A wannabe hot spot has opened up in Elyria. All Ground Up is a coffee bar that is trying to become the place that everyone is talking about. It opened in November with a vision of being a place where people could hang out, drink coffee, eat, hear live music, dance and have a good time at almost all hours of the day or night. The new joint is located on Broad Street in downtown Elyria, a block or two away from the DMV where I got my lovely Ohio drivers license. On Tuesday night I dragged my ex-boyfriend with me to check it out.
There were a couple of things that stood out to me during my visit. First, when we arrived we were surprised at the girth of the new establishment. It was housed in a very large room with high ceilings and a couple dozen tables and chairs. I guess I’d been expecting a small cozy little nook with people quietly drinking hot drinks in big dark mugs. Instead, the place had a drafty and impersonal feeling to it and the drinks were served in tall swanky glass cups. The ambiance of All Ground Up was rather confused. There was a sort of bar-like feel to the room, complete with cigarette smoke hanging in the air and four pool tables in the center of the room. And, in fact, the coffee was served from behind a bar with a neon Snapple sign hanging above it. There were the kind of fans hanging from the ceiling that you might see in a bowling alley, but then there were also these French vintage posters hanging behind the three video games (Hydrothunder, Area 51 and “Baywatch Pinball” for those of you who are wondering) on the far wall.
Secondly, even though there was a small stage with a jukebox behind it, it was very quiet at All Ground Up. It was also very cold. Perhaps these discomforts were a marketing ploy. It was so uncomfortable to sit in a cold, strangely quiet, smoky place and watch yourself slowly get grumpy. So within a few minutes we were buying hot drinks and surveying the jukebox, which turned out to have an interesting selection ranging from Frank Sinatra to Pink Floyd to Eminiem.
After getting our drinks and feeding the jukebox two dollars in exchange for our seven hand-picked songs, we sat at a table near the window and took it all in for awhile. We tried to do some homework, we complained about having to listen to the man behind the counter talk about George Lucas while he made our drinks and then we finally decided to play pool. I had never played pool before and I was terrible at it, but somehow, once we started the game and especially once “Rocket Man” came blasting out of the jukebox, everything started to look up. By the end of the evening, we were having a good time and were enjoying what All Ground Up had to offer.
In the next few weeks and presumably far into the future, All Ground Up will be housing a host of different shows, performances and get-togethers. Their upcoming calendar ranges from heavy metal-type rock shows to next Tuesday’s poetry night. It also includes out-of-town nationally touring acts such as The Nields sisters who are performing there next Wednesday the 20th at 8 p.m. This venue could be a valuable resource for both local and college bands who are interested in playing or seeing shows at a small venue outside of Oberlin. Also, as long as someone goes there to tell them to keep the music coming and turn up the heat, it might be worth frequenting just for relaxation and entertainment.

All Ground Up is located on Broad St. in Elyria.
Hours:
Sunday 9a.m.-1a.m.
Mon-Tu 7:30a.m.-1a.m.
Wed-Sat 7:30a.m.-4a.m.