Grinders on the Ave

It seems a little wrong that I am writing this review posthumously. The last day of operations for Grinders was yesterday (Sunday). Sadly, I only discovered this place on Saturday. Talk about poor timing. Alas for now I can only mourn for what this place was. It’s a bit cramped inside. The menu is a mix of sandwiches, drinks, and other stuff. The name and logo were probably a little confusing. But get past all that and get into the chicken and waffles… well, that’s where the 5 stars come from. As others have already recounted, the waffle mix is made with corn bread mix. It’s a nice change up and very delicious. Then of course, there’s the chicken. I am so sad that I will only ever get my one opportunity to taste the chicken. The batter is a bit thick, but that’s not off-​putting at all. In fact, I really loved the fried skin. The unique blend of mojo was as good as any of the other major fried chicken places in Seattle, if not better. Grinders only uses the wings which is just fine by me.
Grinders was a relatively small operation — there can be a wait in getting your chicken and waffle on. But when it was on… YUM!
Alas, this place is no more. Thank you for at least letting me visit the one time.

I love this place. LOVE.
It has a great atmosphere, and very friendly staff. Although I do have to confess I’ve never gotten their sandwiches, there is one thing that gets me crawling back for more: CHICKEN AND WAFFLES! They are open late on Fridays and Saturdays, and let me tell you, nothing tops off a Saturday night like chicken and waffles. The chicken is moist and isn’t overloaded with batter; it has just enough to make it extra crispy. And then the waffles…
Mmmmm waffles… *drool*
They’re made with a secret blend of batter cornbread and other goodness. At first the cornbread might make you second guess it, but don’t worry! These waffles are superb.
I have come here a handful of times to get the chicken and waffles, and has never been disappointed. The best part? Turns out that they actually do serve chicken and waffles in the day, as long as you don’t mind waiting a while for the waffle iron to heat up. DO GIVE THIS PLACE A TRY! You won’t regret it.

The chicken and waffles is amazing. The chicken is seasoned perfectly. The waffles are cornbread waffles. Call ahead if you want to order this to make sure they have it.

This place has the best chicken and waffles in the university area early in the morning after halloween

After hearing about how good their chicken and waffles are from friends, I finally got to give this place a try tonight.
Now, let me note that I don’t like fried chicken. At least, not the crispy fried chicken with tons of batter on it. If I’m eating a fried CHICKEN I should be eating chicken and not fried batter.
But this fried chicken is different, my friends. This fried chicken is NOT loaded with breading and batter but instead perfectly seasoned with a slight kick to it, and fried to a very nice crisp. It almost reminds me of Japanese fried chicken. And their waffles… oh, their waffles…
If you’re looking for regular waffles, you won’t find them here. Grinder’s waffles are made from cornbread-​based batter. You can only imagine how unbelievably delicious this must taste.
Please go here and maybe try to persuade them to serve chicken and waffles outside of the hours of 9pm to 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.

I came in on a bored Sunday afternoon to try out the chicken and waffles that people were talking about.
I was on mission to experience the meal that people were raving about.
Although I was unaware that chicken and waffles are only served at night, the worker kindly offered to make the dish for us.
The environment is well designed and a much better late night decision.
The chicken and waffles were very delicious and I will come back for another!
5 — 1 star for not having chicken and waffles served all day.

Super excited for my takeout sandwich… until I opened the package to find the wrong one. Big mistake… turkey instead of tofu! The bread was good and the lettuce/​tomatoe toppings fresh, BUT turkey! I hate turkey… I so wish this didn’t happen!
I want to like this place. The inside is sleek with dark walls, outlines of Seattle objects as art, metal art, and nice rounded booths. Very loungey coffee housey… The space would provided for a calm solo lunch or good study stop.
FYI’s~
* Special grinder special of the day
* You can have your sandwich cold or heated
* Choice of toppings and cheese
* Amazingly good quality wheat bread
* «6 sandwiches = $ 5ish
* Menu is divided in to turkey, chicken, beef, and vegetarian sandwiches
* 4 veggie options= marinaded tofu, avocado, boca, and cheeses

Decent food, diner like atmosphere and open till 3 am on the weekends.
The food was good for the price. The Chicken and waffles I ordered was delish. The chicken was well breaded and fried, not over cooked and well seasoned. The waffles were decent too, made for cornmeal which was very rich and tasty, they gave us butter and maple syrup as well. The two people working were also really understanding. We had a friend who was blacked out and they didn’t really care about him. I guess it’s a normal thing for them to see this type of behavior, haha.
I would come back especially because they are open really late, perfect for a warm meal to sober you up.

