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***1/19/20- NOTE: This blog post has been updated with more information HERE***
As you know Seattlites 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. According to Bustle, there are close to 1700 coffee shops in Seattle and ranked #1 for coffee fanatics:
We wanted to provide some context on what we value in a coffee shop and our recommendations. The below are not hard and fast rules, but I think it provides a pretty accurate picture of what we enjoy about our favorite coffee shops. First of all, in Seattle when it comes to price and quality of coffee, in our opinion there’s not much differentiation. The quality of coffee in all the places we mention is great. I don’t think a coffee shop could survive in Seattle if it just had average coffee. So how we choose our favorite coffee places is really based on the following in this order:
Atmosphere-There are two types of coffee places in our opinion:
- The cozy coffee shops typically have mismatched comfy chairs and sofas, warm lighting and areas set up for conversation. You normally see friends catching up, people reading books or surfing the net. These places are normally buzzing with chatter. The walls are normally plastered with upcoming event posters, concert posters and community announcements.
Favorites: Café Allegro(University District), 7 Coffee Roasters (Ravenna), Zoka(Tangletown), Cloud City(Maple Leaf)
And
- The modern minimalist coffee shops with huge windows to let in the sunlight and/or bright lights condusive to working/studying. It usually has expensive looking chairs and tables, which aren’t always the most comfortable, and has tons of electrical outlets for laptops. It’s normally very quiet and might have a few works of abstract art on the walls . Their main clientele are students and people working remotely.
Favorites: Broadcast Coffee(Roosevelt), Milstead & Co.(Fremont), Slate(Pioneer Square)
Customer Service-If you go there often enough they remember your name and drink. They’re cheerful and attempt to make genuine small talk. And say things like, “Thanks for coming in” as you leave. One of the stereotypes of a barista from popular coffee shops is that they are coffee snobs, snooty, work at their own pace and look down their nose at drinkers who order complicated concoctions. If we come across this breed of barista, of course their shop is disqualified from our list of coffee shops we frequent.
Food options-We like places with a variety of food options. Most places will have pastries, but I really appreciate it if they have something savory too.
Speed-We understand that good coffee takes time and not about just pressing a button(sorry Starbucks), but be cognizant when there is a line out the door and maybe just pretend to show a sense of urgency.
Coffee Shop Superlatives:
Favorite Coffee Shop(Overall): Mr West Café Bar. It’s a mix of cozy and modern. They have great food options, both sweet-doughnuts, cookies, pastries and savory-avacado toast and sandwiches. They have this Apple Fagotinni that is Uh May Zing. The layout of the furniture is set up for both private working/studying along their front window, meetings for groups with some bench seatings, seating at the bar to watch the baristas and food prep and secluded areas to catch up with friends. They have music playing in which I’m always pulling Shazam out to see what obscure band it is. They also serve both beer and wine if it’s too late in the evening for coffee.
Favorite Cozy Coffee Shop: Cloud City Coffee(Maple Leaf) – When I think of a neighborhood coffee shop, this is what I picture. Their motto is “Community and Café” and it’s very much a gathering place for Maple Leaf. Expansive breakfast/lunch menu. I love their cinnamon rolls. A warning, this place is always packed. There are multiple tables that seat six, but you’ll most likely be sharing. They have a small outdoor seating area and when weather permits they have garage style doors that are opened facing south and east. There’s a small couched area with toys and books for kids and they also have a pay-on-your-honor section for coffee refills and day old pastries.
Favorite Modern Coffee Shop: Broadcast Coffee(Roosevelt) – If I want to get work done or need a place to read while enjoying quality coffee, this is my place. It has a business-like vibe. It has ample seating, tons of outlets and bright due to their huge windows. They take pride in their coffee. I once had a barista here remake my espresso 3 times because somebody left the door open as they were leaving and she felt it affected the taste of the espresso. I probably couldn’t tell but I appreciate her commitment to her craft. They even have a Coffee Roasting 101 class where they teach you how to roast coffee at home.
Favorite Coffee Drink: 1) Brazillian Latte at Kitanda Expresso(Green Lake). I’m normally a dopio espresso lover and not a real big fan of sweets in general, but for some reason I really love the Brazilian Latte. It’s a regular latte with sweet condensed milk and a cinnamon stick. It kind of reminds me of the traditional Vietnamese iced coffees that use the phin, but a hot stronger espresso version.
