Groundwork Coffee Co.

A small little coffee shop hidden in one of the streets across from Bombay indian food place. The staff was very friendly. I got an 8oz. Latte which was $ 3.25. They also have small pastries etc. No seating indoors however, I do believe there are couple of tables outside.

Coffee — depends on your taste, for me it was weak but well flavored
Service — aloof, unhelpful and nowhere near friendly
Food — small selection but great, especially the yogurt cup
Won’t return

Came early on a Sunday morning when the mall wasn’t open yet. The market was empty so our cappuccinos were made very quickly. The espresso in the cappuccinos was very good. The iced coffee has a great flavor.

Here s one star, but just for the quality of coffee. Service? Nah, those guys never heard such a word. They give people such looks as if they were doing a favor, not serving. And they never rush. Walk slow as you can, move as if it was slow motion video is groundwork credo. People can wait!
Unhappy with the way the make your food or your coffee s been sitting on the counter for ages? Well the skinny sleepwalking barista boy will give you that look as if it was only natural to give people cold coffee and undone bagels. Anyone knows if venice location is any better? Or we might as well just go back to coffee bean?

I usually love this place and the employees but this morning I had a terrible experience with the blue/​blonde haired girl with the glasses and I feel her attitude is something that needs to be addressed since its been a reoccurring problem every time I’ve encountered this employee.
First of all I walked up to the counter and she walked over to the register and just looked at me and didn’t say a word. Why is it so hard to say hi? Second, I ordered a LARGE dirty chai latte. I saw that she had started my drink in a hot beverage large cup as I accidentally forgot to mention I wanted my drink iced. I corrected my mistake before she started making my drink and let her know I wanted my drink iced. Again she just starred at me and grabbed the iced beverage cup. Not even polite about it almost as if I was an inconvenience to her. I’d understand if she was busy but I was the only one. Lastly, she charged me for a large and gave me a small. Even though she had started my drink as a large beverage. At that point I was going to be late for my shift and didn’t feel like waiting for her to fix the mistake or give me some awkward blank stare. I am not one to write bad reviews unless I’ve had a bad experience that I feel could’ve been avoided with nice service. If I see that specific employee there I will not be buying from Groundworks.

This little space has character and it’s nice to have a change from the chain coffee shops around the area.

So these five stars are for the STELLAR iced chai that Groundwork makes. I discovered it right after they opened a couple years ago and seriously, I love chai– I make it at home, I order it everywhere, and theirs is just THE best. It’s perfect in every way. Okay, that’s enough about the chai. Ps: that’s the only drink I’ve tried here so I cannot speak for anything else on the menu.
So now to discuss the service here…
Typically the service has never been anything to rave or rant about. I’ve never had a barista here who has made me take notice of them at all. But unfortunately tonight (and to be fair I think I walked up a few minutes prior to closing, but still!) I just had really bad service! The girl didn’t acknowledge me at all for a solid couple minutes as she was tinkering about behind the till and she clearly saw me there. SO I spoke up and asked if they were still open and she said yes and mumbled something and asked for my order. She made Me feel as though I was a severe inconvenience to her entire life and it was just really disturbing. So to the nameless girl at the register: I’m sorry if I created an issue for your last few minutes at work but regardless I am a paying customer, and working in customer service myself I know it’s tilt no hard to fake a smile or greeting even if you’re annoyed. Try it out.

Hadn’t been to the Santa Monica Place for a while and was hoping to get some refreshment at Bird Pick tea house. They’re gone!
But Groundwork more than made up for it.
I Unilocaled it while doing some walking exercise and had intended to get a nice warm cup of Soy latte afterwards.
But I got all heated & parched so something cold was needed instead.
The iced latte was refreshing.
As I moved it over to the counter for a lid, there was a bottle of agave calling my name.
Couldn’t resist!
Oh, and their products are all organic!
Located on the 3^rd floor in «The Market».
Plenty of seating in the communal areas.
Thumbs up!

Always great drinks!
Staff is consistently kind, helpful, and patient.
I’m a coffee guy, but I highly recommend the Mexican Hot Chocolate (with Hemp Milk). The Mexican Mocha is good, but here it’s all about that coco bro!
They also offer Almond Milk for sure.
Small selection of books, indoor and outdoor seating.
Chill environment.

I only like the groundwork in Venice, no other locations are as hippie as that one. Their coffee was okay, but their soy chai was my favorite. Perfectly sweetened and silky texture. But if without the hippie environment, and lots of bakeries on display, their drink was just okay and a little on the pricey side. They lose that attractive character here.

Delicious iced chai, and in the market in Santa Monica place — nice and convenient. The service was good, and the chai was yummy! No complaints.

Very bad service! I went there to get
My chai latte (no ice) and the lady of the counter charged me 3 dollars More and when I asked why her answer was adorable: «because I’m gonna use a lot of milk for and no ice» whaaaaaat the hell is that answer? I should have bought my milk at Ralph’s.and she was right. The tea was totally unflavored and only tasted milk! I didn’t give her my «milk-​tea» back because I feel bad but come on! That’s funny how bad
And rude employees can affect business for their attitude.
I’m not coming back! There are more nice
Places like curious palace where the employees are super nice and they always have a smile!

