Community Grounds: Trolley Café & Mercantile

The gluten free scone was moist and flavorful. The service was great. The ambience and things for sale are amazing - diverse and helpful. So good!!

This is going to be a long review, but it’s worth it, just bear with me! I grew up in Columbus but spent most of my young adulthood in Cincinnati before moving back here 3 years ago. Columbus didn’t feel like home for most of those 3 years until we started coming to Community Grounds. The owners are incredibly welcoming, the baristas all feel like friends, and with all of their inclusivity, we’ve finally felt like we’re putting down roots after three years back in my own hometown. Columbus doesn’t always have the most welcoming face, but if you’re looking for one, it’s on Parsons! The importance of a Good Coffee Shop can’t be overstated. It needs to be a place that’s welcoming for hours of work or socialization or those days when you need to ignore your gluten intolerance to order 4 calzones and cry in the corner for an hour. It needs to have good food and good drinks and options for people with dietary preferences. It needs to have baristas who were not once part of my college’s Socialist Alternative who then became weird bullies. Community Grounds checks all of those boxes and more! The baristas are always wearing masks and there are multiple areas to sit so I can keep my distance from any plague-spreaders in the area. Thank you, Community Grounds!