2) This is a bit of a cheat, because this coffee is not from a coffee shop but from Cafe Turko in Fremont. It’s their Turkish Coffee. Turkish coffee is unfiltered and has the coffee grounds freely floating around in the coffee. You’re supposed to periodically swirl your coffee so the grounds don’t settle at the bottom of the cup. Regardless, you’ll still have a layer of coffee grounds that look like mud when you finish. Because the it’s so finely ground, it’s hard to replicate at home. Check out the cool coffee presentation!
Coffee Shops that Impresses Our Out of Towners: Storyville Coffee Co in Pike Place Market and Café Allegro in the University District. Both these places would never be found if we hadn’t taken our visitors since they are both “hidden”. I think it makes our visitors feel they’re in on a little local secret. 7 Roasters also falls into this category because although it’s not hidden, it has a very local feel to it. Like a general store that you’d find in a small town in the middle of a neighborhood.
Note: I think the new La Marzocco Café and Showroom located in the Seattle Center will become a favorite of out of towners. It’s located in very touristed area, it’s huge with lots of seating, has really cool displays of all the La Marzoccos for coffee nerds, has a record shop and attached to a radio station, our beloved KEXP, a non-profit radio station kept alive by donors and supporters.
Our favorite coffee shops by neighborhood:
Downtown-Mr West Café Bar, Anchorhead Coffee Co, Pegasus Coffee, Caffe Senso Unico, Café Magliore, Cafe Hitchcock
Pike Place-Storyville Coffee Co
Ballard-Anchored Ship Coffee, Bauhaus, Mabel Coffee, Venture Coffee, Caffe Umbria
Belltown-Tempesta Coffee.
Capitol Hill-Victrola Coffee, Ghost Note Coffee, Analog Coffee, Capitol Coffee Works, Kaladi Brothers Coffee, Realfine Coffee
Eastlake-Voxx (linked review is for downtown location)
Fremont-Milstead & Co., Light House Roasters
Georgetown –Brother Joe
Green Lake-Kitanda Espresso, Revolutions Coffee
Greenwood-Preserve and Gather
International District – Eastern Cafe
Maple Leaf-Cloud City Coffee
Pioneer Square-Convoy Coffee, Cherry Street Public House, Caffé Vita, Slate Coffee Roasters, Elm Coffee Roasters, Zeitgeist Coffee , Caffe Umbria
Queen Anne- La Marzocco Café & Showroom, El Diablo Coffee
Ravenna- Seven Coffee Roasters
Roosevelt-Broadcast Coffee
South Lake Union-Espresso Vivace , Evoke Coffee, Cascade Coffee Works
Tangletown-Zoka
University-Café Allegro(Seattle’s oldest coffee shop), Herkimer Coffee
Wallingford-Fuel
Westlake-Caffe Umbria
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We’ve got a love-hate relationship with Starbucks and especially their current CEO, Howard Schultz. Living in the heart of coffee central, Seattle, we have a multitude of choices(Herkimer, Caffé Vita, Caffé Ladro, Broadcast Coffee) to grab a cup of joe. I think most locals prefer to go to small independent coffee shops. Here’s a full list of Seattle coffee shops.
When you’re in a hurry, Starbucks is probably the defacto coffee stop since it’s practically on every street corner, it’s fast and consistent. In my office building downtown, we have a Starbucks in our lobby as well as a store literally one block away in any four directions from our building.
I typically go to Starbucks if I’m short on time and absolutely need a coffee.
The things I love about Starbucks:
- Fast-Back in 2007-2009 when the economy was not doing well, they always seemed to be shorthanded. Today the line moves fast and they seem to have the system down,
- Consistent-I feel I can count on the coffee to be better than average, the line to move fast, and the store to be clean and relaxing. I have noticed that the further you move away from Starbucks HQ in Seattle, the quality seems to slowly go down. For example stores in WA, OR, CA, UT seem the best, then Midwest and TX are slightly lower, but when you get to FL, GA, MA there is a noticeable difference in cleanliness and customer service.
- I’m SBUX shareholder(cha ching!) and use their quarterly dividend to pay for whatever I spend at coffee shops around Seattle throughout the year. Their stock and quarterly dividend has consistently risen over the years.
- Clover-In my opinion one of the most ingenious moves by Starbucks was to buy the Coffee Equipment Company that owned and manufactured the Clover machine back in 2008. I love indulging in a small batch coffee made on the Clover machine. So, so good.
