Inside Sunderland's new Grinder coffee shop as it moves to larger premises to meet demand

Grinder has unveiled its new look today, October 29, after transforming the former Tots and Dots play cafe in New Durham Road, which is to the left of the original Grinder, on the other side of the back lane.

The move marks five years since owners Michael Curtis and Riki Tsang pursued their dreams of opening a coffee shop in their home city.

Opening in late 2019, soon after they had to navigate the difficulties of lockdown, but built up a loyal following, becoming part of people’s daily walks.

Today, they sell hundreds of lattes, their biggest seller, and much more each week, serving everyone from pupils at the nearby St Anthony’s School to commuters, people on the school run and staff from the nearby university campus.

The move means they can now offer around 15 covers for sit in, something they couldn’t do at the original site due to the size, as well as a broader food menu.

As well as the tray bakes and cakes they’re known for, which are provided by a local baker as well as in-house by manager Fiona Mullen, they’ll be reintroducing sandwiches which were popular at the Grinder Central in Hills Arts Centre, which is now Eden cafe, providing employment opportunities for deaf servers.

Sandwich options include cream cheese and chorizo; ultimate onion houmous and more. Moving forward, a brunch menu will also be introduced, with options such as loaded crumpets and Turkish eggs.

The original Grinder only closed its doors yesterday, October 28, so it was a tight turn around, but one that paid off with customers arriving first thing in the morning to check out the new site.

Michael said: “We’ve been working on this new site for the past month with the original site open at the same time. We closed that site yesterday at 1pm so had less than 24hours to move over the last of the equipment but it’s all come together.

“Anyone who’s been in Grinder will be familiar with our branding and we’ve kept that here, managing to repurpose 90% of the units and shelving.

“There’s been such a buzz about us moving into larger premises and loads of people have been asking about it as they’ve passed us doing the work on the new site.”

The larger premises also means Grinder will be able to host art groups and community workshops in the future.

Michael added: “We have such a loyal customer base and it just goes to show that when you support local business it enables them to reinvest in the community.

“If it wasn’t for our customers we wouldn’t be able to do this.”

:: Grinder, New Durham Road, is open 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday and Saturdays from 9am to 3pm. Hours may increase depending on demand. The site is dog friendly and accessible. Toilets are also now available for customer use.

There is also free parking available nearby outside of the permit hours.