Cafe Javasti
Description on Cafe Javasti’s website: We strongly believe in the power of community, an amazing cup of coffee and a delicious bite. Café Javasti was founded with the purpose to bring these three things together. Since 2001, we have been committed to serving high-quality coffee; pastries and savory items made from scratch daily; and a wide selection of made-to-order crepes with fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Neighborhood: Wedgewood ,Maple Leaf
Address: 8617 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115
What we ate/drank: Doppio Espresso, White Mocha, #7 Crepe-Cooked apple, cinnamon, sugar and whipped cream, #11 Crepe-Chicken, pesto, mozzarella, tomato
Comments: Café Javasti is a no frills, solid, neighborhood cafe. When we think of Cafe Javasti we think of crepes. And not only do they serve sweet crepes, which you might expect in a coffee shop, but also savory as well. On our recent trip this past Easter we had one of each. We had the sweet #7 – Cooked apple, cinnamon, sugar and whipped cream. As you can see from the pics below, they are not chintzy with the amount of apples in the crepe.
We also had the savory #11 – Chicken, pesto, mozzarella, tomato, which was also a hearty portion.
We noticed that it appears Café Javasti’s website hasn’t been updated in awhile. Under their News section, the last entry was from June 2015, which probably means that if you are looking at their menu for pricing prior to visiting Café Javasti, it’s probably not current. They also have pastries that I believe are made in house at their bakery, Little Kitchen.
One other thing we noticed were the lack of certain coffee drinks that are pretty common for most Seattle coffee shops. They have espresso, Americano, lattes, mochas. My wife got the white mocha, so no issues there. I’ve kind of morphed from a pure espresso or Americano drinker to a Cortado/Macchiato/Gibraltar/Flat White drinker, but they don’t appear to serve these smaller drinks that are commonplace in Seattle. At least it’s not on their menu, so I’m assuming they don’t.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: Savory and sweet crepes
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 4.00
Food Options: 4.75
Overall: 4.25
Eavedropping Convo:Two 40ish yr old women talking.
Woman 1(W1) – Did you here about Ryan?
Woman 2(W2) – Oh my God! Don’t tell me. He got dumped?
W1 – Mm hmm. Like yesterday’s trash.
W2 – Not again?! How long did this one last?
W1 – Six or seven months. He has the worst luck. He can’t hold on to them. He falls so hard for them too. He’s destroyed over it.
W2 – You know the reason…. He’s too nice. Women want to be challenged. They don’t want somebody to walk all over, buy them gifts and say, “Yes, Dear” all the time. We all want somebody who’s nice, but he’s too nice and women get bored. I’ve told him this a billion times, but he just ain’t got it in him to be a little bit of a bad boy. It ain’t in his nature.
W1 –You know what they say. Nice guys finish last. And it’s the damn truth. You should give him a call to cheer him up. He needs it.
Related:
Anchored Ship Coffee – Ballard
Description on Anchored Ship Coffee’s Facebook : We’re a small, independently run coffee shop on Ballard Ave.
Proudly serving Counter Culture Coffee and treats from local vendors (Including Gluten Free pastries!)
Address:5308 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
What we ate/drank: Cortado
Comments: We’ve visited Anchored Ship Coffee various times when occasionally going to the Ballard Farmers Market on Sundays. Because Anchored Ship Coffee is located on Ballard Ave where the Ballard Farmers Market is held, it’s a regular stop for coffee. If you plan on visiting Anchored Ship Coffee, my advice is not to visit on Sundays while the market is going on. You’ll have a long line and you won’t really be able to enjoy the cafe because it’ll be too crowded.
When visiting on a weekday or Saturday, the environment is a compete 180 degree change. No crowds, choice of seats, relaxing. The ground floor is where you enter and where the coffee bar is. The only seats on this floor are a few looking out the window.
The main seating area is on the second floor that probably seats about 20 people. I’m not sure how new this area is, but I don’t recall this seating area being here on prior visits. Even if this area is quite far from the store front and away from the natural sunlight, it’s still quite bright due to numerous and ample lighting.
The thing I liked about this space is that the chairs and lighting are all different, but the same style so they’re all complimentary. So many cafes have the exact same chairs, tables and lightings. It’s nice to see some variation that all comes together.
The music is piped into the front of the store, so this area is really quiet.
There’s also a third floor loft that is above the barista/coffee bar. The coffee used here and sold is Counter Culture Coffee, a roaster based out of North Carolina. There’s limited food options with pastries, Ellenos yogurt, hummus and some pre-packaged wraps. They also have juice and kombucha for sale.
One last thing- I mentioned in my Anchorhead Coffee Co review that I thought Anchored Ship Coffee was one in the same. It was only until visiting Anchorhead Coffee Co when it first opened that I realized they were not the same company, but who could blame me? Take a look at the two “Anchor” themed logos?
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: The different types of chairs and lighting.
Atmosphere: 4.25
Service: 4.75
Food Options: 4.00
Overall: 4.35
Eavesdropping Convo: Two very loud parents with kids in tow talking about another parent who was not present.
Parent 1 (P1)- She only talks to her daughter in German. I mean, if she’s staying here in the US, they should try to immerse themselves in the English language and US culture.
Parent2 (P2) – I guess, but I can see wanting to preserve your culture with your kids.
P1 – Half her culture. The other half is American, remember?
P2 – True
P1 – I just think it’s rude to talk German to your kids in front of us. Because you know when she switches from English to German that she’s doing it so we don’t understand what they’re talking about and probably talking about us!
P2 – No, I don’t think so.
