Caffe Senso Unico – Downtown
Description on Caffe Senso Unico website: They ain’t got one.
Neighborhood:Downtown
Address:622 Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98101
Music playing:Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall by Ella Fitzgerald
What we ate/drank:Americano & Apple Struddel
Comments: I’ve been going to Caffe Senso Unico(which means, “One Way” in Italian) for at least 8 years since one of my former co-workers loved the place. They just recently moved right next door from their old location.
The funny thing is with the opportunity to change some things around when moving to a new location, the setup is exactly the same unlike the major changes that Revolutions Coffee made from their old location to their new location.
If you hadn’t been to Caffe Senso Unico in a while you’d think it’s the same place, just remodeled to a more modern style. Both the old and new location have a glass display of sandwiches and pastries as soon as you walk in, counter for ordering, prepping drinks and pick up on the right side and seats/tables on the patio, in the front window, along the side and in the back.
Both places also showcase art that changes every so often. One of the few differences is the walls are now grey, where before the front section was green and the back section was a bright red. It actually does make a big difference in the mood of the place.
Anybody who has been here, will no doubt know who Mario is. He’s the owner(from Italy) of Caffe Senso Unico and no one person in any of the coffee places in Seattle imparts his personality on a cafe like he does. He’s pretty charismatic and runs a pretty efficient line.
If you stay here for your drink, you’ll notice he’ll greet the regulars and make small talk while they wait for their drinks. You get the feeling he knows what he’s doing and knows how to run a business. I think he’s a pretty detail-oriented guy. I remember seeing him training a new employee on how to fold the aprons in a particular way.
Similar to places like, Elm Coffee Roasters, which doesn’t have a lot of electrical outlets for laptop camping, Caffe Senso Unico, has very few if any outlets and no Wifi. I believe the goal for both these places is to encourage chatting over coffee versus 30 silent individuals on their laptops. I can respect that.
I had the apple struddel and an Americano when I went this particular time. They also have quiche, pastries(from Macrina I believe) and sandwiches. The coffee is from Caffe Umbria. During peak hours, there’s a line out the door, but off peak it’s not difficult to find a place to sit.
One thing that sets Caffe Senso Unico apart from the rest is their high quality chairs, their tiled tables and handmade mugs(see pic below) and dishes.
These are not your mish mosh of hard wooden chairs and tables that you see in a lot of cafes. The seats are either leather or upholstered wood chairs. The other thing that’s different is that they accept Euros and they have a little dish near the register where they put your change or credit card on after you’ve paid.
People say it’s a little slice of Europe in Seattle, but honestly with the exception of the tabletops, mugs and owner, the atmosphere is like your normal café.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: Use of hand made mugs and dishes. It’s a nice touch.
Atmosphere:3.75
Service:4.5
Food Options:4.75
Overall:4.25
EavedroppingConvo: This one is a doozy, folks. Guy was talking on the phone. He looked like a young college student, wearing baggy jeans, a hoodie and a backpack.
Guy-I think we’re fine because there’s no paper trail, but I think we need to let her down easy, because she can still screw us.
Quiet
Guy-No, treat it just like Angela. Tell her we’ll accept her demands on the (….serverance?-couldn’t hear)
Quiet
Guy-Yeah, we can give her a good reference, but just not to our friends.
I thought he was talking about getting rid of a real estate agent at first, but I think they were firing a co-worker.