Photo by SHAWN BANNON
LOCATION: 1515 S 4th St. (around 4th and Dickinson)
CUISINE: Coffee, treats and café style sandwiches.
MENU: Grindcore House is a combination coffee shop and vegan restaurant — and they do both pretty well. The beverage menu is full of fancy lattes and macchiatos and every flavoring option you could imagine and better yet, the 
drinks can be made with your “milk” of choice, whether it is rice, soy, almond or coconut milk. I got an iced mocha to-go that was a sweet, chocolaty good time that had me flying high for hours. However, for those that prefer to keep their feet on the ground, Grindcore House also offers a variety of teas and quirky bottled beverages like the “Wonder Drink.”
Grindcore House also offers a limited lunch menu, such as bagels topped with everything from Toffutti cream cheese to garlic hummus and a variety of vegan baked goods courtesy of Bethlehem’s Vegan Treats. I stopped in at lunchtime and ordered the Seitan Sandwich and the Treehugger Salad. The sandwich was definitely my most pleasurable part of the Grindcore experience with soft sourdough bread (one of many options), powerfully spiced seitan slices, spinach, vegenaise and, one of my absolute favorites, deli pickles. The salad was abundant, brimming with organic greens and a wide variety of veggies. Throw in some garlic hummus and, the kicker, shitake and sesame vinaigrette and you’ve got yourself a quality salad. My only gripe with the menu was that everything seemed to be pre-made and delivered to Grindcore, with very few things actually made on the premises. That’s cheating. So while they break the mold as a coffee shop, they fall short as a restaurant.
VIBE: Visiting Grindcore House is kind of like dying and going to hipster heaven. If you can get over that, then check it out — otherwise, steer clear. Regardless, it seems like a pretty cool place to chill, equipped with tables outside, bar seating in front of the windows and a back room that feels like your best friends living room — humble, homey and comfortably cramped. What makes it better than your best friend’s living room, however, is that Grindcore House doubles as a “radical library” with a vast collection of anarchist books and resources that you can access after applying for a radical library card and, I suppose, proving you are radical enough to be granted access. Seriously though, don’t let the scary death metal font or the terminally ‘cool’ scene turn you off, the staff is super sweet and they do serve some damn good coffee.
PRICE: They really seem to strive to keep the prices within reason. Lunch runs $4-$8, breakfast $1-$3, fancy coffee and tea, $2-$5. Also, free Wi-Fi.
RATING: 5/10