P1 – Why else would she switch to German? If she’s not talking about us, she would just stick to English if there’s nothing to hide.
Related:
- Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
- Best Seattle Coffee Shops For Each Stage of Dating
- Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
- Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
Mabel Coffee – Ballard
Description on Mabel’s website : The coffee shop is named after founder Brooke McCurdy’s Great Aunt Mabel; a remarkable woman who blazed her own storied trail her whole life. The tiny coffee shop celebrates Mabel’s spirit of adventure with tasty local fare ready to go for its customers, and delicious coffee drinks for their road less traveled, whether off to work, or a stroll around the surrounding quiet residential streets.
Address: 7001 24th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98117
Music Playing: One Love by Bob Marley on a record player
What we ate/drank: Macchiato
Comments: We’ve passed by Mabel Coffee a few times and always thought it was a small little cafe with only a few seats due to their small store front. Little did we know that it’s actually a very big place and probably one of the better coffee shops for large groups to gather. It probably has a chance of cracking our list of Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Groups.
When entering Mabel Coffee, you’ll notice a travel theme with map covered tables, postcards lining the counter, a community travel journal, the menu appearing on an Interstate symbol and the Mabel Coffee logo that includes a traveling RV. This area is rather small with seating for maybe 10 people max. They have some pastries from Macrina and Flying Apron and your normal coffee drinks.
The one thing that sets Mabel Coffee apart from the rest of the Seattle coffee shops is that they serve Bulletproof Coffee with Brain Octane and Grass Fed Butter. The only other places I know of that serve Bulletproof is of course Bulletproof Coffee in South Lake Union and the cafes in Whole Food Markets. If you’ve not heard of Bulletproof you can read more about it here. In short, it’s supposed to suppress hunger, provide mental clarity and provide a more steady lasting energy than regular coffee. I first heard about it from Tim Ferriss about 4 years ago and it always intrigued me. I do get a Bulletproof Coffee every once in awhile and there’s some controversy on whether or not it’s just a placebo, but I’ve got to admit, I do feel my mind is more clear whenever I drink it. Mabel Coffee provides another option if I ever want Bulletproof Coffee.
You can add Mabel Coffee to the long list of Seattle coffee shops that spin records on an old fashioned turntable. I know Convoy Coffee, Slate Coffee Roasters, Porchlight Coffee and Analog Coffee have record players and you also have Victrola Coffee Roasters that has the phonograph as its logo.
Once you’ve obtained your drink, you can go through the door way and it opens up into a massive room full of a mish mosh of tables and chairs. The space reminds me of my old class rooms from grammar school. There’s a small kids area and the biggest community board I’ve ever seen. There’s also another separate room that can be reserved.
Mabel Coffee definitely has a community feel to it – the community travel journal, the large community board, the unpretentious nature of their mish mosh of tables and seatings, the availability to rent a room, doggy treats, dedicated kids area. It’s definitely been added to our list of coffee places we intend to frequent.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: They serve Bulletproof Coffee, space is great for large groups and you can rent a small room in the back
Atmosphere: 4.75
Service: 4.75
Food Options: 4.25
Overall: 4.65
Eavesdropping Convo: A guy(G1) was showing another guy(G2) the separate room available for reserving in the back.
G1 – This is the room I was telling you about. I think it’s reserved for a church group on Wednesdays, but we can reserve and go over our business plan.
G2 – G2 looks inside. Oh, wow. This is great. It’s bright and we can have some privacy and good coffee to boot.
G1- No doubt. I don’t think anybody knows about this place.
G2 – How did you find out about it?
G1 – Remember my buddy, Greg? He said he and his boys used it to play Catan here for a few hours last weekend.
Related:
- Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
- Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
- Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
- Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
- See what a 25 year old from Finland thought of Seattle
Hub Coffee
Description on Lighthouse Roaster’s website : One of Seattle’s original roaster cafes, Lighthouse has spent more than twenty years creating a loyal following of coffee lovers by treating the coffee buying, roasting and drink-making as a noble callin
Description on Hub Coffee’s website : A modern coffeehouse in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle. We serve small batch local coffee, artisan baked goods, and Rishi premium teas.
Address:2821 Thorndyke Ave W, Seattle, WA 98199
Music Playing: Fat Freddy’s Drop by Ernie
What we ate/drank: Cortado
Comments: We don’t venture out to Magnolia much, but our former next door neighbors made the move out there last year, so we’ve been there quite often for visits lately. When it comes to coffee shops, it’s slim pickings in Magnolia. We don’t want to go as far as to say Hub Coffee is the de facto quality coffee shop in Magnolia, but it’s close.
It’s located on a very nondescript street-Thorndyke, so blink and you’ll miss it.
Hub Coffee has a very minimalist decor with white walls, a few black and white photos and concrete floors. The store front faces Southeast, so tons of natural light pours into the space. The configuration and style reminds us of Revolutions Coffee.
There’s a couple seats outside the front door, a few separate tables and a bench that runs the length of the space. There’s also some stools that look out on Thorndyke Ave.
Had the Cortado, but no food. They do have food options, though. Pastries sandwiches-kale, egg, arugula, cheddar on a bagel, avocado toast, hummus plate w-pita and veggie and a chicken pesto with arugula. Apart from coffee, Hub Coffee also has Rishi Tea.
I wouldn’t say the service is the friendliest, but if minimal is your style, a good cup of coffee can be had at Hub Coffee.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: A(the only?) quality cafe option in Magnolia.
Atmosphere: 3.75
Service: 4.00
Food Options: 4.50
Overall: 4.15
Eavesdropping Convo: Guy comes in to order a drink.
Guy: Nice day, huh?
