Sound Grounds

Tiger chai is what I ordered! Fresh and delicious! Very relaxed here but my drink came on a timely manner! Super friendly! Will be back to try coffee and a bagel :)

come for the dollar coffee, stay for psychic nights and smoking tables that the sun hits perfectly in the afternoon. a great portland establishment that collaborates heavily with local writers and artists.

Ah, what a relief! I finally found my coffee shop in Portland. After moving here just 3 weeks ago, I was on a mission to find *the one* and have visited about 5 of them so far. Well, I felt immediately happy upon walking in Sound Grounds. The barista girl was genuine and friendly, and she looked like she loved her job and cared about the customers. The vibe is eclectic and chill (unlike a couple of pretentious coffee shops I’ve visited in Portland recently). The space is very large (just perfect), and it is easy to feel relaxed with your laptop. The audience was cool and down to earth — everybody seemed to do their thing. The cool art makes the shop look earthy and organic. It’s like a nice hostel with warm hospitality energy flying around. I’ll be back!

I’m a fan of this place. The internet is good. The food is good. There’s a cat around occasionally, which I love. People who come here seem friendly, although the people who work here are fairly… unfriendly. It reminds me of Hard Times Café in Minneapolis that prides itself in terrible/​rude service. For example, when I asked (nicely) for the internet password, the very theatrical barista stared at me for probably 15 – 20 seconds, looked like she was about to start crying, and then basically shouted the password. Hey, she’s in touch with her inner-​child and that’s probably a good thing. :)

I have gone here for years to do work but won’t return. They have a cat and the café floor is noticeably dirty and the cat rolls around on the floor and then onto the tables where customers have food and back onto the floor. And back onto the tables. And back onto the floor rubbing against customers. And back onto the tables. Ugh.

This coffee shop offers an open mic on Thursdays night lol lol. This place is a joke.
Come on guys if your going to advertise it do it. So all you local artist out there don’t waste your time, they don’t have open mic s here.
For customers just ordering coffee or food
Don’t do it!!!
Dirty, slow and the help is well medicated. So much potential, great location, great vibe but just like so many places in PDX too laxi daisy business attitude.

What a cute place! Totally PDX. Good furniture with a few large tables that my classmates and I have taken up the past few weeks while working on group projects, a number of taller tables, benches, couches, pretty much any kind of seating arrangements really. TWO restrooms that are very well air conditioned… lol. Outside seating available.
They serve variety of breakfast/​lunch meals — breakfast all day yo! Egg in a hole with Dave’s Killer bread, ftw. SMOOTHIES ($ 4) are the best — I always get the Strawberry & peach (they let you blend the flavors!). Other drinks are typically priced — although I would say it’s a bit on the higher end but ya know, if you can dish out $ 5 at Starbs, this place is probably higher quality.
The people working there are also friendly. I like this place a lot and makes me wish I live on this side of town just so I could go here and make it my second living room!

I get the neighborhood charm, but if you order food it takes forever because they are under staffed. Barista made one latte while 4 people wait for the coffee thermos to be refilled after they already paid.

It’s an interesting place. A little janky and dirty. The lattes are only decent. They don’t seem to know what is in the products they sell, even the most simplistic of ingredients.
Apparently they are cat friendly too… adds to the dirty aspect. I have been before but after seeing the cat, I won’t be back.
All that being said, it is super kid friendly. They even have shows for kids weekly. Sometimes the people working there try to chime in and give child rearing tips (no thanks). I was holding my kids hand while she was touching something and they said some passive aggressive nonsense about it.
Also my kid spilled her drink right after getting it and they didn’t offer to replace it. I know they don’t have to, but I used to work at cafes and always would without a second thought.

