Caffe Ladro – Union Street

Caffe Ladro – Union Street

Description on the Caffe Ladro website: CHOOSE WHOLE BEAN COFFEE YOU LOVE- Your personal preferences will determine the type of roast you choose. Many coffees provide tasting notes on their labels.  Tasting notes are quick guides to the aromas and flavors you will find while brewing and sipping those coffees. These descriptors are for flavors that naturally occur in coffee a result of the region in which the beans grew, the weather their harvest year, and the way the farm and miller processed the beans after harvest.

Neighborhood: Ballard

Address: 108 Union St, Seattle, WA 98101

Music playing:  Helicopter by Bloc Party

What we ate/drank:  Macchiato

What we ate/drank: Truthfully much like the Caffe Ladro on 1800 9th, there’s not much to report here. It’s a smaller cafe.

Comments: This review ain’t much, but I had a doozy of a eavesdropping conversation(see below).

This location has three natural wood tables all against the left wall with an upholstery bench running the length of the space . Each of these tables seats four. Then there’s one “living room” space with four chairs and a coffee table. The only other seating area are two stools at a high counter in the front of the space facing out on to Union St.

They have pastries that Caffe Ladro bakes themselves. This is a good place to come to if you are visiting Pike Place Market or the SAM(Seattle Art Museum).  Due to it’s small size, I’d recommend coming here for a solo pre-work coffee or maybe a solo after lunch coffee or if you’re meeting up with a friend, but it’s not configured for a bigger group setting.

Ratings(Scale 1-5)

Favorite Thing: This would be my number one choice for coffee if near the SAM(Seattle Art Museum) or Pike Place Market

Atmosphere:   3.5

Service:   5.0

Food Options:   3.75

Overall:   4.0

Eavesdropping Convo:  Since the review wasn’t much, I do have a doozy of a eavesdropping convo. This was definitely a recruiter for administrative roles. He was interviewing a candidate(lady in her 40s) for potential positions.

Recruiter(RR): Decaf right?

Recruitee(RE): Yes

RR: Bringing a to go cup without a sleeve for RE. I didn’t see any of those sleeve things.

RE: I don’t think they have them. I looked. I wonder if it’s due to the environment?

RR: Yeah, I don’t know why.  How are you? So we talked briefly over the phone and I mentioned there are plenty of positions. We currently have 5 opening for Amazon, 4 for Microsoft and one at Starbucks.

RE: I’m really shocked that Amazon has that many openings.

RR: They are hiring like crazy. We placed 7 last week and I think 4 the previous week.

RE: I don’t know if Amazon is the right fit for me. 15 years ago I did a stint there at the front desk, so I know the environment. I want to protect myself, you know. I don’t want to be in the hot seat. I want a job that is low stress with a good life balance. Otherwise, you just think about work while you’re at home and you can’t relax. I don’t want that.

RR: No, I hear you. But at any job there’s a level of accountability and with the wage range you’re looking at there’s going to be some level of expectations and deadlines. There are lower accountability jobs that are purely admin with little to no knowledge of excel, but those are below your price range. So you did work there before?

RE: Yes, it was 15 years ago. What would I do? I just don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m busy and frazzled all day long. 

RR:  Like I said on the phone I’m the main recruiter for Amazon, but they don’t really provide details, but it’s $20/hr. Amazon is very secretive.  There are some hospital admin positions, but those are on the east side and I know you wanted to be in Seattle.

RE: Do people stay?

RR: It’s hit or miss. Some, it’s not a right fit.  Others, get hired or stay long term.

My Commentary: It seems like with the unemployment rate being at record lows, companies are really competing to find positions lately.  It gives people who are available and looking for work getting to have their pick of the litter, so to speak.   When somebody says they want a high paying job without the stress, you know the area is doing well.  You can also see it in the restaurants and bars. People have money to spend right now, which is a far cry from 2008-2010 when it was a ghost town.

Related: 

• Caffe Ladro- The Jetsons Coffee Place
• Caffe Ladro(1800 9th Building)-Mystery Solved!
• Caffe Vita – Where I Made a Fool of Myself