Barista: Yeah, I had the door open earlier but bees were flying in here, so I had to close it.
Related:
- Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
- Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
- Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
- Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
Watson’s Counter
Recommended by: Nobody. We saw it on the way to Biscuit and Bean a few blocks down the street and decided to try it.
Description on the Watson’s Counter website: We’re native Seattleites who want to provide a space for people to come together and build relationships over some damn good coffee and food. We have a full espresso bar as well as a kitchen focused on classic brunch foods and afternoon bites. We’ve drawn upon our Korean heritage and taste for nostalgic flavors to add a bit of our personality to the offerings.
Neighborhood/Type: Ballard
Address: 6201 15th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
What we ate/drank: Loco Moco, Chicken & Waffles, 1 + 1 = espresso and 4 oz latte, Anchorhead drip coffee. Update 7/19 below- KBBQ PORK PLATE-Roasted pork belly, rice, assorted kimchis, perilla leaves, tofu, lettuce wraps, Korean peppers, and sauce
A few weeks ago we noticed Watson’s Counter on our way to Biscuit and Bean down the street, so we decided to check it out. We found out they’ve only been open for a little over a month. When first walking in you really wouldn’t know they served food since the first thing you see as you enter is the espresso machine and the coffee/drink board hanging overhead.
Upon entering it reminded us of a mini Mr West Café & Bar -white marble table and counter tops, lots of plants, fancy pendulum lighting , dark wood bench and cabinets, lots of natural lighting, airy. There’s limited seating, a couple of 2 seat tables, a couple of 4 seat tables and a community table for 8. They also have a small counter that’s probably more conducive for standing than sitting. Even with its limited seating, it’s really family friendly. I counted 3 high chairs stacked and they have a changing table in the rest room.
We happen to be there for breakfast and it’s served all day. Watson’s Counter opens at 6:30am and closes at 4:00pm(7:00pm on Fri) on the weeknights, but opens from 8:00am to 7:00pm on Sat and Sun. To start, I ordered the 1 + 1, which is a solo espresso and a 4oz latter. My wife got a drip. Anchorhead is the coffee roaster they use. Can’t go wrong there.
They don’t have a lot of dish choices, but we prefer that a restaurant have fewer plates that they do well, than a restaurant that has a lot of options, but of mediocre quality. Although the menu is small, it’s still varied-Soba Noodles(Japan), Loco Moco(Hawaii), Poutine(Oh, Canada!), Chicken Wings(Korean). The menu definitely has a Korean slant to it.
I got the waffles and chicken. On the menu it’s listed with a honey butter, but the owner advised it comes with an in-house made gochujang option and recommended it, so that’s what I went with. The waffles came with two huge chicken wings and was prepared to perfection-crispy outside, juicy inside. It came with an organic maple syrup, but I thought the waffles tasted best eating it plain in combination with the savory gochujang flavored wings.
CHICKEN & WAFFLES
two of our honey-butter wings on top of our house rosemary Belgian waffle. Served with organic maple syrup and Louisiana hot sauce. gochujang. Score: (4.0/5.0)
My wife got the Loco Moco. I know it’s early in the year, but this dish is a contender to be on our Top Dishes of 2019. We’ve had our fair share of Loco Mocos in Hawaii and around town at Kona Kitchen, Maono, Cheeky Café. This is the best we’ve had. The patty is made with a blend of chuck, short-rib, and pork belly and you have the rice and egg, but the showstopper is the house-made gravy. It’s a thick peppery flavorful smack in the mouth. Mixed with the egg yolk, generous sized patty and topped with sesame seeds and green onions = Broke Da Mouth! As mentioned the dish selection is on the small side, but there are definitely a lot of other interesting dishes we’ll need to try in the future. The K-Poutine, soba noodles and a cereal French toast creation covered in Fruity Pebbles that the gentleman next to us ordered, all look really delicious.
Tips are included so the prices are rightfully a little higher and payment is made at your table-Canadian style. I think I saw a notice/application for a liquor license in their window, so alcohol is likely on the way. We asked about the logo since it’s hard to figure out what type of animal it is. The owner said that it’s his dog wearing a tiger outfit, whose name is Watson, the namesake of the restaurant. We also found out that the owner is the former Director of Education at Caffe Ladro. Quite the pedigree.
For only being open for a short time, it felt like they’d been open for years-attentive service, good suggestions, organized, efficient, spotless.
Prediction Time: Right now this small Watson’s Counter is new and at the moment largely unknown, but trust us this place will soon go the way of other popular Seattle small spots like Fat Hen, Wandering Goose(RIP 2020), Il Corvo(RIP 2020) and have crowds waiting and lines forming when word gets out, so get your ass over there soon!
Update 7/19: Went back for breakfast and got the Loco Moco again and it was as good as we remembered. We also tried a new dish, the KBBQ. You can eat it as just as you see below or you can use the provided lettuce leaves to create a lettuce wrap. As you can see below, there area a ton of ingredients that you can mix and match and come up with your own favorite. One ingredient I’d never seen before was kim chi apples.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 5.00
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.80
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers Locals recommendations to visit in the future: Back in the spring, a friend of ours mentioned a new Mexican restaurant that opened on 15th Ave NW that served breakfast everyday. He couldn’t recall the name of the place, but on the way to one of our Watson’s Counter visits, we saw Sazon Kitchen and tried it.
Related Articles:
The Seattle Coffee Shop Awards – Part 6
As you know Seattleites have the stereotype of being coffee drinking fools. This is no stereotype, we take our coffee seriously. And if you ask 20 different locals what their favorite coffee place is, you’ll most likely get 20 different answers.
