New Altoona coffee shop Daily Grind opens

 

Gallery • 8 Photos

Charlie Kephart

Rise and Shine. The Daily Grind opens at 6 a.m. almost every morning. The restaurant is closed on Mondays to give the employees a day off.

 

While I was at “The Daily Grind” with a fellow reporter, Abby Rudy, we decided to try some of their food and coffee.

To start off we both got an iced coffee. I got pumpkin flavored, and Abby got a vanilla iced coffee. It was very sweet and full of flavor. If I got it again, I would probably ask for less cream and sugar because I like coffee that tastes more like actual coffee than just cream and sugar.

Then we decided to order smaller amounts of multiple meals. We started with a Chocolate Chip Short Stack and a French Toast Short Stack. The Chocolate Chip Short Stack came with two chocolate chip pancakes. They had tons of chocolate in them and came with lots of butter and syrup. They were very rich. The French Toast Short Stack also came with two pieces of french toast. We decided to get the basic french toast, but there were other flavors including blueberry and strawberry.

We got two other breakfast dishes since they are mostly a breakfast restaurant. They have a few lunch options. We also got a burrito called “The Log.” It came with sausage, bacon, eggs, cheese, peppers and onions. It was all very flavorful, but I am not a huge fan of bacon or sausage. If I went here for breakfast again, I would probably get one of their sweeter options.

Our last breakfast dish was a basic egg, potatoes and toast meal. It’s pretty hard to screw that up. Their potatoes had a really good flavor.

We got one lunch item just to have a little variety. We got the grilled cheese, and that came with chips. Their chips were probably one of my favorite things. They were fresh and salty. I couldn’t stop eating them. As for the sandwich itself, it was so cheesy and buttery. I had no complaints about the food or coffee. It was all delicious. I would definitely get food from here again. 

The Daily Grind offers different options for food and drinks for customers to enjoy.

Co-owners Kurt Maidl and Brian Stroh opened the restaurant at the beginning of October. Maidl and Stroh both worked in the food industry previously, and they wanted a change of pace.

“I owned a pizza shop, The Deli at Mansion Park, and he [Maidl] had worked at every high-end restaurant in town. We had both been in the restaurant business for some time, and we both were over working late nights,” Stroh said. 

Maidl and Stroh wanted to work in the morning instead of the evening. They both wanted to try to get all of their work done at the beginning of the day. 

“I was working evenings all the time, and now I never miss birthdays, events, trick-or-treating and things like that,” Maidl said. 

Stroh takes care of the business alongside the restaurant while Maidl works as the chef. Maidl attended the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center for his culinary training. Maidl then went on to the International Culinary Academy in Pittsburgh, Pa. 

“I’ve always liked cooking and helping around the house. I jumped into cooking and found a love for it at 14,” Maidl said. 

When Maidl and Stroh were trying to come up with an idea for their restaurant, they discussed how they thought there were no restaurants like the place they wanted to open. 

“We talked about how in Altoona there are some coffee shops and a couple breakfast places, but we hadn’t seen anybody really do a good coffee and breakfast shop,” Stroh said. 

The owners want the restaurant to be talked about amongst students, and they want the community to come out to the restaurant. Junior Alexis Fraundorfer visited ‘The Daily Grind’ recently and loved the experience. 

“It was quite organized and had a touch of DIY style to the interior. The restaurant was very homey. I could just tell the recipes were going to be homemade and fresh,” Fraundorfer said. 

Fraundorfer was satisfied with the food she ordered. Fraundorfer decided to order an omelet. 

“They had a variety of choices like eggs, toast, pancakes, coffees and other things. The homestyle cooked omelet I had melted in my mouth. All of the flavors felt fresh and like they all had a purpose. I kept going back in for more,” Fraundorfer said. 

Fraundorfer also enjoyed the service and the atmosphere inside of ‘The Daily Grind.’ 

“The staff was very friendly and served us with a smile. We sat down pretty quick for it being a new restaurant. More customers were coming in the door behind me waiting to also have breakfast,” Fraundorfer said. 

To see their menu and more information about The Daily Grind, visit their Facebook.