The only things I’ve eaten at Grinder’s are their breakfast sandwich and their (late night only) chicken and waffles.
The chicken and waffles are amazing though unfortunately they are only served Thursday thru Saturday from 9pm til 3am. The chicken is really crisp and juicy and the waffles are made from cornbread batter which is amazing.
The same guy and girl work there during the night and they are both really nice.
I would recommend checking out their chicken and waffles they’re cheap (5.50) and very tasty.

Ive been in a few times and Ive had a pleasant experience each time.
Service was friendly and prompt, cost was reasonable, and the sandwich was phenomenal. I usually order the jalapeño chicken but I am told that the chicken club is also very good :)

I was drawn in to this place because the sign in the window advertised breakfast all day. Now, this is very important to me because being a person who wakes up after «breakfast time» every single day, I want my breakfasts at about noon. Upon entering, a friendly character gave me the choice of bagel or croissant, turkey or ham, and a variety of cheeses. The man then carefully assembled my sandwiches and they were delicious. Even tossed in some cream cheese with no extra charge.
Sure, Jack-​in-​the-​Box (which is literally right across the street) also serves breakfast all day, and offers cheaper sandwiches, but I would MUCH rather pay a little more for a nice hearty bite from Grinders. Don’t get me wrong though, the prices are VERY reasonable. The breakfast sandwich (w/​o egg) is like $ 2.50. Sweet.
After getting nothing but breakfast sandwiches for weeks, I finally decided to try a regular club sandwich. I didn’t really know what to get so I just told the girl there to make me whatever she wanted. She put together a delicious avacodo chicken something-​or-​other and it was delicious, and HUGE! I didn’t realize it would be so big. It was like 9 bucks but totally worth it because I was really hungry and I still could barely finish it.
I really have no complaints. Every time I go I get great service and great food (and the girl’s cute too, that’s always a plus!). I’m sure I will be spending a lot of money here on the regular. I keep forgetting to ask if they’ll do delivery, because that would be even more amazing if they did.

Went in for coffee. The coffee was not good. Bad coffee makes a not good coffee experience.
So not a big deal. To add on top of that the service was not good as well. The girl was short, not diggin’ her job. When she was told the expresso was made wrong, she said sorry but really didn’t mean it.
Unfortunately I tipped after I paid & before i tasted the drink; it’s a habit I hope to break.
I wanted to go back to get my tip back.

This place is decent. Sandwiches are good. I ordered the Hot Pastrami Mustard Sandwich on wheat bread. It was under 10 dollars, but was still pricey for a one footer. But I do enjoy that they ask what you want on your sandwich! boy did i load that thing with everything.
The environment is chill. they also got a barista in there, which adds a nice touch.

Great sandwiches! I can’t believe how big the sandwiches are for the price. A half sandwich is like 6″ and a full for only like $ 1.25 more is twice the size. I tried the Hawaiian chicken sandwich and it was very tasty. My second time in I had the pizza slider and it was equally good if not better.
Since this is a coffee shop I had a iced latte the first time, the lady was very nice and personable while she made my coffee too making sure that she got my coffee just right. The second time I had a strawberry-​banana smoothy and it was very refreshing.
The atmosphere is nice, kinda has a loungy-​trendy coffee vibe. The music and flat screen TVs is perfect for the university crowd. Oh and free WiFi, I may never leave. I can see this is a great place to have small gathering or just a quick meet up point for friends. Bravo Grinders on the Ave!

This location has been home to a series of sandwich shops over the past couple of years. Subs Sandwiches, Deli-​Licious Sandwiches, Pig Tale BBQ, Rain City Café. This past weekend it opened its doors again, with management and a new name.
The menu has been completely overhauled and expanded. If I remember right, there are five categories of sandwiches: beef, pork, turkey, chicken and vegetarian. They also have a full espresso menu, with a few unconventional options. (Yoguccino? Do I want to know what that is?) I think I also saw white coffee on the menu. There are also a few pastry-​type things in the display case.
Since they’ve just opened, they’re still working some kinks out of the ordering system. They seem to have printed out a few ordering forms, presumably to let you customize your sandwich yourself (like Which Wich and Burger Burger). However, they ended up just asking for my order rather than having me fill out a card.
I went with the Italian roast beef to go, with the recommended accompaniments. The full sandwich was about the size and price of a Subway footlong, but with better ingredients. The meat was slightly rare, pleasantly beefy. The bread was good, but a little on the sweet side, and made slightly soggy by the sauce. Assembly was a bit uneven, with a toothpick jammed uselessly between the two halves of the sandwich. On the whole, not quite as good as the last incarnation of this sandwich shop, but you do get more food for less money.
Next time, I’ll have to try the coffee, and perhaps eat in at one of the comfortable-​looking booths. But no, I’m not going to try the yoguccino.