Neighborhood Grinds

Of course it’s CLOSED! Just when I thought I actually had a reason to enjoy visiting Redondo again… story of my life.

This place was a lovely addition to the pier, but it’s shut down now — nasty eviction notice on the door. Not a huge surprise after months of sporadic opening hours and a shortage of cabinet food and even, on occasion, coffee. Such a shame — it started out with such promise! I so hope they can sort out their issues and reopen soon…

I ordered the iced coffee, straight black, no additives.
The coffee is bland. No pop or strong coffee flavor. In addition, when I saw them making the iced coffee, they pour half the cup with coffee, and then they fill the rest of the cup with water!
If I wanted an americana (or something of that sort) I would have asked for it or requested the coffee to be watered down. The ice will melt and dilute the flavor slowly so why dilute the flavor even more by adding in water? I’ve been to many, many coffee places and never have I seen people add water to an ice coffee. This is probably why the iced coffee lacked any flavor.

I love the Artesia location, and was thrilled when I moved to South Redondo to see that they’d opened a second location at the pier. «Hooray!» I though, «Somewhere to walk to get good coffee at the ocean every day!»
But no, this location was never open. And I tried to go time and time again. Now they’ve been evicted, per the notice I saw on the door this morning. What happened? Are there any plans to try to reopen? I thought there were plans for an outdoor fire pit and a real café down here, according to a story on EaterLA. Now it looks like all of my hopes and dreams are ruined.
Heartbroken.

My two favorite things: Redondo Beach views and good coffee. Location location, and a relaxed staff.

No hours are posted– they have been closed twice even though Unilocal says they are open. If u get lucky the café mocha is great! And the mushroom quiche is delicious!

We really wanted to love this place. There’s never enough people working and once we waited more than. 20 minutes for a latte and an egg sandwich. This morning we decided to give it another chance and once again only one guy was working and there was no food in the case.

I really wanted to love this place. Reviews at the other location seemed good, and it is great to finally have a nice little coffee shop at the pier. I like that I can walk in with my dog and order a coffee, and sit outside by the ocean. But I seriously do not like the coffee. It tastes like mud. I’ve tried it several times now, and I just cannot get past the taste. I don’t know if this is the typical coffee of NG but I just can’t drink it. So I go to Kona Coffee which is along the marina walk of the pier instead. I also was very disappointed that I asked this shop to consider donating a couple of travelers for a local charity event put on by another local business in south Redondo, and the manager never returned my call. So we went to Starbucks instead.

I stopped here because I was with my mother and she wanted a latte.
It’s the only thing she ever orders, so I’d say she knows what one should taste like.
Her assessment of this latte was «The worst I’ve ever received at a coffee shop.»
I don’t know if this is normal, but the latte preparation required a microwave and cold milk (?) being poured directly into the cup.
To top it all off, I asked for change for a dollar during the order. The person handling the front register told me that they don’t provide meter change. I asked «even to paying customers?» and she confirmed that under no circumstances will they provide quarters to patrons. Are you f’ing kidding me?
Needless to say, I won’t give them a second look when I need a cup o’ joe.

After a morning at the beach, we decided to stop by and check it out. I was a little disheartened when I originally found out that the old ice cream shop was closed. But fear not, this new establishment makes up for it. We decided to order some mochas: dark and white chocolate. They were both amazing and not too sweet. Still they are quite pricey especially since the small is very small. The workers were both very kind, and the drinks came out pretty quickly. I can’t wait to come back here or the original one!

Because the other location (almost) never has the bacon & egg pies that I like (apparently there’s only one person who knows how to make them and they are quite often out sick), I came here for one along with one of their fresh-​baked, loaded-​with-​blueberries muffin. No fake blueberry pieces here! The other location uses a regular oven to warm their food; this one nukes it which is quicker but makes the egg pie a tad on the dry side. When I went on a Saturday morning there was only one worker doing everything so I had to wait a bit but that was ok. I sat on one of the benches outside the door and people watched and soaked up the sun on another perfect SoCal day. I tried the dark chocolate mocha too even though I’m not a huge fan of dark chocolate. It was good but next time I’d stick with my usual soy latte. I appreciated the employee asking what kind of milk before starting my drink since I don’t use dairy products. Yay! I’m a fan.

This place was good. I ended up walking in just before closing, and the barista was still super friendly and willing to work with me to get me a drink. He told me that everything was cleaned up and he could only do something with espresso, but when he saw my disappointment, offered to do a pour over. This willingness to help is what put them at 5* instead of 4. He was in no rush to get me out of there so he could go home. Wish I would’ve gotten his name, because he deserves a little praise.
The coffee here is a nice balance of smooth bold taste, with a little acidic bite to it. I’m not a fan of acidic coffee (why I don’t get coffee from Peets). But their coffee was just right. Also, unlike many chain coffee shops, the coffee here was not scald-​your-​mouth hot when he handed it to me. It was nice being able to drink my coffee immediately. lol (what a concept)
Anyways,
while this isn’t your typical dark little coffee shop where you can go and get some studying done, it is a nice stop-​by when your at the Pier.

We always go to the north Redondo Beach location since it’s close to my house and decided to check out their new spot on the beach. Staff is friendly and drinks are great, as expected =)

Lovely space and excellent coffee! The blended white chocolate is decadently refreshing and the veggie panini is delicious.