It’s all about the coffee and lattes at this place
The one thing that makes this place really standout is that they offer hemp milk.
The hemp milk lattes are worth going all the way to the third floor at this mall.
I would’ve given this place five stars but the service is very straightforward.
Basically they just want to know what you want and then they want you to get out-​of-​the-​way ;-)

Located in the Marketplace in Santa Monica place. I’ve been here maybe twice before, and I haven’t had any bad experiences. The wait for your drink is longer, due to the fact they pack and pull the espresso themselves, unlike Starbucks where they simply press a button. I ordered a latte, and was surprised of all the other milk options they have (I ordered Almond). It was smooth, not too sweet and had the perfect amount and consistency of foam. It is a bit price for a fairly small cup, but still pretty good. I also bought the Granookie Vegan Bar, which was also a bit pricy for aome things I very small.
Overall, it is a good place if you’re wanting to get good coffee and true espresso. It seemed a bit dead inside the market place, but it’s a good place to get in and out, and get your coffee fix, that you’ll actually enjoy.

The Vietnamese iced coffee is a brilliant addition to the menu. It’s strong and sweet and ice cold. It was so yummy!

This place reminds me of Blue Bottle in SF. Organic coffee here is really good! That would be my review in one line, but I can elaborate…
We ordered the organic iced hazelnut latte with almond milk. There are so many choices but you really can’t go wrong with hazelnut! We also sampled their freshly brewed Angel City coffee, which had a unique flavor. I want to try the flavors from all the countries! (Coffee, not men.)
On top of delicious drinks, an assortment of rare tea flavors, and light food, the employees were so friendly!!! On my way out I also noticed they have games and tables too! Let’s go back!!!
Good coffee. Friendliest people. Seating. Games. Go.

My office buys its coffee from Groundwork with Santa Monica’s City Workers Discount– there is no other coffee that every person in our office will drink. Our favorites are Angel City and a limited edition microlot-​sourced Ethiopian coffee. However, if you talk to the super-​friendly staff, they’ll be happy to recommend the perfect blend for you taste.
Extra points for stocking almond milk for those who are both dairy– AND soy-​free. :)

Not terribly impressed with the already-​brewed coffee; it is too strong for me, although the Sumatra brew is very smooth. I made the mistake of incorrectly assuming that brewed coffee was the only on-​site coffee option. Apparently there is also single-​origin single-​brewed coffee for a few cents more, which I would totally have ordered had I not been so blind/​oblivious.
Also, I am curious to try their chilled coffee. I also see it in Whole Foods. Oh well… another time! Definitely still on my list to try again.
Edit:
WOW, just tried the cold brew and immediate upgrade to 4 stars! It’s one of those drinks that you know you don’t need sugar or cream in whatsoever because it is so flavorful and yummy! Bold «notes of red fruit and savory roasted nut» completely describes the flavor. Although I typically like more delicate flavors, so for my preferences, 4 stars is about right for this coffee roaster.

We got here at 7:40 pm and the woman working was not happy to see us — she was clearly trying to shut down (they close at 8) and we would have rather she just told us that so we could go elsewhere for a beverage. Giving her the benefit of the doubt that maybe she was having a bad day — and we all do– it just was not a pleasant customer service experience. She was annoyed when I asked her if they have steamers and she asked me if I meant hot chocolate– when I said no — do you have hot, flavored milk she said well I have to charge you hot chocolate which I thought was an odd response to my question.
I got an 8 ounce slightly vanilla flavored steamer for $ 3.50 — which Starbucks doesn’t even charge. The others had the Mexican Mocha Coffee –much larger and for around the same price– they really liked the flavor and it definitely packed a caffeine punch. My cousin comes here during the day and said the service is friendly then so maybe just avoid closing time. Either way the coffee and warm milk were the perfect accompaniment to our chocolate dessert!

This place is located in the Santa Monica Place’s newly remodeled outdoor mall, and is located on the upper most floor in «The Market» section.
I, personally, love «The Market» section. It’s so cute and I love the little cluster of local and organic restaurants and eateries.
Before going to Color Me Mine (which ended up being a bust! Next week we will do this!), the Pumpkie and I decided to grab a cup of coffee before a day of painting. There are lots of good coffee shops in Santa Monica but many of them were closed (on a Sunday? Really?!) but luckily this place was close by and in walking distance.
As I said, it’s in The Market, so if you’re looking to sit and eat/​drink/​talk… you have all of those options readily available to you. There are plenty of comfy seats in the market section but there is also some seating behind the counter as well.
I like that their coffee is 100% organic and that they’re a small and local couple shops. I also really liked that they have a wide variety of teas/​tisane if that’s more your thing. Russian Caravan anyone?!
When I go to coffee shops, I like to try something a little bit different than the norm and something I can’t find anywhere else… so I picked the Mexican Mocha.
The barista was extremely nice and told me the difference between their Mexican Mocha and their regular mocha… (It’s a bit spiced (but it’s not spicy-​hot — which I was worried it would be)) and it’s definitely not as sweet as a traditional mocha, which ended up working as we moseyed on over to the Chocolate Opulence store next…
The Pumpkie, ordered the Chai Latte. Ah, the irony since we went there specifically for coffee to wake him up. but oh well. He said it was good and I’m sure it was if it was like my coffee.
The day was also extremely cold so the coffee certainly warmed me up a bit and it was tasty.