Caffe Ladro – Roosevelt
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 calli
Description on Caffe Ladro’s website : Caffe Ladro Ravenna joins a thriving neighborhood; it is situated on the corner of 65th Street and Brooklyn Avenue. Stop in for the modern vibe and enjoy amazing coffee at one of the windows, or outside in one of the Adirondack chairs. If you’re seeking excellent Ravenna coffee, sample any of Ladro’s signature drinks (Medici, Gibraltar, or Shakerato), try one of their house-baked pastries, or take some beans to brew at home.
Address:1222 NE 65th St Suite 103, Seattle, WA 98115
What we ate/drank: Gibraltar, Mocha, Bacon & Caramelized Onion Quiche, Ham and Cheese Croissant, Medici
Comments: They call it Caffe Ladro – Ravenna on their website but it’s actually located in Roosevelt. Like other new additions to the Roosevelt neighborhood, Santo Coffee and Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt, this Caffe Ladro is located on the ground floor of a brand new apartment building. This one being Brooklyn 65th.
Caffe Ladro is probably our favorite coffee purveyor in Seattle, so we were thrilled when one opened in our neighborhood. They are now up to 16 locations in the greater Seattle area, so it’s easy to get the benefits of their coffee card program where you get two free drinks for every 10 you purchase.
They have a limited amount of pastries that become half price after 4:00pm.
Here are reviews of some of the other Caffe Ladro locations:
- Caffe Ladro – Union St
- Caffe Ladro -The Jetsons Ladro
- Caffe Ladro – Fremont, The Library Ladro
- Caffe Ladro- 1800, The Amazon Ladro
The Caffe Ladro – Roosevelt location is on par with some of the smaller Ladro locations like Union Street, Lower Queen Anne and Pine Street. Although it’s small in size, it still manages to have a little living room area, an L shape counter and one 4 seat table in the middle
More than any other Caffe Ladro, the Caffe Ladro – Roosevelt location really emphasizes the use of it’s outdoor space. There’s gotta be at least 20 Adirondack chairs in front of the store as well as a bench seating. The Adirondack chair is a staple of many of the Caffe Ladro in the area -Fremont, Upper Queen Anne, Lower Queen Anne locations have them, but only a few.
The Caffe Ladro – Roosevelt is a good grab-and-go spot. It opens early at 6:00am. It’s not a place I’d stay and do work on a laptop. The way most of their seating is arranged your back is exposed and people can see what you’re working on. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but I like having my back against a wall for some privacy. They say this is why dogs often sleep against big objects or prefer enclosed places-too protect their back. I guess I’m the same way.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: The over 20 adirondack chairs and outdoor space
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 4.75
Food Options: 4.00
Overall: 4.25
Eavesdropping Convo: None
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Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt
Description on Armistice Coffee’s website:Her dream was big but the journey was long, pulling hundreds of thousands of shots and waking up earlier than the rooster for years, she pushed on and overcame. Now in the role of head roaster, manager, and basically everything else Rebecca Smith has been running Armistice Coffee for 1 year and has two locations in Seattle.
Neighborhood:Roosevelt
Address: 6717 Roosevelt Way NE UNIT A, Seattle, WA 98115
Music Playing: Poison by Brent Faiyaz
What we ate/drank: Cortado, 12 oz Americano, blueberry scone, ham & Swiss croissant, mocha, mighty o sprinkle doughnut
Comments: This is the 2ndlocation for Armistice Coffee in addition to their other location in Eastlake. Some of the observations we made in our review of the Eastlake locations was that we felt it wasn’t really conducive to working on a laptop due to the limited work style seating. The Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt has no such restrictions.
It has a multitude of seating areas and types of seating areas. It has counter seating near the serving area, counter seating looking out on Roosevelt, individual tables, a community table with two separate outdoor seating area, one that includes a fire pit.
Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt is located on the ground floor of the brand new Lucille on Roosevelt apartments, so they probably had complete control of the design, which we really like. We’ve already mentioned the variety of seating, but take a look at our photos and you can see the details. Chic modern lighting, outdoor lighting that from a distance look like fireflies, being surrounded on all four sides by windows, the coffee roasting equipment on display.
