The Grind - Rest In Peace?

I've been documenting my feelings about The Grind since it opened in March, 2006.

First I hated the name and worried that it would help overly gentrify my neighborhood.

Within months, I was concerned that there were many things they didn't do well, and that they were reaching out to God for help.

And because they didn't do so many things at all well, I feared that the Starbucks opening would put them out of business.

I finally walked into the Starbucks nine months after it opened and offered a comparison to the Grind.

And over the past year-and-a-half or so, I've made a few trips to The Grind, and I wrote about another frustrating visit last September.

What it really came down to, though, was that the Grind had settled into mediocrity. When I'd go on a weekend day to write for a while, as long as I was listening to my own music, it was fine. The coffee was rarely bad and never great, but it was good enough. Service was spotty and sometimes shitty, and some employees were friendlier than others. The sports on the TV were more about the pleasing the owner than the customers. I stopped ordering food there long ago.

One of those previous links got a much-after-the-fact comment from an anonymous reader asking if anyone knew anything about The Grind's closing. Grates were down and it looked cleaned out. Honestly, I still haven't actually wandered by myself yet, although I may do so today. But I've heard a couple of other reports since, some saying it looked closed but not closed closed. Others saying it looked closed closed.

It's possible the owner is taking a much-needed vacation. After all, the place has been running - as far as I know - without a break since it opened in early 2006. And apparently running a coffee shop is one of those things that always sounds like a good idea until you actually do it.

But I certainly can't say that I'd be surprised if the Grind has met its ultimate demise.

As for the "there goes the neighborhood" aspect of the local coffee shop... Well, Sunnyside hasn't gentrified by any sort of leaps and bounds. But there are a couple of somewhat new, nicer restaurants, and there really has been a noticeable influx of non-immigrant white people.

Here's the most telling part, though. I moved to Sunnyside because it was a great neighborhood where I could afford to live on my own. Now, of course, I live with the missus. But if for any reason the missus and I had to give up our rent-stabilized apartment, I don't think we would be able to afford to move to a new apartment in Sunnyside.

Is that the Grind's fault? Of course not. But the Grind's opening was indicative of the part of gentrification that worried me most. Perhaps now that it's closed (you know, if it's closed closed), the cost of living in Sunnyside will go back to its early aughts prices.

Suuuuuuure...