Ground Zero Performance Cafe

Love, love, love!
The best place for milkshakes in all of LA. Everytime, i’ve tried a new shake and i’ve never been disappointed. The service is quick, the staff is young and friendly and the overall vibe of this place makes me want to lay back and listen to music while i drink my cup.
My favorite is the make-​out shake (off-​menu) which is a blend of strawberries, white chocolate and oreos. Yum!
The milkshakes are so filling, i sometimes can’t have a meal after.

Really amazing place for leisure and the milkshake is awesome!!! I am addicted to it since the first time I came. I will definitely spend my next 2 years in this place:)
The bore with cream is heaven!
I cannot wait to come here next time…
I don’t think the size is large. Actually I wanna have two…
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OK then I came again in one day… Tried the AH​.COM milkshake and awesome too… How can I get away from such adorable place and yummy drinks?! Now the only thing I worried about is my weight :(sigh…

I love everything Birthday Cake so that’s always the milkshake I get and it’s so good! Super sweet but amazing. Coffee is good too. A little expensive but worth it, plus you can get a punch card which is cool. Wish they had smaller versions of shakes for $ 3-​$ 4.

GZ is easily my favorite place in the USC campus. Where else can you get such a wide variety of specialty milkshakes? Don’t worry… I’ll wait.
My favorites are the Earl Grey & Give Dollar shakes. They always have seasonal flavors as well as an expensive secret menus. You can even custom build your own shake. Quality is generally great, but it can fluctuate; they especially seem to rub out if ingredients a lot. Shakes are usually $ 4 – 5, so it’s a little more expensive than necessary, but it’s a price I’m continually willing to pay.
Milkshakes aside, GZ is a great study lounge & performance venue. Every week there’s open mic night, improv shows, & other scheduled guest speakers & performers. There are lots of couches & tables, with power strips hanging from the ceiling.
Hidden away, it can be hard to find at first. GZ is completely student run & it’s clear when you visit. All the baristas are super cool & love to have great conversation. The vibe is dark, industrial, artistic, & subdued. They have neon lights hanging from the ceiling with change color. When there’s not a show, they always play some cool modern music, from variety of genres. I actually find a lot of new music just from coming to hang out here.
It closes at midnight, which is unfortunate sometimes because it’s such a great place to unwind, have amazing conversation, share artistic inspiration, or get some work done.
I’ll always love you Ground Zero.

I am writing this from the point of view of a part-​time USC student. This is a great hang out spot that is semi-​hidden among student housing. The milkshakes are delicious in their own right (especially the Cup ‘o Joe), but the real value is in the ambiance. Plenty of seating, plugs that dangle from the ceiling, and WiFi via the University. This is a great place to study, specially if you enjoy having background noise. Bonus: Sometimes there are bands or other musical artists.

I count calories obsessively. I can tell you the number of calories in a serving of most foods quite easily.
When I enter Ground Zero, it all stops. Their flavors are amazing! Cup o’ Joe is my favorite thing ever. Twix in a milkshake is everything I could ask for: D Ground Zero makes USC what it is! Like everyone says, it’s the best thing to have around during an all nighter.

Pros: on campus, milkshakes, the «all-​nighter» coffee has come in handy on a few occasions, atmosphere, fun events to go to, open mic night
Cons: getting moved around/​distracted while studying if an event is scheduled

Milkshake: I was looking forward to trying their interesting milkshakes – which turned out to be subpar and thus overpriced. I ordered the Happy Fortune Shake ($ 4.50) — cinnamon, honey, & chocolate cookies — and it lacked the texture I’d expect in a milkshake with cookies. Tasted like artificial syrup. I was quite disappointed and do not plan to return. For a quality milkshake, $ 5 is fine; for this, no way.
Atmosphere: There are students chatting and studying in this fairly large, dimly lit space.
You need to go through an alley by the dorms to reach the entrance – a bit hard to locate.

My friend got into USC so we decided to visit. I’ve been here once before and they have really great milkshakes.
My friends ordered 2 earl grey shakes. I planned on getting the bore which is what I got last time. It’s basically just an oreo milkshake, but I think the best one I’ve ever had. It’s blended to the most perfect consistency which is what really makes it different to me from other milkshakes I’ve tried. I was going to get it later but we all ended up just sharing the earl grey shakes because there was so much of it. The earl grey shake was great because it really captures the taste of the actual tea but in a milkshake form. Usually its really hard to drink milkshakes from a straw but this one was a lot easier. There are also so many different kinds that all sounded really delicious. I look forward to coming again to visit friends and try the other flavors they offer.

Shakes are good at first sip, but immediately become too sweet and melty. They also ran out of straws that night so ¹⁄₃ of the way through I was using a spoon to drink a sloppy sugary soup. Not the best way to enjoy a campus famous milkshake!
Do like the indie feels from this place though. Good vibes and good company.

Ground Zero is the type of place where you would go whenever you think you want a milkshake, especially if you live/​lived in the South Area like I did. However, five sips in, you’re filled with regret because of the overwhelming sweetness and thickness. As someone who is no longer in their teens, I do get mild headaches from how rich and sweet it is. It’s nice, however, that you can customize what you put in it like twix or oreos and you can substitute your milk for soy milk. The staff here is always super friendly, and there are tons of free shows every week. It’s a good place to hang out with friends.