These are our choices for Best Seattle Coffee Shop Awards. With two young’uns, we’ve had to trade in our frequency of night life in Seattle bars and pubs to morning life in a lot of Seattle coffee cafes.
In doing so, we’ve gotten to revisit a lot of coffee shops we hadn’t been to in a while and also got a chance to visit a lot of new places that had always been on our radar but never been able to go to. We Seattleites are so lucky to have so many varieties of roasters and cafes in such a condensed area.
You’ll notice in our Coffee Shop blog posts we rarely mention how good the coffee is in each place, because we feel like it’s a given we’re going to get exceptional coffee. If we happen upon a coffee shop in which the coffee is not good, we will not review it. This might be the reason you may not see a particular coffee shop on our blog.
See our other installments of Seattle Coffee Shop Awards:
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 2 – Best Coffee Shops for Groups or You Want To Be Alone.
Part 3 – Best Seattle Coffee Drink Sets, Best Views
Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
Best Seattle Coffee Shop With Most Character
Summary: People call me a Looker. I don’t mean that as in, “wow, that guy’s a looker!” but more like “wow, that guy likes to look at things a lot.” I love coffee shops that stand out from the rest with their quirky or original decor. You step in and think, “Wow, this place is one of a kind!”
There’s no place like Ada’s Technical Book Cafe. It’s part coffee shop, part restaurant, part retailer, part working space and community space. You can enjoy your coffee while sitting at their various display tables which could literally double as museum pieces. You can browse the extensive STEM focused books, puzzles and models. It’s also got a warm inviting vibe. All the Caffe Vitas in Seattle have different atmospheres.
Our favorite is the Caffe Vita in Pioneer Square. This location has a lot of cool things to look at-the coffee grinder in the front window, their huge siphon, and even the floor tiles(see below), which are definitely original to the building. The architecture has an industrial look with huge steel supports, a huge metal staircase and bar stools made from camshafts.
Zeitgeist Coffee also located in Pioneer Square, has so many interesting features to look at as you enjoy your drink-the art deco clock above the cashier/barista, the old fan hanging from the wall, the vintage percolator signage right behind the cashier, the massive hanging lights, the old school newspaper/magazine stand, the ornate steel partition above the magazine stand(remnants of a bank teller?),the dictionary displayed above a map drawer that contain all sorts of little goodies, the small little counter in the middle of the space that has a banker’s lamp on it. It’s so out of place, but it’s not. Even the toaster near the coffee station is an older mode.
Seven Coffee Roasters is literally a general store with local snacks, local wines and beers and happens to be a roaster. It’s got a mellow neighborhood vibe in the middle of Ravenna. It’s got outside seating in front, a separate patio and seating inside. Enjoy your coffee while perusing all the local wares or sit outside and enjoy the tree lined street of Ravenna.
Bauhaus Strong Coffee You can read about the tumultuous history of Bauhaus in the our review. The “library coffee shop” has unique features such as vintage pieces from yesteryear such as encyclopedias, slide projectors, globes, typewriters and old TVs. Also there’s a orange imac which is considered vintage in technology years.
Best Coffee Shop Overall
We’re not going to go into detail on each of these coffee shops. You can read our glowing reviews of each of them in the links. But you will notice that many of them were mentioned multiple times in our award lists.
We can tell you a few things they have in common are these characteristics:
- When we go here, we feel like we can relax, decompress and talk for long periods. And we want to stay there for long periods.
- Good food options
- We enjoy the atmosphere, decor and the little original details of each place.
- Mr West Café Bar
- Cherry Street Public House
- Preserve & Gather
- Café Allegro
- Ada’s Technical Book Cafe
- Seven Coffee Roasters
- Lighthouse Roasters
- La Marzocco Cafe
- Anchorhead Coffee Co,
- Zeitgeist Coffee
We’ll continue to scour Seattle for coffee shops and we’ve already visited a few new ones that will definitely make this list in the future.
See our other installments of Seattle Coffee Shop Awards:
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 2 – Best Coffee Shops for Groups or You Want To Be Alone.
Part 3 – Best Seattle Coffee Drink Sets, Best Views
Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
The Seattle Coffee Shop Awards – Part 5
As you know Seattleites have the stereotype of being coffee drinking fools. This is no stereotype, we take our coffee seriously. And if you ask 20 different locals what their favorite coffee place is, you’ll most likely get 20 different answers. These are our choices for Best Seattle Coffee Shop Awards. With two young’uns, we’ve had to trade in our frequency of night life in Seattle bars and pubs to morning life in a lot of Seattle coffee cafes. In doing so, we’ve gotten to revisit a lot of coffee shops we hadn’t been to in a while and also got a chance to visit a lot of new places that had always been on our radar but never been able to go to. We Seattleites are so lucky to have so many varieties of roasters and cafes in such a condensed area.
You’ll notice in our Coffee Shop blog posts we rarely mention how good the coffee is in each place, because we feel like it’s a given we’re going to get exceptional coffee. If we happen upon a coffee shop in which the coffee is not good, we will not review it. This might be the reason you may not see a particular coffee shop on our blog.
See our other installments of Seattle Coffee Shop Awards:
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 2 – Best Coffee Shops for Groups or You Want To Be Alone.
Part 3 – Best Seattle Coffee Drink Sets, Best Views
Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
Best Seattle Coffee Shop For Food Options
This speaks for itself. These are the best coffee shops with regard to food options. Menu links are attached for each place. All places have a good variety of not only your normal cafe pastries, but also savory hearty dishes which provides more options to people especially if the people in your group want different choices.
