What is Grounds on 2nd?
West of Goldwater Boulevard, Old Town Scottsdale stops being a tourist district and becomes a neighborhood of smaller buildings, older houses and quieter streets. Grounds on 2nd is that neighborhood’s coffee shop, and, after the sun goes down, its wine bar.
It sits at 3703 N 69th St, on the corner of Second Street, in what one reviewer called an “odd building a bit off the beaten path.” Inside is a plant-filled room with tables; outside is plenty of patio seating. The business is a partnership between the owners of Mythic Goat Coffee and Rift Wine and Tap, the south Scottsdale wine bar and taphouse, and the menu is both of their trades under one roof.
By day that means hand-roasted coffee, lattes and cold brew, sweet and savory breakfast, hot panini, grab-and-go salads and wraps and a shelf of local market goods. On Saturday mornings there are bagel takeovers with a guest baker. By evening, the same counter pours wine by the glass and bottle and draft beer, with beer to go, until 8 p.m.
It is a small place with a simple pitch: somewhere to work, read or meet a friend that is not on Scottsdale Road. Reviewers on Google and Yelp rate it close to five stars, and the phrase that keeps coming up is hidden gem.
How to use Grounds on 2nd
Mornings are for working. Doors open at 7 a.m. every day, the Wi-Fi is reliable, and the seating is built for staying. Reviewers describe the indoor room as quiet and comfortable, which makes it a good bet for a weekday table away from the busier Old Town coffee bars.
Lunch is panini. The kitchen keeps it short: hot panini, salads and wraps made fresh daily, and sweet and savory breakfast options. Reviewers find the menu limited and the food good, which is about right for a coffee bar.
Evenings are for wine. From late afternoon the room shifts toward wine and beer, and it closes at 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, early enough to be a first stop rather than a night out. Sunday is mornings only, closing at 1 p.m.
Getting there. From the Main Street galleries and the Thursday ArtWalk, it is a short walk west and south. For more of the hybrid coffee-by-day, drinks-by-night model, Sip Coffee & Beer House on Goldwater runs the same idea with beer; our coffee shop guide covers the rest.
The quiet side of the couplet
The blocks where Grounds on 2nd sits exist because of a traffic decision. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Scottsdale routed through traffic around downtown on a pair of one-way streets rather than widening Scottsdale Road. The western leg, once 70th Street, became Goldwater Boulevard. East of it are the galleries, restaurants and bars; west of it the city never built a district, and the streets stayed residential and small-scale.
That side of Old Town has always had a few surprises. On First Street, one block north, the Charles Miller House, a 1913 Craftsman bungalow from Winfield Scott’s old orchard, was moved in 2000–01 into a cluster of relocated older houses the city calls Charles Miller Square. Small businesses fill in around them, among them Alo Cafe, a breakfast-and-lunch spot in a converted garage.
Grounds on 2nd fits that pattern. It is the kind of all-day shop that 2020s Old Town has been short on: no line from the bar district, no bottle service, no scene, just a coffee bar that pours wine by evening for the people who live within walking distance. The partners came from opposite ends of the day, one from coffee and one from wine, and built a place that covers both.
Honest assessment: Grounds on 2nd is not a destination. It is a neighborhood shop, and that is its appeal: good coffee, a decent glass of wine and a quiet room on a corner most visitors will never find.