My understanding is that as of now, the roaster is not being used. The cashier mentioned that an alteration may need to be made for exhaust purposes but she wasn’t really sure. I think it’s a real treat when you get to witness the roasting process at places like Herkimer Coffee, Elm Coffee Roasters, Lighthouse Coffee Roasters and Victrola Coffee Roasters. I think it’s really a great “Seattle”experience for visitors who come form areas that don’t have local coffee roasters like we do in coffee-centric Seattle.
Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt also sells alcoholic drinks- wine, beer, sipping tequilla, whiskeys(Basil Hayden, Jameson, Glenlivet 12 yr) and a few simple mixed drinks such as gin and tonic, vodka and soda and Irish coffee.
They also have croissants, muffins, scones, quiches, and a few pre-made sandwiches and salads from White Knuckle. Sign say Mon-Fri 6-10 and Sat and Sun 7-10, so open pretty late.
The music they’ve played during our visits are pretty soothing music. Examples – Escape by Kehlani,Tainted by Alina Baraz, Apple Juice by Jessie Reyez.
On a few of my visits the wifi has been a little inconsistent, so take note if you intend to work there and need to Facetime/Skype.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: The various seating areas both inside and out.
Atmosphere: 4.75
Service: 4.75
Food Options: 4.75
Overall: 4.75
Eavedropping Convo: Two guys sitting next to each other on separate tables with their laptops. Seems like they might be acquaintances who see each other at Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt a lot and might recognize each other and make small talk. Both made business calls while we were there, so this might be one of their working spaces.
Guy 1(G1) – Check out this thing I just got on Amazon.
Guy2(G2) – Looks over. Whoa, that’s pretty cool! And wow, it’s a pretty reasonable price.
G1 – Oh, man. It’s not reasonable. This is cheap!
G2 – The next time my mom orders something on Amazon, I’ll ask her to add one to her cart for me. I don’t have an account, so I just use hers and pay her back.
G1- Dude, you gotta get on that! Prime is so cheap and they deliver to your doorstep in one day! Don’t put your poor mom through that – ordering, paying and handing the packages. C’mon.
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 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
*****NOTE: Not more than 48 hours after posting this, we were told that this spot is becoming a Peruvian place and BBQ Smith is going to Catering Only*****
Recommended by: After we claimed that Tavolata had the best Happy Hour in Seattle, a reader suggested checking out BBQ Smith’s Happy Hour. We took her up on her suggestion.
Description on the BBQ Smith’s website: Seattle Barbecue/Texas-Inspired
Neighborhood/Type: Roosevelt, Maple Leaf
Address: 7919 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115
What we ate/drank: Texas Cheese Fries – Crispy Fries loaded with house made gouda cheese and topped with brisket. Texas Style Brisket, Pulled Pork, Corn Bread, Mac & Cheese, Miso Collard Greens, Half pound of pulled pork(smoked 10 hrs) and half rack of pork ribs(smoked 5 hrs), Mama Moon’s Kim Chi, Cornbread, Brown Sugar Beans, Hardcore corn- smoked to the core on the smoker with butter/cheese/sour cream/tajin mixture
Comments: We’ve always passed BBQ Smith on our way to Chiang’s Gourmet right down the street. It’s in an odd spot right in the middle of a neighborhood(Maple Leaf) with not a whole lot of parking. Truthfully we had it on our radar to try, but it was never a priority. That is until a reader saw the blog post claiming that Tavolata had the best Happy Hour in Seattle. She begged to differ and suggested BBQ Smith. So of course we needed to check it out.
The first thing we noticed when coming to BBQ Smith was the Chuck’s Hop Shop sticker and discovered that Chuck of Chuck’s Hop Shop fame is actually the owner! One of the best kept secrets is that there is a little satellite Chucks’ Hop Shop in the back. It doesn’t have the selection that the regular shop has, but it does have a really great beer selection for a small bbq joint.
Before visiting BBQ Smith, take a look at their website . They have Google Slides embedded and starting around page 4 they start talking about their bbq preparation-how long it’s prepared, cooked, rests and served. They also talk about the types of cuts. See below.
The style of bbq served here is Texas style bbq, which means they rub the meat with spices and cooked on low heat over long periods of time over indirect heat, which means the meat is not cooked directly over the flame, but to the side or higher above the flame. This leads to some yummy tenderness. Also sauce is not typically slathered on the meat, because it’s not needed. You can see it represented in their cook times. The pork ribs are smoked for 5 hours, the pulled pork is smoked for 10 hours and the brisket is smoked for 12 damn hours!
