Very loud but food was great!

Another great work lunch at the Grounds!
Was saddened to see that you took my favourite/usual order, tuna chirashi off for the Winter. Hope to see it back on the menu soon?

Orange juice wasn;t fresh
Food is ok but not amazing.

Nothing really special. Pricy for what we get

Service was very slow. Staff were friendly and intuitive. I assume that our server informed management of the delay in getting our main (we waited an hour for any food to be delivered to our table) as we were offered an apology and complimentary coffee and cake. Nice recovery!!

Food quality was great and came up quickly. Service was less than satisfactory. My waitress seemed to be in a bad mood therefore left my dining experience rather poorly.

I sincerely want to love this restaurant as the food is fantastic but over the last 3 visits service has been pretty bad.

Very crowded restaurant. Not enough servers as we had to wait a while to get served.

Was seated as soon as we walked in. The service was really good despite it being relatively busy. Our waiter was friendly, and took our drinks down straight away while we browsed the menu.

The drinks at the grounds have never failed. The Wu sloth of the coffee and the tea always delivers and the presentation is beautiful.

The food however has for some reason become less than sub par. I used to order the omelette with chives and it was always fresh but it seems they’ve changed the menu. More recently when I order food there it seems stale and not so fresh. As if it was prepared in advance and they just tried to heat it in a microwave. I ordered the pancakes and they were not warm, not fluffy like a solid buttermilk pancake should be. It tasted cold, stale and like the presentation was supposed to compensate for the lack of taste. The rhubarb compote and ricotta was fairly decent but the pancake itself just needed work. The same goes for the omelette.

I’m bothered enough to write this because I used to love how fresh the food was when they first opened and wish such quality was maintained.

Aside from the food the service, ambience and setting of the restaurant is beautiful.

Excellent food & service, the best cake & coffee in town.

Went there with a friend for a much needed catch up Sunday for lunch. Very busy but we booked and were seated immediately.
Quick service, good cocktails and good food. Overall a really good lunch, and will be back but I think their seafood meals portions could be bigger for the price.

Great service. A bit noisy inside but that’s not a problem unless you are after a quiet restaurant. A little pricey. The coffee and cake (strawberry sponge) is amazing and a huge portion size, so that’s worth the $9 a slice - it could easily feed two, maybe three. Also there is no way to contact them through phone if you are running a little late to your reservation, I tried. But good overall, very much enjoyed our meal!

A rare find for breakfast in the city on the weekend. Excellent food, fabulous staff, wonderful coffee. We went three times. We will definitely be back during our next trip.

Arrived 10 mins early told table not ready. Not offered a seat or seat at bar for drink whilst waiting. Just told they were busy. Not a very encouraging start to the evening.
Food was average.

Took boyfriend here for his birthday, food came quickly and arrived the same time as the drinks. Polite staff, delicious food. Great for coffee lovers and fans of sustainable dining.

My favorite cafe in the CBD. Menu has been updated and service/atmosphere is wonderful

We loved it! Menu options are fun, fancy and creative! Our servers were charming and added to our experience. Atmosphere was lovely and we can’t wait to come again!

My second week in a row visiting the grounds, always perfect.

Another nice lunch at the Grounds. I love that you take bookings! Service is always pleasant and please never take your tuna chirashi off the menu!

Service was slow, sparkling water was out of stock and it took over 30minutes to find out after multiple requests

Love the cake selection and the best coffee in town.

I wonder why I have to pay extra 9 dollar for holiday

The city-based-alternative to the Alexandria too-popular-for-its-own-good cafe.
City Grounds takes bookings, so be sure that you do, or you'll face a wait.
Now that I've been I can see what all the fuss is about. Really good food selection for our Brunch. The kind of menu that will bring you back again to sample the others on the list that you wanted to, but didn't order.

