderful things to come news with us for the daily grind. we'll be back and ask for crispy hash browns and hot grits.
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i don't care... i still love the warm feel of this wonderful restaurant despite the parking challenges, long wait for food and continuous parade of people on the weekends! after several visits, we know to expect a good deal of time before the most delicious, freshly chopped and created just for me omelette, fruit and jack's hashbrowns breakfast will be served by a very nice, busting ass busy server. we bring the morning paper, order a scone to split, enjoy their delicious bottomless cups of coffee ~ pecan coffee is my favorite, and relax. the owner is so nice, once my parents came by right at closing time, my mom was disappointed and mentioned how she had been craving their pecan coffee all morning... he came out with a cup for her to take home... no charge. that's extremely nice!!!!!!!!!
this place was a staple of my morning routine when i was in houston. friendly staff...esp the barista dave. the yoghurt and fruit is an excellent way to start off your day.