The shakes here were way too sweet and thick :(I got the Everything But Girl Scout (which is one of the more popular drinks here) and while it was unique and all, it was way too much for us. I couldn’t even finish it halfway before feeling a little sick and had to toss it out. The price is also quite expensive for the size they give you.

Haven’t been here in two years but I’m sad to say that the quality of the milkshakes have gone down. Got the Five Dollar Shake and no… I barely finished half of it. It didn’t taste good at all, and I couldn’t really taste oreos in it. I felt like I was just drinking melted Reese’s. And for $ 5, I am expecting a lot more. I wouldn’t even want to pay $ 2 for that milkshake that I had.
So sad because I really liked this place when I was a freshman. My friend got the Everything but Girl Scout and wasn’t impressed either. I don’t think I’ll be returning…

Amazing milkshakes. Great atmosphere. Fantastic place to hang out!
I loveee the Yul Brenner (Chai and Cinnamon) milkshake. Highly recommend it and Ground Zero – best milkshakes around!

The Five Dollar Shake will always be my favorite.
Coffee is solid (yay cold brew!) and I love that they have pastries from Homeboy Industries, which are delicious AND support a good cause.
The only thing that bothers me is that sometimes they’ll host events when I want to study there, so be sure to check their Facebook page to see if there’s anything going on before you go. That, and they don’t have their own restroom so you have to go over to the neighboring residence hall to use theirs. But these are minor details that won’t stop me from grabbing a shake and getting some work done, because I do actually find myself to be very productive in the slightly dimmed lighting and with perfect amount of background noise.
Also, beware of the couches — they are VERY well-​loved, meaning you will sink down farther than you’d think when you first sit down… LOL

GZ milkshakes are the bomb.
You’d think that an ice cream, cookie, candy, and flavored syrup milkshake would be easy to perfect yourself, but Ground Zero adds an extra X factor of who knows what to make them extra awesome.
Is it the low-​key vibe of the only student-​run café on campus?
Or maybe the indie music playing in the background?
The fun personalities of the baristas?
The witty tip jar contests?
Or the open mic and special events that GZ puts on?
Nobody will ever know.
—
My usuals:
Tiramisu (off-​menu)
The Bore
Banana Split
Earl Grey Shake
Popular:
Funfetti Shake
Five-​Dollar Shake
Everything But the Girl Scout
You can always make your own flavor combination, too – the baristas will be more than happy to indulge custom orders. Just be mindful of the line and others’ time, since they do get backlogged frequently due to the café’s popularity.
Unfortunately, no dining dollars are accepted here :(
Don’t forget your punch card! :)

awesome place! dont get ripped off like I did by spending double the amount of money for coffee at jkp when i can get better coffee here.
Its very chillax atmosphere here. almost reminds me of saved by the bell but a lot dimmer. i always get coffee here and there frequent rewards card so by the time finals come up or midterms I have already purchased enough coffee to get a free milkshake!
i highly recommend the go to sleep grandma or any of their milkshakes!

Ground Zero’s a decent place for milkshakes and low-​key performances. It’s pretty close to Pardee and Trojan Hall, although it’s not really a place you lounge at. It’s got a weird vibe. Not really a casual hangout place, because it’s too dark and moody. The all-​black atmosphere is offputting, not too welcoming. More of a place where you get your shake and go somewhere else. They’re going for the aesthetic of a bar, but without the alcohol.
Ground Zero is more appropriate for performances with a few dozen people in attendance. Yet it’s too small for crowds, and too large to be intimate. It’s weird. Maybe it’s the architecture. Maybe it’s the acoustics. Maybe it’s the decorations (well, the lack of them).
Something’s not quite right about Ground Zero.

Despite all the raving reviews of the milkshakes, I can never justify the price for the product. I’ve come here a number of times in the past two years and am always disappointed and left with a too sweet, too thin milkshake and a feeling of regret.
Today I went and was shocked with the low quality and bad customer service and will not return. I went with a group of around 10 and we all ordered shakes, however they had run out of the usual plastic cups and were serving them in the hot coffee cups which are significantly smaller than the normal milkshakes. Despite this, they still charged the same price. I asked the barista about the size difference and she said they are knocking off 25 cents off the price to make up for it. First of all, I paid for the shake and they did not take off any amount of money. Second, 25 cents? Really.
So, when I did get my (small) milkshake, I asked if I could have the extra amount left in the blender that gets thrown away anyway since its a waste. Guess what? Apparently they can’t do that because you pay for a certain amount. How ridiculous, even when they don’t give you the «full amount you pay for» because they cheat you with smaller cups. Also, I watched the whole time while they made our milkshakes behind the counter and the ingredients are so basic – skippy peanut butter, famous Amos cookies, and Hershey syrup? You could make a better milkshake at home.
Another thing that bothered me is that one barista used an already used blender to make another smoothie because they were getting overwhelmed in the back.
In the end, my «everything but the girl scout» shake was WAY too coffee tasting and I couldn’t taste any mint. Waste of money and I didn’t care for their attitude either. Won’t be back.

This place has two personalities. if you come here on a Friday night, expect some awesome performances, a large crowd of students, and a long line for your coffee. However, the performances here are something special. If you come here on a weekday night or on the weekend, you will find a nice quaint little café with no lines and very cheap milkshakes, coffee, and non-​coffee drinks.
Everything here is perfectly made. The cup-​a-​joe is an amazing milkshake, their lattes do not disappoint, and their teas are great. Their names are ridiculous, but funny. The dirty white boy is great for a dairy lover like me.