Don’t go here if you’re in a rush or even if you’re not and simply don’t feel like waiting. The girls behind the counter are sooooooooooooooo slooooooooooooow. Been here twice now since moving to the neighborhood. First time, ordered 2 coffees and 2 breakfast sandwiches. Girl handed me one coffee then proceeded to make the sandwiches. When she finally finished the sandwiches, and handed me the bag, I was like, ‘can I have my other coffee’, and she was like, ‘oh ya’! Total time: 23 minutes (yes, I actually timed it). Second time here I stopped in on a quiet saturday evening, all I wanted was a 12 oz coffee. Was second in line while she was half way thru making coffee for the couple in front of me. The entire time, they were talking about music, bands, blah blah blah. When they got their order, the 3 of them continued to yap like nobody’s business. I finally had to interrupt to order my coffee and just dropped my $ 2 and ran out. Welcome to Portland. I want to add that the breakfast sandwich was awesome, as is the coffee (which is actually from Stumptown apparently).

Love this place great local coffee shop !!!
the only time I avoid going here is on Wednesdays when the clowns are there. They are extremely loud, making it hard to work or enjoy your coffee

I wish i had the option for ZERO stars as this was literally the WORST café exp. of my life. I thought I was on candid camera it was THAT BAD. I ordered my bagel, with cucumbers on the side and an iced coffee. There were no cucumbers on the side and no ice in my coffee… OK no big deal, that happens… THEN i noticed after a while there was a huge hair in my bagel… again, I brushed it off as an accident and removed the hair and thought nothing of it… THEN a minute later, there were tiny bead hairs embeded into my cucumbers!!! I wanted to vomit! I looked down at the plate and went for the iced coffee… WTF THERE WAS A BEAD HAIR IN MY ICED COFFEE!!! Im sure you can see WHY i thought i was on candid camera, this is ridiculous I thought! I went up to the counter, and noticed the two hippie chicks on the «line» with theyre unkempt dreads and hair in loose ponytails, long dangly jewelry and SANDLES AND NO GLOVES WHILE WORKING WITH EGGS, MEATS, BAGELS… CHEESE…GROSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
Not only that the women behind he counter made me feel like I WAS THE ASSHOLE for even being there in the first place.
The man I spoke to about the hair was kind enough, but not enough to make my exp any less awful.
NO WAY

I live only a few blocks from Sound Grounds, and like a dog who may vomit, eat that vomit, vomit again and eat that vomit, I continue to subject myself to the place that is Sound Grounds. Today the cycle and insanity ends, sirs.
You should definitely stop by for a visit if you personally know the staff or love to be made to feel intrusive for ordering a coffee with a smile.

Sound Grounds is one of my favorite coffee shops in Portland. Located on Belmont just down from the Walgreens, this coffee shop is a convenient and a good place to stop if you are in the area. They serve breakfast and lunch, and have free wifi, and thus are ideal for hipsters and college students alike. You’ll find a quiet and warm atmosphere, great for meeting with a friend.
Service here is adequate. I’ve never had a bad experience, but the staff is not exceedingly friendly. They are, however, good at what they do, and not mean in the slightest. Prices are modest; some items are overpriced but most are on par with other coffee shop prices.
The coffee here is excellent. I usually get a mocha or a cappuccino, and have never been disappointed. Drinks are served hot and full to the brim, and taste rich and well ground. Food is good as well. The bagels are boiled and come with plenty of cream cheese. I recommend an everything bagel with cream cheese for a filling lunch.
I would recommend Sound Grounds to anyone who lives, works, or is passing through this south east Portland neighborhood. I stop here whenever I’m in the area, and am satisfied after every visit.

I love this spot, the people who work there are very nice and the shop has such great energy flow. I’ve become quite the regular. I go in there for a coco nilla gorilla which is so far the best coffee i have had around the area. Highly recommend making a stop at this cute coffee shop!