I had been walking around on the beach, my stomach had burned through the Lilliputian McDonald’s meal I had eaten some hours before, and I was also a bit parched. A sign that excitedly proclaimed ‘Smoothies’ snatched my attention.
Smoothies are magical creations, on a hot day, they solve both hunger and thirst. I entered the cramped place, and looked around. It appeared that they were new to the location, as there wasn’t much signage, and their things were all neat and orderly. Their menu was printed out and magnet-​ed to a post, and their cash register was an ipad with one of those card swipy things.
There was a person ordering her breakfast ahead of me, and an attractive woman photographing the various display of pastries with her cell phone. I mustered up my courage, and politely asked her if they were for Unilocal.She nodded. I smiled, and told her my pictures would be up later on. Lady ahead of me finished and a guy behind the ipad asked me what I’d like.
Guy behind the ipad wasn’t much for chit chat, and since I had read the menu, I knew that I wanted a Pina Colada smoothie. Because I really do also enjoy getting caught in the rain. I ordered one, and paid the four seventy five for it.
While I was ordering and paying, I noticed that the guy behind the ipad had a tattoo of a black line on his arm. I pondered to myself why on Earth a person get a tattoo of an inch or so wide, solid black line tribal style tattoo, wrapped around ones arm? I theorized the significance, then I tried to imagine the ‘fat sharpie’ style tattoo pen that made it.
My piña colada smoothie came out in a few minutes and I picked it up. My initial thought was that It seemed kinda ‘thin’ as it sloshed easily back and forth in the cup. I pierced the lid and took a sip. It was great, ice cold, very refreshing, and delicious. My brain rationalized the ‘thin’ of the smoothie by telling me that it’s not a milkshake, it’s a smoothie. They’re supposed to be like that.
As I walked around the can and bag filled bum shopping cart that was parked by the entrance, I looked around, and saw that attractive woman Unilocaler had left during my smoothie transaction. Oh well. She’s probably got a boyfriend anyways…

YAY! My favorite café in the South Bay recently opened their second location at the Redondo Beach Pier! I love how it’s easy access too if you happen to be hangin out at the beach. It’s so close to the sand and ocean! Great view and there’s plenty of parking nearby.
My fiancé and I both got vanilla lattes. They are seriously the best lattes I’ve ever had! Not too sweet, not too bitter. It’s just right with the perfect flavor and the prettiest latte art! Service was also friendly and great.
Keep in mind that unlike their other location, this is not the type of café you come to study in. They don’t really have tables inside. It’s more of a take-​out kind of place. You can grab your drink or sandwich to-​go and take it back to enjoy at the beach. :)

Very cute and small café with ocean view! Glad I stopped by :)
The drinks were good (chai latte and dark chocolate)
No seats inside, not biggie, there are a few benches outside. Anyways I grab my chai n then headed to the churro store nearby! Churro+chai+ocean = :-D

Went yesterday to finally visit the new Neighborhood Grinds by Redondo Beach. I love the Neighborhood Grinds by my place, so came out to see the new one.
The new NG is near the ped/​bike path, where the outdoor shower is. It’s next to what used to be Brixton (which will soon be Barney’s Beanery, yay!) Went in the afternoon and was greeted by two baristas. I ordered a caramel latte and blended mocha.
Overall:
The drinks were great. They made it very quickly, without compromising on the quality.
Service: It was okay. The latte art was nice.
Décor: I had the chance to look around at the new place. It’s definitely smaller than the one in Artesia. The décor is similar; industrial, but more understated than the other one. They don’t have tables inside the café, which makes sense, because it’s right by the beach and dripping people sitting inside is just unsanitary, let alone gross. But they do have 4 benches outside, facing each other. I thought it was a bit awkward, but I’m just being picky now. Lol
It’s definitely nice to finally have a good coffee shop by Redondo Beach. No more of the nasty drip coffee by the pier.
Will come back.

Awesome!
My wife and I went to go visit the beach on Memorial Day (which, FYI, was a parking nightmare) and stopped by this café before we headed out onto the sands.
I got the Guatemalan pourover and my wife got the small vanilla iced latte. Both were perfect – pourover was smooth and delicious, while the latte was just the right balance between the coffee taste and the sweetness of the vanilla. Both of us finished our drinks before we even walked two blocks!
It’s nice because there are some benches right outside of the café, and it’s right in front of the Wharf when you arrive, so it’s the natural first choice to visit before you head out and play on the beach! And you can’t beat that view. =)

Hooray — A legit neighborhood coffee shop has finally opened its doors to local South Redondo residents!
Located near the bike/​pedestrian path and adjacent to the Brixton, Neighborhood Grinds scored premium property on the pier. The «coming soon» sign was up for a while during construction and each time I saw it the anticipation grew and grew. I finally saw a «now open» sign this past Saturday and, boy, was I happy!
I had walked briskly along the beach from my apartment so I needed something refreshing. Foregoing my usual hot brewed coffee I opted for a regular iced coffee. It was goood! I didn’t get anything fancy but a good coffee is a good coffee :)
My bf had the dark chocolate mocha and liked it. I must note that their size small cup is definitely small. It was kinda cute to see my bf drinking his mocha :)
Also, we shared a bagel egg cheese breakfast sandwich. It’s a good size so I’d recommend splitting it with a friend.
PROS
— location and view (the ocean view never gets old)
— friendly staff
— surprisingly extensive menu considering it’s a tiny coffee shop (smoothies, paninis, salads and SHAVED ICE!)
CONS
— lack of tables/​seats
*This is actually not that bad. I feel it is necessary to note that in case people go there thinking they can sit in the coffee shop, sip on coffee and nibble on treats while catching up with friends. Neighborhood Grinds is more of a place where you grab something and enjoy drinking/​eating right outside the shop, on the beach or on the pier. Besides, the view is awesome so why would you stay indoors anyway? :)
Note: There are two benches out front should you need to sit down.
OVERALL…
Neighborhood Grinds gets a big «thumbs up» from me and I look forward to being a regular patron.
Go support local small businesses!