I scored low for several reasons:
1. I had to ask for the blaring music to be turned down twice and it was still overbearing and not conducive to be able to speak at a normal level. Ruined the ambiance as everyone in the restaurant was shouting over the music - which was POP music - Madonna is really not a great choice for a nice dining experience either.
2. The service was very so-so and very slow. Slow to take our order. Food slow to arrive. Slow to clear our plates away. We had to flag down the girl with the dessert trolly as no one came near us asking if we wanted dessert or coffee. Had to ask to order more drinks and water.
3. My food was good although expensive. I am confused as to what 'Grounds of the City' is trying to be? i.e. a 'cafe' or 'restaurant'?
4. We arrived at 12:30 and at around 3pm we were 'handed our bill' unsolicited (by some dude with a cap on) and asked to settle the bill and leave as the table was wanted. Ths was rude and extremely unprofessional and considering the slow and so-so and slow service.
Overall other than the quality of the food, I was really disappointed. I am not inclined to make any other recommendation to dine here. To me, The Grounds of Alexandria is far superior.

Great winter breakfast menu. Given how busy it was, service was pretty good

The Ground of the City never fails to disappoint. It is my 5th visit in the past year, and I will return again in a heartbeat. Thank you for organising for us to be seated in a booth, and making it the best afternoon tea date ever! We will be back soon :)

The food was good. The atmosphere was great. I will definitely go back.

The Grounds has cool retro decor, a great ambience and interesting menu. It's not cheap for a lunch cafe, and it was very crowded and noisy. You really have to book for lunch or you may have a long wait or not get in at all. My beetroot, caramelised onion and goats cheese tart was nice, but I was expecting a warm dish, and it was cold, so I was a bit disappointed. It also wasn't quite as tasty as I had hoped. My friend enjoyed her salad.

The mussels gratin, which I loved in the past, was very dry and the brioche crumb was black. However the rest of the meal was very tasty.

I ordered the chicken salad, a few pieces of shredded chicken, non-ripened tomatoes & lots of rocket and it was soaked in a very vinegar dressing. I couldn't eat it. Disappointing especially as it's an expensive menu!
I asked if they did sandwiches (as it was lunchtime) and was told only what's on the menu. Very fancy menu for a CBD location when you may just want a quick lunch option.
Staff not friendly, messed up our order twice!
Coffee was good, and the interior was beautiful but that's about it. Won't be returning.

Yummy food and an amazing atmosphere. You couldn't ask for anything better!

My second visit to Grounds and I ordered the same meal because I enjoyed it so much the first time. Boring I know; but not eating meat , my choices are always limited. I was not disappointed. The beetroot tart was just as yummy. Our table was next to the kitchen which was not ideal . Clattering plates and staff members having loud conversations was a bit annoying considering that the noise level is pretty high anyway. However, the friendly, helpful service and delicious food and moderately priced but good wine well outweighed any minor whinges. I come from outside of Sydney and have previously found it hard to find somewhere to have lunch in the shopping area which is not in a shopping centre and where I can have a glass of wine so I am happy to have found the Grounds. I will visit again but next time, when I book, request a table away from the kitchen.

the guests enjoyed the food and ambience. The staff went out of their way to located our group in a quieter part of the venue. Very pleasant

Great dining place for brunch.
Absolutely love the online table reservation system. Used to be a place that needed to queue to get in. This improvement is marvellous and will make me a return customer.

Fabulous: great setting, consistent, polished, staff knew what they were doing, presentation of food and beverage beautiful. Perfect for our birthday celebration brunch.

Loved the visit for afternoon cocktail and cake, would love to go again, meals served around us looked awesome, great menu

Great service and wonderful food. All staff were fantastic :)

The coffee is always lovely and the atmosphere is cosy with friendly staff.

The service was fantastic, bookings are certainly recommended if you are looking to dine in. The staff were always attentive to our needs.
Coffee was amazing!
Food was slightly late but was surprisingly rectified in our bill by the kind staff there!

Fabulous service our waiter was amazing. The food and atmosphere are second to none

This was our first visit to the Grounds of the City, we were very impressed. The service was the best, I wish I could remember the waiters name because he was amazing! The cocktails were great and the food even better! Unfortunately we live 200 km away so can't visit regularly but we will definitely back next visit to Sydney!

Fabulous service - our waitress was friendly and helpful. Portion size for the seafood was small even for city dining, but with a few sides we were fine. Great spot for pre-theatre dinner and post-theatre dessert.