We’ve eaten both indoors and although their patio is not the most “finished”, it’ll do on a nice summer evening for sure.
You can order your bbq as a plate or by the pound. We’ve ordered so many different sides and types of meats, we won’t go into a lot of detail, but suffice to say all the bbq is tender, oh my god how tender, moist and smokey.
Sides – Score : (4.0/5.0). Nothing really blew us away except maybe the corn. The collard greens were interesting with it’s Asian twist. Everything was good, but not mind blowingly good.
- Mama Moon’s Kimchi – Secret Kimchi recipe passed down from generations.
- Brown Sugar Beans – Slow cooked pinto beans with brown sugar, jalapenos, tomato and spices
- Mac & Cheese – Asiago Cheese, smoked gouda and black pepper
- Miso Collard Greens – collard greens, bacon ends, onion, sugar and garlic slow cooked with an Asian twist
- Hardcore Corn- smoked to the core on the smoker with butter/cheese/sour cream/tajin mixture
- Cornbread
BBQ:
- Half pound of pulled pork(smoked 10 hrs). Score: (4.75 / 5.0)
- Half rack of pork ribs(smoked 5 hrs). Score: (4.25 / 5.0)
- Texas Style Brisket(smoked 12 hrs). Score: (5.0 / 5.0)
Appetizer: Score: (5.0 / 5.0)
There’s one last dish which we got during happy hour and this might be the best happy hour dish in Seattle. The Texas Cheese Fries is $4! You read that right. During happy hour the Texas Cheese Fries are $4.00. Check out how massive this tray is. There’s no way two people can finish this. Also got a Bodizafa from Georgetown Brweing for $3. Holla! Back to the dish. So they give you a huge tray with a layer of fries and these fries are no ordinary frozen Ore Ida fries. Then they put a layer of their 12 hour brisket and they are not chintzy with it and then a layer of their home made cheese. One time we ordered it and the brisket was on top and the next time we ordered the cheese was on top. No matter, trust me.
One thing we haven’t tried are the sandwiches, but honestly why add bread to the mix when you can fully enjoy the bbq on it’s own.
They also just started serving brunch on the weekends, although we haven’t tried it yet.
I wouldn’t say Seattle is the hotbed of bbq, so I wouldn’t consider ourselves experts, but we know what we like and we have had our fair share of bbq in Seattle at Bitterroot, RoRo’s, Drunky’s Two Shoe, Cask & Trotter and Peco’s Pit. And also Bourbon & Bones and Kickin Boot Whiskey may they rest in peace. So for now Smith BBQ has become our go to bbq joint in Seattle due to the hidden Chucks Hop Shop bar in the back, one of the best happy hour dishes in Seattle and just plain good bbq. One last thing, no cash accepted.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 5.00
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.75
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 recommendations to visit in the future: Maggie
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Santo Coffee – Roosevelt
Description on Santo Coffee’s website: We are a startup shop formed by a family of driven people with a passion for the craft, palates for quality, and love for community. We have worked to create an experience for our guests where every detail is thoughtfully and intentionally considered.
Neighborhood:Roosevelt
Address: 1325 NE 65th St, Seattle, WA 98115
What we ate/drank: Cortado, Raspberry Brioche from Sémillon Bakery, Devocion espresso
Comments: Finally, Santo Coffee is open!
We’ve honestly been waiting to write this review for close to a year. We go to Rising Sun Produce, located down the street, quite often. One day when walking past the newly built Mio Apartments on the way to Rising Sun, we saw a sign that Santo Coffee was opening in the Fall of 2018. We were happy to have another coffee shop in walking distance to our house. I think the first time we saw the sign was June or July of 2018.
The Fall came, then Winter, then Spring and no sign of any opening. Meanwhile Caffe Ladro moved in right across the street and Armistice Coffee Roasters opened up down the street, but no sign of Santo Coffee.
Santo Coffee is now open and you can tell great care and meticulous detail was put into the design of the shop. The place is beautiful and has such a high end feel that we felt a little guilty bringing our little ones here.