- Cherry Street Public House (menu)
- Zeitgeist Coffee (menu)
- Cloud City Coffee (menu)
- Cafe Hitchcock (menu)
- Fonte Coffee Roasters Cafe (menu)
- Mr West Café Bar (menu)
- Anchorhead Coffee Co (menu)
Best Seattle Coffee Shop With Friendliest Service
I find the stereotype of the surly, snobby Seattle barista to be just that, a stereotype. For the most part all employees at the coffee places we’ve been to have been cordial, efficient and plain decent human beings. On the particular days we visited these establishments, the service happened to be extra special. This might be the first, last or only time we ever visit these places, but on the day we went, it left a lasting impression on us. So much so that they made it on to our Best Seattle Coffee Shop With Friendliest Service list.
- Cafe Vita – Pioneer Square
- Realfine Coffee
- Slate Coffee Roasters
- Pegasus Coffee
- Storyville – 1st Ave
I find it amusing that out of 60+ Seattle Coffee Shop reviews from our website that the most viewed coffee shop review of all time Caffé Vita’s in Pioneer Square. It’s popular because I made a fool of myself there. Here’s the backstory. I like to find out about the origin of the logos and/or names of the establishments. I went into this particular Caffe Vita one morning and forgot where I was and asked the barista about Caffe Ladro’s logo like an idiot. The cashier at Caffe Vita(bless her little heart) didn’t correct me or look at me like a moron and tried her darndest to come up with an answer about Caffe Ladro’s logo. It wasn’t until I had ordered and gotten my coffee that a realized my faux pas. I actually did finally get my answer from Caffe Ladro about their logo. She was so nice in trying to answer my question. There was a co-worker standing right next to her who just listened. She must have also thought I was crazy.
I deemed the owner/cashier/barista at Realfine Coffee, The Master of Small Talk. She really engaged each customer with small talk and she was one of the best I’ve ever heard. It didn’t matter if you were a regular or a new customer or if you were in a good mood or bad mood, she really knew how to interact with people.
When I ordered the Deconstructed Espresso at Slate Coffee Roasters the cashier/barista asked if I had ever had it before. I thought it was strange at first, but I understood why, when he brought the three cordial glasses of espresso, milk , macchiato to my table. He went into great detail explaining each ingredient-where it came from, what type of notes I would taste, suggestions on how to drink each ingredient and in what order. I could tell he really took pride in the ingredients, it’s presentation and felt like he really wanted me to have a great experience trying it. And because of him, I did.
Pegasus Coffee in the Seattle Tower on 3rd could well be one of the smallest coffee shops in Seattle. For this reason, if you stay there to drink your coffee, you will undoubtedly strike up a conversation with the cashier and barista. It would be too awkward to be is such small quarters in close proximity to each other and not make small talk. Both gals I spoke to that day were really friendly and I could tell they were really into coffee. When I asked what cafes they hang out at when not working at Pegasus, their eyes lit up and they seemed so excited to tell me where they like to go. They had some good ones too-Zeitgeist, Caffe Vita, Victrola Coffee Roasters, La Marzocco.
On the particular day going to Storyville on 1st Ave, the cashier had a standard question of asking where each person ordering was from to see if they were from out of town. This would then lead to more banter. You can read about a conversation she had with a Philadelphia coffee novice in my review. They also bring you a cup of water as soon as you sit down and bus your dishes and cups for you. This is unheard of in Seattle.
Realfine Coffee
See our other installments of Seattle Coffee Shop Awards:
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 2 – Best Coffee Shops for Groups or You Want To Be Alone.
Part 3 – Best Seattle Coffee Drink Sets, Best Views
Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
The Seattle Coffee Shop Awards – Part 4
As you know Seattleites have the stereotype of being coffee drinking fools. This is no stereotype, we take our coffee seriously. And if you ask 20 different locals what their favorite coffee place is, you’ll most likely get 20 different answers.
These are our choices for Best Seattle Coffee Shop Awards. With two young’uns, we’ve had to trade in our frequency of night life in Seattle bars and pubs to morning life in a lot of Seattle coffee cafes.
In doing so, we’ve gotten to revisit a lot of coffee shops we hadn’t been to in a while and also got a chance to visit a lot of new places that had always been on our radar but never been able to go to. We Seattleites are so lucky to have so many varieties of roasters and cafes in such a condensed area.
You’ll notice in our Coffee Shop blog posts we rarely mention how good the coffee is in each place, because we feel like it’s a given we’re going to get exceptional coffee. If we happen upon a coffee shop in which the coffee is not good, we will not review it. This might be the reason you may not see a particular coffee shop on our blog.
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 2 – Best Coffee Shops for Groups or You Want To Be Alone.
Part 3 – Best Seattle Coffee Drink Sets, Best Views
Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors
We tried to pick cafes that are close to Seattle’s main attractions, but have really nice ambiance and atmosphere and would make any visitors Seattle coffee experience memorable. We wouldn’t mind taking our visiting parents or high school age nephews/nieces, because we think they’d feel comfortable in these cafes.
- Storyville Coffee in Pike Place Market – Secret place in Pike Place Market.
- La Marzocco Cafe – Located in the Seattle Center.
- Cherry Street Public House – In Pioneer Square near Occidental Park
- Mr West Café Bar– Wow, I want to hang out here.
- Café Allegro– Oldest cafe in Seattle and hidden in an alley
The number one spot(for now) goes to Storyville Coffee in Pike Place Market. It’s located in the number one attraction in Seattle and although the first Starbucks is also located here, we usually take our visitors to Storyville Coffee. It’s hidden from the crowds, it’s a very cozy and has an inviting atmosphere and the view of the market and Puget Sound can’t be beat.