This place has a fantastic selection, and good quality coffee, but the service is not very good, you could tell that day the staff was annoyed. Not very friendly. Also quite long wait before served, first about 20 minutes to get a simple breakfast pastry which did not taste very good, and then again about half hour to get a cappuccino and a simple smoothie.
The environment is a little awkward too, kind of has a decadent tone, and always a little too crowded and busy. But their sandwiches and rest of the food is good and prices are OK, the location is very good as well, I would like to give more stars but maybe in the future if service improves and they start to serve faster!

The Tiger Chai is spicy and delicious. The barista dude was super-​friendly. Nice and open with tons of space. Perfect for hanging out unbothered with your laptop!
Disclaimer: I’ve only been there once (I’m actually there RIGHT NOW — SO META), so take this with a grain of salt. But it seems awesome, and definitely better for getting some work done than Tao of Tea (as much as I love it, Tao is def more of a «sit and chat softly with your friend» place than «dig into your freelance work» spot).

Not the best.
THE GOOD
the vibe of the place was a tad hipster, which i like. it looked like it had a solid following. it also had this homeless looking dude with wild hair dancing to no music in the sofa area. that gave this place instant props.
THE BAD
so a sandwich board sign outside highlights «breakfast & lunch», so since it was 8am, i was hungry for some breakfast. however, once I saw the menu i knew it wasn’t going to be good. when the food finally came, it was ho hum at best. i was pretty disappointed with my bagel sandwich.
THE UGLY
8:20 still constitues a breakfast rush in my books, so seeing only ONE person behind the counter. she was backed up 5 orders, making breakfast, running to till, trying to keep it under control.
she did an alright job. but i wasn’t happy to wait 15 minutes for a simple bagel sandwich.
but what put this down to 2 stars, was that the stumptown was pretty cold.
BOTTOM LINE
I’m not going back.. (only to use the bathroom). if you want stumptown coffee, go a few blocks down to an ACTUAL stumptown café. if you want breakfast, there are better places down the road.

What is it about coffee shops in Portland thinking that being hipster-​y and providing good customer service are mutually exclusive? There is by no means a shortage of fair to middling coffee places here, so logic would seem to dictate that they should be MORE concerned with providing decent service. Unfortunately, Sound Grounds falls victim to that category. The drinks are okay, but the mediocre quality doesn’t outweigh the apathetic staff and sloppy drink I ended up with.
The décor is traditional slightly worn down coffeehouse — dated and a little dusty. There was something seriously wrong with my mocha, though — it did not quite taste right. However, only partial points deducted because I didn’t say anything.
We need to demand more of our coffee shops, Pacific NW! I hold all of you, Portland, responsible for perpetuating this scenario of blasé service and good beans made into mediocre drinks. If a place is not trying hard enough to earn your business, don’t give it! Or at least say something.

I feel obliged to review this place to knock it down a few pegs from its average 4-​star rating. The food and coffee are great, there is no qualms with either of them. If anything they should knock this place up to four stars– HOWEVER, Sound Grounds gets knocked back down to average because of its subpar internet service and average seating arrangement.
I’m not saying the internet is subpar because it’s slow (although it certainly can be, and this is coming from someone who’s only here with three other people at the moment), I’m saying it’s subpar because instead of splurging on a better internet service, they’ve filtered out big sites like Google+, Imgur, and YOUTUBE. YouTube! I can understand wanting to block these sites in the name of freeing up bandwidth for other more important services, but YouTube hosts online lectures! Lots of ‘em! So while some might say this is a good place to go for studying, it can also hinder your studying/​work time by blocking a wide array of sites. This is the only Internet Café I’ve seen in this area with such strict web filtering, and on a coffee place this is a huge blow.
As for the seating, everything is hardwood with hardly any padding. There’s two couches and lots of outlets, so it’s not a total loss, but I’ve seen better. Good place for groups to work on projects who plan on staying for maybe an hour or two, but any more and you’ll be re-​adjusting yourself constantly.
Other than that Sound Grounds is alright, it’s simply average. If they’d invest on some better seats and learned to get a better ISP, they’d get four or five stars, as it is, they’re average.