Common Grounds Coffee House
Common Grounds is locally owned by the Robinson family. It started in 1992 as just a local coffee shop and has grown into the largest locally owned coffee business in Lexington. Besides the 3 stores, Common Ground’s has a warehouse facility where coffee is roasted fresh every week and the warehouse is where the majority of the food products are made in the company’s commercial kitchen. The warehouse is also where other local Kentucky coffee shop owners come to purchase coffee shop products like DaVinci syrups, Gheradelli chocolate and of course freshly roasted coffee.
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My favorite local coffee shop in Lex!
It’s the perfect place to settle in with a delicious cup of coffee and a good book. They have a giant menu of latte flavors (try the Temptation Latte!), but you’ll never go wrong with some freshly brewed java either.
Only Coffee Shop in town with an actual living room
I’ve been here several times and I’ve always enjoyed the unique atmosphere, friendly service and fast interwebs. Good place hang out and get some work done while staying caffeinated. 😉
Time of Visit: Sunday afternoon
Drink: Americano (Hot, 12 oz)
Atmosphere:
Cozy and eclectic are the two words the immediately jump out as I try to describe this place. The tables, chairs and décor are a mismatched hodgepodge of objects that look like they’ve been picked from various yard sales, craigslist postings, and high school plays throughout the years. There is a spray-painted mural on the back wall of the main room. Paintings for sale by local artists hang on the adjacent walls (Is there a boob in one of the paintings? There’s definitely a boob.)
The place is divided into three main sitting areas. First, a large room by the main entrance, holding about 15 small tables. An adjoining room contains a few leather love seats/chairs (which look really comfortable) along with some regular seats. Lastly, down the hallway there is a more isolated room with some more tables that looks like it could be a good spot for informal meetings of 10-15 people. Out back there is a small, quiet patio with minimal seating; out front there are a few metal café tables.
The music is a blend of raspy indie and older classic/alt rock. It’s not so loud that’s intrusive but not really my cup of tea (or coffee). On the Sunday afternoon of my visit the patrons appears to be mostly college / grad students in there early/mid 20’s.
Service: Good, the guy took my order and got my drink made quickly. No complaints.
The coffee: I ordered a 12 oz Americano (hot). They do not appear to grind their beans fresh before each espresso – not a deal breaker but not a good sign. It was super hot when I got it, so it needed 3-4 min to cool before it was drinkable. Overall it was weak, tasting like it had too much water in it. Honestly I couldn’t really pull any flavor notes from it. Just coffee flavored water. To make things worse, there were some coffee grounds in the bottom of my drink. I’ve had worse and it was still drinkable, but overall it was disappointing.
The verdict: My drink tasted like it came from Starbucks (not in a good way), but the price was decent and the setting is unique, so IMO it’s worth checking out if the environment is more important than the coffee.
Misc. Notes:
-There is an old piano and a slightly raised area in the main room, so I’m wondering if they possibly host live music sometimes?
-One of the paintings for sale on the wall is just a cat in a field. I think the price tag says $20. I’m tempted to hang it up at home and see how long it takes my SO to notice. Please someone buy it so I don’t.
-I didn’t think a bathroom hand dryer could be interesting, but somehow theirs are (check it out and you’ll know what I mean…or you’ll just think I’m weird)