The number two spot goes to La Marzocco Café. It’s in the major tourist attraction, the Seattle Center, so you’ll most likely end up near the café anyways. The Seattle Center includes the Space Needle, International Fountain, Chihuly Garden & Glass, Museum of Pop Culture, Pacific Science Center and the Seattle Children’s Museum. La Marzocco Café is a huge café that shares space with Seattle radio station, KEXP. It has a rotating coffee roaster that keeps things fresh, so multiple trips throughout the year will bring different experiences. This historic espresso machine maker was founded in 1884 and this is their only café in the world! Visiting here is like visiting a museum with their various espresso machine iterations.
Pioneer Square is another destination for visitor. It’s the oldest neighborhood in Seattle and the architecture of the buildings in the area showcase this. Right on the main walking thoroughfare of Occidental is the Cherry Street Public House. It’s bright and big and not only can you enjoy a coffee there, but they have alcohol and serve food there too. It’s a newer construction so the place is modern and well thought out. The owner actually won the US Barista Championship in 2014. Baller.
Mr West Café Bar is near the main shopping area in downtown and always impresses with their service, the décor, the seating arrangements(bar, window counter, patio, comfy chairs or separate tables) and atmosphere. They have a good selection of food as well as alcoholic beverages. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s just a place you want to hang out.
Café Allegro is near UDUB(University of Washington). It’s the oldest café in Seattle and also has the “secret hidden” café thing going for it that visitors seem to love. Although there are throngs of students normally there, it’s a very big place with an adjacent seating section and an entire 2nd floor with a patio if the main café area is crowded.
Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs
So the previous award for Best Seattle Coffee Shop to Impress Visitors were for general visitors who want a nice café close to various Seattle attractions, enjoy the atmosphere/décor and want a good cup of coffee. The places listed below are for the visitors to Seattle who are coffee snobs and who say things like, “I keep hearing that Seattle is the Center of Coffee Universe and the coffee is all that. Well, prove it to me!” Location, café décor, service quality and atmosphere are all secondary. They want to be impressed by the coffee. This is where you should take them:
When we walk into these places, it just feels like they take their coffee game seriously. They all have that minimalist vibe to their cafes and we’d like to think it’s because they want you to really concentrate on their coffee with a minimum amount of sensory distraction. We have three roasters, one multiroaster and one coffee shop that makes coffee concoctions like a mad scientist.
Slate Coffee Roaster has three locations around Seattle-Near UW, Capitol Hill and one in Ballard. It’s home to the Deconstructed Latte, which is a good way to not only learn about the coffee, but also about the dairy they use in their drinks. They seem to really care about the experience of drinking their coffee and are enthusiastic about telling you all about it. I genuinely felt like I was in a Coffee 101 class.
Elm Coffee Roasters located in Pioneer Square does their roasting right on the premises, so you know it’s fresh. Roasting is done on Tues, Thurs and Sundays. You can get one of their combos here, the One of Everything, which gives you a chance to have a Macchiato, espresso and a brewed coffee. You’ve got their roasters mere yards away from where you’re drinking their coffee. What coffee snob, wouldn’t be impressed by that?
The Broadcast Coffee in Roosevelt is my personal favorite place to work on my laptop. And are they serious about their coffee? You can read our Broadcast Coffee blog post when the barista made my espresso three times because she wasn’t happy with the quality. Somebody left the door open, which she believes altered the pressure in the café that affected the espresso.
Milstead & Co are known nation-wide as a top notch multiroaster. They employ two La Marzocco espresso machines to keep things moving along and a rotation of featured coffee roasters to keep things fresh. You want to brag to your coffee snob visitor? You can tell them that Food & Wine rated Milstead & Co a perfect 5 out of 5 on the Coffee Snob Factor for Seattle cafes. To give you an idea, Slate only got a 3.
Ghost Note has a custom built espresso machine that with the push of a button attempts to replicate the characteristics of a pour over in only 90 seconds. That would impress the coffee snob in all of us, but they go a step further and serve their coffee in fancy glasses and have very progressive concoctions you might imagine that a coffee mad scientist created. For example, Sun Ship- Espresso, smoked grapefruit rosemary syrup, coconut water, sparkling water, lime. Cold. The menu notes…..”alterations politely declined” <<<
Elm Coffee Roasters
Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Make Visitors Feel Like Locals
The Best Seattle Coffee Shop to Impress Visitors Award was for general visitors near Seattle attractions. The second was for serious Coffee Snob Visitors. This one is for the visitor who perhaps has already been to all the Seattle attractions and just came to Seattle to visit us and just wants to relax and chill and catch up. They want to see what a normal day looks like as a regular Seattleite and where we might spend time drinking coffee in our normal life. These are the type of coffee shops that we enjoy taking visitors to the most. In a lot of ways, these places feel like an extension of our home.
- They are typically in the middle of neighborhoods off of main streets(Preserve & Gather, Analog Coffee, Lighthouse Roasters, Seven Coffee Roasters)
- You find that most people that frequent these spots are walking in from the neighborhood. No dedicated parking spaces for any of these places.
- You get the feeling there’s a real sense of community. It was not unusual to see multiple families with kids here. It was common for baristas greeting visitors by their first name and ringing them up without asking for their order, because they already knew it by heart.
- It felt comfortable to leisurely enjoy our drinks over conversation without being hurried.
- Most importantly, these places were vibrant and alive and not like a library full of zombies working on laptops in total silence.