- Innovation– From being one of the first companies to utilize an app for payment, their partnership with Spotify and their rewards to order/pick up feature via the app, I have a real appreciation for companies that can think outside the box and be a frontrunner in trying new things. I also love the fact that they’re willing to tweak things if it’s not working out like changing their rewards plan from a purchase based reward to a money-spent based reward. It pissed off a lot of people, but it rewarded the right people, those spending the most. As an infrequent visitor, this definitely hurt, but as a shareholder, I like it. Their acquisition of Teavana and La Boulange were gutsy moves and have been met with good and bad results. I think their expansion of Reserve Roastery format is another genius move.
- The CEO-It could be coincidence but when Howard Schultz was CEO in his first go around, Starbucks was running on all cylinders. When he left there was a noticeable deterioration in quality and atmosphere in the stores. When he came back on board, the company is now back to running on all cylinders.
The things I hate about Starbucks:
- When we want to enjoy a really good cup of joe and not in a hurry I prefer a barista operated machine. Maybe it’s in my head that it tastes better, but there is a level of skill in grinding of beans, hand tamping the espresso, watching extraction time vs simply pushing a button and seeing espresso come out.
- Lack of reasonable priced food options– I think their food quality is good, but the bang for the buck just isn’t there.
- Pike Place Roast– It’s vile. You have other options in the morning , but in the afternoon and evening it’s the only coffee they brew. Yeah, yeah I know they will do a pour over on request.
- Unless you get an Americano, you only get one shot instead of two shots of espresso in a 12 oz cup.
- Homeless in the bathroom-Downtown Seattle always seems to have homeless folks hogging the bathroom. I go into the store with the mindset that the bathroom will always be occupied and not count on using it.
- The CEO- Sonics are in Oklahoma City! I put this squarely on Howard. Local government officials wouldn’t spend 220 million dollars to refurbish Key Arena, which had just gone through a remodel 11 years earlier. Yeah, I think there are better things to spend tax payer money on. So what does he do? He sells the Sonics to folks from OKC, who of course move the team to, wait for it now, OKC!! Truthfully, I’m not really a Sonics fan, but I think it’s fucked up that he sold the team full well knowing they would leave Seattle and crush the hearts of die hard fans, who’d been following the team since 1967. If he couldn’t afford to pony up the 220 million himself he should have never have bought the team in the first place. He bought the team in 2001 and sold it in 2006. I’m a huge sports fan and I saw some great players at the Key Arena-Jordan, Payton, Kemp, Bryant, Duncan, Shaq, Durant, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Hardway, Dumars, Mullin, Ewing. It’s a crying shame that kids growing up in Seattle will not get to see NBA games in their own backyard.
One last note on Starbucks: In my previous job, I was responsible for hiring entry level employees in an office setting. One of the main things that gave candidates an advantage over others is if they worked at Starbucks. I knew that anybody who worked at a store for an extended period of time would have customer service skills, could multitask, prioritize in fast paced environment and deal with high maintenance personalities, which seems to be a common trait amongst Starbucks customers.
Battle of Seattle Doughnuts(or Donuts?)- Top Shop vs Mighty O
Coming from Los Angeles, there seems to be a donut shop on every corner. When I arrived in Seattle in the 90’s, I was shocked how little donut shops there were. My go to was Winchell’s on 45th in Wallingford, but it went out of business and is now currently Rancho Bravo Tacos. There are now a few mom and pop doughnut shops, but for the last few years, Top Pot and Mighty O have ruled over the Seattle doughnut landscape.
I don’t like cake, pies, cookies or most pastries, but I love donuts. I can’t say i’m a connoisseur of many things, but I definitely feel I can speak to the quality of donuts.
Let’s get to it. In this corner….
Mighty-O: Mighty-O’s distinction is that they make their donuts with certified organic ingredients, they contain no cholesterol because there are no chemical preservatives, no animal derived ingredients, no colorings or artificial flavors.
And in this corner….
Top Pot: From their website-“With over 40 different types of donuts, Top Pot Doughnuts invites you to join us on our delicious journey of good taste. From our uniquely designed cafés to our hand-roasted coffee and hand-forged gourmet doughnuts, we’re committed to doing things the old fashioned way—beautifully, warmly, and with unfailing attention to details. Our exceptional quality, vintage aesthetic, and personal customer service offers a fresh take on the old “coffee and doughnuts” routine “
Here’s the tale of the tape:
- Spelling: Mighty O Donut vs Top Pot Doughnut. The first thing you notice is that each spells donut/doughnut differently.
