The Grind II: Return of the Grind

That's right, B&E fans! It's a Brand New Grind. It's not dead, after all.

Thanks to "The Family..." (if that is indeed their name), I got word that the Grind had reopened across the street and a few doors off of Queens Boulevard. So I sent out my local spies (thanks to die Feldmaus und die Stadtmaus for recon and photos) to scope out the situation. I followed that up with a visit.

From the outside, it's a little less welcoming, in that there are no windows and just a narrow door on the street. If you didn't know it was there, you might miss it. You can't see the space from the street because you have to enter a small corridor to get to the coffee. But they've painted their name above the door and have added a lighted "open" sign.


It's now in the back of the Casa Romana, one of the local restaurants I've never been interested in trying, although I did hear odd rumors about opera singers and puppets being a central part of the dinner service. And even still I've hesitated to check it out. There are enough oddities in Sunnyside that venturing in just anywhere can be a bit traumatic (remind me to tell you about my experience at Transylvania some time).

While the previous Grind location had very high ceilings and lots of light, the New Grind is dark and cozy. As a place for writing it's actually preferable. Because it's smaller, once people realize it's here, it will be more difficult to find a comfortable place to sit on a weekend day. The ceiling can best be described as upside down meringue peaks with steel beams cutting across them, which is curious.

The music is still too loud, and when I went I forgot to bring my own. The computer stations are still there, too, taking up valuable real estate. There's a flashing, variable colored light above a small bar in the corner that actually changes color to the rhythm of the music, which is Eurotrashtacular.

It tastes like the same coffee, and it's all the same furniture. Although they weren't wireless yet, the barista said that they would have it soon, and it would be free to customers (a distinct improvement to Old Grind, which made you pay for it).

Based on the marshal's sign on the outside of the Old Grind, I'm guessing the ownership has changed hands.


The barista also seemed very much in charge of the joint. He spoke to a solicitor who came in to sell him something. He used "we" language that implied ownership, distinctly different in tone from waiters who use the first person to tell you what's on the menu as means of speaking for the whole restaurant as a team.

He also told me that a buddy of his did the sign above the front door in the middle of the night with spray paint, really hoping to avoid the cops, which is about as awesome as can be.

I'd like to see the Grind succeed, more so now if the barista's the owner, because he's pretty young and seems eager. I even heard him say that he was a teacher for a couple of years. And an older woman who hadn't served me at all thanked me for coming as I was leaving, and I couldn't help but wonder if she was the barista's mom.

It would be really nice if a neighborhood family picked up where the old coffee joint left off and made a real success out of it.

Perhaps a better name for this whole thing would be The Grind - Episode IV: A New Hope.