- Analog Coffee
- Lighthouse Roasters
- Seven Coffee Roasters
- Zoka Coffee Roasters – Tangletown
l Diablo Coffee(RIP)- Preserve & Gather
Analog Coffee, Lighthouse Roasters and Seven Coffee Roaster all have that “neighborhood general store” vibe and are all right in the middle of neighborhood on side streets. Analog has that “stay a while” vibe with it’s newspaper and magazines available for your reading pleasure clipped against the walls, ample seats both outside and inside and the barista part-timing as a DJ on their turntable. We also can’t forget about their stack of comic books. You could be there all day.
In our original Lighthouse Roasters review, we mentioned how our time there felt like a scene out of the movie, Doc Hollywood(small town feel). You could tell it was part of people’s daily routine to come here for their coffee-the baristas greeted the customers by name, customers recognized other customers and proceeded to small talk, and so many people were there reading newspapers just passing the time.
Seven Coffee Roaster has that “general store” vibe because it really is a general store, but they also happen to be a coffee roaster. This really is one of the hidden gems in Seattle. There place is really small, but they do have an outdoor bench in front of the store and an attached patio. Because it’s a general store, we can enjoy our coffee, while we can get snacks or ice cream for our kids. Everybody’s happy!
Zoka Coffee Roasters in Tangletown has been around for as long as I can remember and they definitely have a loyal following. Although the space is huge by Seattle coffee shop standards, it’s always crowded. It’s pretty much the only coffee shop in this neighborhood which might explain it. This is one place that can get overrun with students and laptops, but the crowd and seating arrangements make it a prime spot for neighbors to just hang out.
El Diablo is another neighborhood gem up on Queen Anne Hill. There is a plethora of coffee shop on the hill, but this one stands out for it’s unique quality of being in a house. The space is one of the biggest in Seattle and for us parents, the dedicated room for kids is a god send. It also has two patios one in the front and one on the second floor balcony. Yes, there is a whole second floor! It’s a perfect place for big gatherings(It won our Award for Top Coffee Shop for Groups). Perhaps it’s the quality of being in a house, that makes you feel your getting a local’s experience.
The last place is Preserve and Gather. We liked everything about this place-the fact that they made all their pastries in house, the numerous and varied types of seating, the general décor, how much pride the workers seemed to have in keeping the space clean and of course, the community feel. I believe it garnered one of our highest rating scores with a 4.9 out of 5.0. I have no idea the origin of the name, but we’d like to think they are “preserving” the act of getting together and catching up over coffee and are offering their space to “gather”. Clever, huh?
See our other installments of Seattle Coffee Shop Awards:
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 2 – Best Coffee Shops for Groups or You Want To Be Alone.
Part 3 – Best Seattle Coffee Drink Sets, Best Views
Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
The Seattle Coffee Shop Awards – Part 3
As you know Seattleites have the stereotype of being coffee drinking fools. This is no stereotype, we take our coffee seriously. And if you ask 20 different locals what their favorite coffee place is, you’ll most likely get 20 different answers. These are our choices for Best Seattle Coffee Shop Awards. With two young’uns, we’ve had to trade in our frequency of night life in Seattle bars and pubs to morning life in a lot of Seattle coffee cafes. In doing so, we’ve gotten to revisit a lot of coffee shops we hadn’t been to in a while and also got a chance to visit a lot of new places that had always been on our radar but never been able to go to. We Seattleites are so lucky to have so many varieties of roasters and cafes in such a condensed area.
You’ll notice in our Coffee Shop blog posts we rarely mention how good the coffee is in each place, because we feel like it’s a given we’re going to get exceptional coffee. If we happen upon a coffee shop in which the coffee is not good, we will not review it. This might be the reason you may not see a particular coffee shop on our blog.
See our other installments of Seattle Coffee Shop Awards:
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 2 – Best Coffee Shops for Groups or You Want To Be Alone.
Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
Best Seattle Coffee Drink Sets – Slate Coffee Roasters’ Deconstructed Espresso + Milk
These are the Seattle Coffee Shop versions of the McDonalds Happy Meals. Why just get one drink when you can enjoy a variety of preparations or combinations?
- Slate Coffee Roasters ($7)
- Kaladi Brothers Coffee ($6)
- Elm Coffee Roasters ($5)
- Cherry Street Coffee House ($3.35)
- Third Culture Coffee ($8)
Slate Coffee Roasters’s Deconstructed Espresso + Milk was featured in our Seattle Coffee Places For Each Stage of Dating post. We thought it was a great way to share a tasting. What makes this number one in our book is the extensive explanation of all the ingredients by the barista. You can also taste the quality of the ingredients. It was very evident, especially the milk. I think it was fun to taste the ingredients separately and together.
Kaladi Brothers Coffee has the most unusual drink set with their Brew and Brew, which is a very strange combination of a macchiato and a Rainier Beer. I’m not sure if you get drunk and use the caffeine to sober up or get hyped off caffeine and use the alcohol to come back down.
Elm Coffee Roasters has a few combinations, but the One of Everything has the most variety of coffee drinks. You get a macchiato, espresso shot and a brewed coffee for only $5.
Cherry Street Coffee House has a smaller version called the One & One, which is a solo macchiato and a solo espresso. Short and sweet, but you still get a variety to test the palette.
You’ve got to go all the way to Bellevue’s Third Culture Coffee to enjoy their Atalia combo set, which is an espresso, americano and a macchiato.
Best Seattle Coffee Shop View – Milstead & Co.