- Distance from our house: Mighty O: 1.2 miles vs Top Pot: 1.6 miles
- Locations:
Mighty O: 4 locations: Ballard, Green Lake, Capitol Hill, Denny Triangle
Top Pot:23 locations: Including Capitol Hill, Downtown x 3, Wedgewood, Queen Anne, Ballard, South Lake Union, First Hill
- Price for half dozen( Sprinkles, Maple Bar, Apple Fritter, Glazed, Chocolate, Jelly Filled):
Mighty O: $12,99
Top Pot : $15.39
- Pick Up/Delivery Options:
Mighty O: Order online and pick up option. Also Amazon Delivery and Caviar Delivery
Top Pot: No ordering online option. Postmates will deliver.
- Claim to Fame:
Mighty O: Creating certified organic, non-GMO, cholesterol-free donuts, without chemical preservatives, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, artificial coloring, or flavors. Also cornering the market on supplying local coffee shops-Broadcast, Vivace, Victrola, Vita, Elm Coffee Roasters, Analog Coffee, Zeitgeist. Also Mighty O won a Donut Challenge on Food Network:
Top Pot: Golden Tate(former : Wide Receiver) breaking into a Bellevue Top Pot because he had a hankering for a maple bar. “They’re irresistible” quoted Mr Tate to the Seattle Times. (link https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/the-great-maple-bar-caper-seahawks-golden-tate-caught-in-3-am-visit-to-top-pot-doughnuts/). Also, Pres Obama got his fill at Top Pot:
- Donuts – To be fair we ordered the same 6 donuts from each place to make sure we were comparing apples to apples. We got a maple bar, sprinkle, jelly filled, glazed, apple fritter, and chocolate. We decided to grade each donut on the following criteria.
1) Appetizing/Appearance
2) Glaze/toppings/frosting
3) The dough
4) Filling(when appropriate)
5) Taste
Maple Bar
1) Appetizing/Appearance -Top Pot
2) Glaze/toppings/frosting -Top Pot
3) The dough – Mighty O
4) Filling(when appropriate) – N/A
5) Taste – Top Pot
Winner-Top Pot
Sprinkles
1) Appetizing/Appearance -Top Pot
2) Glaze/toppings/frosting -Top Pot
3) The dough – Mighty O
4) Filling(when appropriate) – N/A
5) Taste – Mighty O
Winner- Mighty O. Taste as tie breaker.
Jelly Filled -Sugar on Top Pot, glaze on Mighty
1) Appetizing/Appearance – Mighty O
2) Glaze/toppings/frosting – Mighty O
3) The dough – Mighty O
4) Filling(when appropriate) – Mighty O
5) Taste – Mighty O
Winner – Mighty O
Glazed- Old Fashioned Glazed vs Good O’l Glazed
1) Appetizing/Appearance -Top Pot
2) Glaze/toppings/frosting -Top Pot
3) The dough – Mighty O
4) Filling(when appropriate) – N/A
5) Taste – Top Pot
Winner-Top Pot
Apple Fritter
1) Appetizing/Appearance -Top Pot
2) Glaze/toppings/frosting -MIghty O
3) The dough – Top Pot
4) Filling(when appropriate) – N/A
5) Taste – Mighty O
Winner-Mighty O. Taste as tie breaker.
Chocolate-Double trouble vs Lots O’ chocolate
1) Appetizing/Appearance -Top Pot
2) Glaze/toppings/frosting -MIghty O
3) The dough – Mighty O
4) Filling(when appropriate) – N/A
5) Taste – MIghty O
Winner- Mighty O
Summary: So by a score of 4 to 2, Mighty O is the Winner!!! One of the amazing things about Mighty O is that with the use of specific ingredients, you’d think that it would sacrifice taste or texture of the donut, but their donuts are near perfect. We consistently felt that Top Pot donuts look very appetizing both in overall appearance and glaze/toppings. And we also consistently felt that Mighty O won in the texture of the donut and taste. Truthfully you can’t go wrong with either one and when visitors come to town we often get a dozen from either one to show them some local flavor.
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- Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
- Morsel vs Biscuit & Bean – The Battle of Seattle’s Best Biscuit Sandwich
- Ezell’s vs Heaven Sent – Battle of Seattle’s Best Fried Chicken
- Battle of the Best Caribbean Sandwiches-Paseo vs Un Bien
- Battle of the Best Seattle Ramen Restaurants