Rishul Bangar

One of the most interesting Cafes I have visited, loved the ambience and vibe of the place. The coffee and croissants were also pretty good.

+5

Destiny Hernández

This coffee shop transported me to a different state! The atmosphere is a completely different feel for SoCal! I love the personal touches of this shop! The owners are very friendly, and art is everywhere! Great place to enjoy!

Jerry Cheung

📚Great Study Space 🍵☕🍺 Huge Selection of Drinks 🎷🎨 Cool Weekly Events 💲 Reasonable Prices Back To The Grind is a one of a kind café experience! One of the biggest reasons that people go to cafés is for the atmosphere and I have never been anywhere that has such a unique identity as this café. The café somehow manages to foster a space that feels welcoming to liveliness while maintaining the coziness for a quiet study session. Couches next to interesting decorations on one side of the space and smaller tables near the front windows ensure that everyone finds what they're looking for. In addition, the interior design has such a special profile of chicano decoration, fantasy, and Chicago style brickwork that will give you plenty of material for inspiration. Finally, Back To The Grind takes advantage of its space for the community of Riverside by offering regular weekly events like jazz night and painting night. I wish I had come here earlier! 20/25

+2

Eva Toth

Came for a book signing and open mic poetry reading in downstairs lounge. Very large and good acoustics! There was an upstairs loft and a back, outside, patio. Very nice venue! Batista made a host of flavored teas, smoothies, and hot drinks including plant milks and vegan baked goods. Very nice! I will be back.

+4

Matt Candela

This is a fantastic space with awesome coffee. Sometimes it’s hard for more to enjoy a latte with more than two shots because the drink becomes to acidic. This latte was smooth all the way. The Chai Tea is not to sweet and the oat milk lattes are great as well. I hope to come back sometime to try all the goodies they provide. Service was fast and helpful. They also have a fantastic community board that I highly recommend checking out.

+6

Dayna Jo

This is the BEST coffee shop in the Inland Empire! I cannot say enough good things about this little coffee shop. The coffee was good, the pastry was good. But the atmosphere is like nothing else. It's a historic cafe (dating back to the early 1900's) with a lot of history and character. Plenty of seating, good free wi-fi. Friendly staff and customers. Several different areas of seating, from tables to bar top, to couch and comfy chairs. You can sit amongst the other customers or hide away in a little nook. Great place to read, write, work, study, and socialize. They also serve alcohol. And perfectly selected background music. Not too loud and easy to listen to. The have events like open-mic nights, you just have to check the calendar for what's happening. The have a cute patio both in the front and the back of the cafe. The owner is super cool and top-notch at customer service. If I lived closer I would be here every day. I HIGHLY recommend this place. Stop in, have a beverage and make a new friend. I did.

+20

Service and atmosphere are an 11/10, its such a cool location with the architecture, its very quintessential downtown riverside. Lots of comfy chairs and sofas, and they are a really fun venue with different events too. I just cant stand their coffee 😅 wish it was better.

The coffee here was really good but those two girls that work there need to work on better customer service they sound a little rude. The place was comfy and cozy has a nice vibe to it. Other than that It’s a good place to come for a coffee with friends.

Coffee was great, pastries were flavorful (had the chocolate chip cookie and the blueberry croissant), and the environment was sophisticated with abundant seating until they started blasting party/dance music at 11am on a gloomy Sunday. Will definitely return, but hope they keep the music ambient and not so loud as to drown out conversation and interrupt work focus.

Bianca Merab

I absolutely love the ambiance, and environment here. The staff are always so sweet and they get busy so please keep that in mind! I love ordering a Hazelnut flavored Mocha and a turkey and Swiss sandwich when I go. I have also tried their bagel melt and the bagel was super crisp yet soft and overall just very delicious to eat Love it here <3

Jessica J

Beautiful atmosphere. The lady assisting me was extremely kind. I asked her about the veggie sandwich and she made it clear they are more of a coffee house with a few food items and nothing super special when it comes to food. I ordered a sandwich anyway. It was decent but she was right. However, the coffee was delicious! I ordered a white chocolate mocha with oat milk. They have different things going on daily so worth it to check them out for that as well.

Jennifer Turiace

Loved the atmosphere of this shop. Reminded me of what old school coffee shops used to be. Went on an open mic night which was also really fun . The customer service though was not it and it's major downfall was the matcha. DO NOT ORDER THAT. I don't know why they even offer it instead of just sticking to coffee. It was literally just slightly green tinted milk.

Barista wasn’t that cool. Kept over explaining items and their ingredients. Not too friendly and felt rushed. My ice coffee tasted like it was only milk. The atmosphere was nice. Lots of cool things inside this coffee shop.

I’m really disappointed with my experience at Back to the Grind in Riverside. I ordered a pastry and politely asked if it could be heated up. After taking one bite, I realized it would taste much better warm, so I asked if they could heat it for me. Instead of simply explaining their policy in a respectful way, the workers were rude and condescending. They refused to heat it up just because I had already taken a bite. I understand businesses have policies, but there’s a way to communicate them professionally. The attitude I received felt unnecessary and dismissive. Customer service goes a long way, and unfortunately this experience left a bad impression. I won’t be returning.

Nikki Leiker

I am writing this review due to a specific employee that closed on Saturday December 13th. I was having issues with my insulin pump, and this establishment was closing in a couple minutes. I walked through the door as it was still open, planning on purchasing something with my boyfriend. Immediately this employee spoke loudly, “We close in one minute.” and I responded with “I’m so sorry we’ll be really quick.” When I got closer to the bathroom he said “Yeah when I said we are closing in a minute, that doesn’t mean you can use our bathroom and run out without buying anything.” I turned to leave because of the rudeness, but my boyfriend was already in line to buy something and the other staff apologized for his behavior and encouraged me to use the restroom. After I was done, I was met with a bunch of “I’m so sorry!” from other staff. They were great. My boyfriend, knowing my emergency did address the rude staff member and let him know that off the bat he was being incredibly rude. This rude staff member then was like “I don’t care.” and rode his voice, “We’re closed.” “What are you going to do about it?” and as we went to leave he came out from behind the counter and was saying things along the lines of “yeah walk away.” and was trying to start a physical altercation with my boyfriend. Thank you to the kind staff that allowed me to use the bathroom! It was an emergency. Coffee we got was great! I write this review in hopes that owners/management sees it and is aware of the situation. I’ve been a bartender for years! I totally understand wanting to close and have people out by closing time!

Sai Doddi

Bagel with cream cheese is $2 on their menu but I was charged $3.75? I had to wait for 10 min even though the place seemed empty. Update: Downgrading the review to 1 after seeing the owner's response. An honest mistake would have given you a 4 or 5, but the owner is trying to cover up. From your own menu, see the snapshot I added, a bagel with cream cheese is $2, not $3. There is no confusion there. A 4% charge on $3.50 is not $0.25. It is 14 cents. You also added tax on my bagel which is not allowed in California since it is just a take out and no utensilils were provided . I included a snapshot of my credit card statement showing that I was billed $3.96. Certainly do not appreciate a cover up from the management as a matter of principle.