- Milstead & Co. – Fremont
- Storyville Coffee in Pike Place Market
- Cherry Street Public House – Pioneer Square
- Caffe Umbria– Pioneer Square
- Victrola Coffee Roasters – 3rd &
Pine(Crime)
Milstead & Co is located on Troll Ave & N. 34th Ave a few blocks down from the famous Troll under the 99 Bridge. Because it’s on a corner with windows facing east and south, you get an unobstructed view of the 99 Bridge and Lake Union. They also have a pretty big patio, so you can enjoy your coffee outside and really get a the full effect of the view.
If you sit right next to the huge half circle windows at Storyville Coffee in Pike Place Market you can look down on the market and also see the Puget Sound. It’s a great place to take out of town visitors and the view is one of the main reasons.
Cherry Street Public House is located right in Occidental Park in Pioneer Square. As little as 7 years ago, this was a pretty shady park, but with new businesses hear and an upgrade to the park, it’s now a nice place to sit and enjoy the view.
Caffe Umbria is right down the block in Pioneer Square and located on the pedestrian only stretch on Occidental Ave. It’s a nice place to people watch during First Thursday in Pioneer Square or people going to the Mariners/Sounders/Seahawks game. This last one doesn’t have a nice view like the other four, but the view might provide a good bit of entertainment.
Victrola Coffee Roasters on 3rd and Pine, which we deemed, The Most Heavily Guarded Coffee Shop in Seattle. As mentioned in the post, this corner is notorious for it’s constant crime and hang out for shady characters. Sit back in the café and watch the drug deals go down.
See our other installments of Seattle Coffee Shop Awards:
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 2 – Best Coffee Shops for Groups or You Want To Be Alone.
Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
The Seattle Coffee Shop Awards – Part 2
As you know Seattleites have the stereotype of being coffee drinking fools. This is no stereotype, we take our coffee seriously. And if you ask 20 different locals what their favorite coffee place is, you’ll most likely get 20 different answers. These are our choices for Best Seattle Coffee Shop Awards. With two young’uns, we’ve had to trade in our frequency of night life in Seattle bars and pubs to morning life in a lot of Seattle coffee cafes. In doing so, we’ve gotten to revisit a lot of coffee shops we hadn’t been to in a while and also got a chance to visit a lot of new places that had always been on our radar but never been able to go to. We Seattleites are so lucky to have so many varieties of roasters and cafes in such a condensed area.
You’ll notice in our Coffee Shop blog posts we rarely mention how good the coffee is in each place, because we feel like it’s a given we’re going to get exceptional coffee. If we happen upon a coffee shop in which the coffee is not good, we will not review it. This might be the reason you may not see a particular coffee shop on our blog.
See our other installments of Seattle Coffee Shop Awards:
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 3 – Best Seattle Coffee Drink Sets, Best Views
Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.
Best Seattle Coffee Shops For Big Groups – El Diablo Coffee, Espresso Vivace-SLU, La Marzocco Cafe
These places are huge by Seattle Coffee Shop standards, but they not only have a lot of space, but also have areas for bigger groups to gather. Large coffee shops are a rarity in Seattle, so keep this list handy.
l Diablo Coffee(RIP) -Queen Anne- Espresso Vivace-Alley 24 -South Lake Union
- La Marzocco Café -Seattle Center
- Kaladi Brothers Coffee -Capitol Hill
- Caffe Umbria-Pioneer Square
El Diablo Coffee not only has big front patio, a living room area and a kids room, but it also has an entire second floor that is big and another huge patio. You will have no problem for a group meet up here. Espresso Vivace also has areas conducive to group gatherings, but also has a separate room for groups. La Marzocco Café has a radio station and a rotating group of roasters that take over the café, but it’s a wide open space and although it can get crowded, we think it’s good place for big groups. Kaladi Brothers Coffee is another unusually large place and it’s in normally-cramped Capitol Hill to boot. They not only have a massive community table, but also a second floor perch that is also quite spacious. This particular Caffe Umbria location in Pioneer Square has a section for ordering and preparation with standing only counters/tables, but a whole separate section with tons of seating.
Best Seattle Coffee Shops For When You Want To Be Left Alone – Pegasus Coffee
This is the opposite of the above category. Sometimes you just want to be alone while enjoying your coffee. You might want to read a book or listen to a podcast or get some studying or work done. There’s a good possibility that you might bump into a colleague or a friend at some of the more popular coffee places. Whatever the reason or circumstances, here are some suggestions for coffee shops if you want to be left alone:
Pegasus Coffee is small standing room only coffee shop that used to be an old cigar shop. It has a counter with a seat for one person only on either side of the front door. So if you bump into somebody you know here, they’ll have to sit in the other seat across the door, so you can continue to enjoy your coffee solo. Tempesta Coffee (RIP)has one standing table for just one person. That’s it. Again, even if you bumped into somebody you know there, they can’t join you. Plus as mentioned before they have a damn good Americano and even better doughnuts. Convoy Coffee is another small place, although it has a big seating area up the stairs. I don’t think many people know about Convoy, so they go to the many more-established coffee shops in Pioneer Square, which is the reason you won’t bump into anybody hear. As mentioned in our previous post, it’s a very underrated cafe. Caffe Ladro – The “Jetson’s” location. It’s near the Convention Center and some hotels, so it seems like it’s mostly tourists and taxi drivers who come here. It’s also in that weird spot between downtown and Capitol Hill, so I don’t think it has many regulars. This place is two blocks from my office and I have never seen another co-worker come here.
See our other installments of Seattle Coffee Shop Awards:
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
Part 1 – Best Coffee Neighborhood, Most Popular, Most Underrated
Part 3 – Best Seattle Coffee Drink Sets, Best Views
Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
Part 6 – Seattle Coffee With Most Character, Best Seattle Coffee Shops Overall.