One of the owners of Santo Coffee is former Seattle Sounders star, Fredy Montero. I believe we spoke to one of the other owners of Santo Coffee, Jessica. We made some small talk and she mentioned their pastries are made by Sémillon Bakery & Café in Capitol Hill and their coffee is from Devocion, a roaster based in New York.
Devocion Coffee is unique in that they roast their beans from Colombia, harvest to cup in the range of 10 to 30 days versus the industry standard of 6 months. You can read more about them here. Having this unique roast definitely gives Santo Coffee a something no other coffee shop in Seattle has.
As mentioned it seems like no detail was missed. Santo Coffee is easily the “fanciest” space in Seattle. Check out the green sectional, the floor to ceiling windows all the way around, the glass doors that open up to the outside, black marble counter and the most unique feature, a bar that runs along the window that becomes a bench.
We love having Santo Coffee in the neighborhood and we’ll be frequent visitors. It’s a perfect place to bring our out-of-town visitors who enjoy “the finer things”. Santo Coffee feels a bit out of place in our quaint little neighborhood. It feels like it should be in hipper neighborhood Capitol Hill or Belltown, but we’re glad they’re finally here.
Ratings(1-5)
Atmosphere: 4.75
Service: 4.75
Food Options: 4.00
Overall: 4.50
Eavesdropping Convo: A guy and a gal talking next to us. They were talking about the Dancing in the Dark – Bruce Springsteen video .
Guy: You know that Dancing in the Dark video has Courtney Cox in it.
Gal: says nothing
Guy: Yeah, they want you to believe that she was a regular fan and that she was randomly picked by Bruce Springsteen to come up on stage and dance. You can toooootally tell by the camera angles that it was not random. It was planned for the video. It’s Courtney Cox for God’s sake. It’s totally staged
Girl: says nothing
Guy: It’s soooo obvious. But yeah, that’s Courtney Cox in that video. Little known fact most people don’t know. This is before Friends, so she wasn’t famous. But yeah, that’s her.
I thought it was common knowledge that Courtney Cox was in that video and never thought it wasn’t staged as part of the video.
Related:
Broadcast Coffee
Description on their web: We source high quality coffee, roast it carefully, and get excited to share it with you.
Neighborhood: Roosevelt
Address: 6515 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle WA 98115
Music playing: Said So What by French Kicks
What we ate/drank: Americano or double espresso. Mighty-O Old Fashioned glazed doughnut
Comments: We mentioned in Our Seattle Coffee Shop Thoughts post that Broadcast Coffee was our Favorite Modern-Style Coffee Shop. I’ve never been to their Central District location, but the Roosevelt location is my go-to coffee shop when I need to concentrate and get some work done.They have lots of seating and outlets, but it doesn’t feel cluttered due to the big open space in the middle and because everything is white. The walls, their mugs, to go cups, even the exposed vents and pipes on the ceiling are white. Food options are limited to mainly Mighty-O pastries, various instant oatmeals and yogurts.
I also mentioned how that previous post how they really take pride in their quality and the story of a barista here remaking my espresso 3 times, because somebody left the front door open as they were leaving and she felt it affected the taste of the espresso due to the change in pressure. It’s not the type of place I suggest when I want to catch up with somebody and shoot the breeze, because it’s normally quiet and due to its minimalist decor, conversations carry. Although when I think about it, I have conducted interviews and met up with our doulas there. It seems that the majority of people who go there are UW students, Roosevelt High students, yoga goers from next door and people who work remotely.
It’s one of the few places I buy coffee beans from. I normally just get coffee outside and rarely brew my own, but I’m a big fan of their Crossfade Blend and so I have some at home. One other thing that sets Broadcast coffee apart from the rest, is that they stay open late for a coffee shop, closing at 8:00pm everyday. Broadcast also goes one step further than Caffe Umbria that has a great resource on their website on how to brew using different devices with video and pictures. Broadcast has a service where you actually bring in your brewing device and for $40 they’ll make sure you’re using your device properly, grinding properly, using best choice of coffee and even the type of water. I’ve not heard of this type of service before. And also like Mr West Café Bar, they have what I believe to have a great music selection that I Shazam often.
Ratings
Favorite Thing: It’s bright due to the massive front windows. It’s normally very quiet, which makes it my go-to spot for working.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Food Options: 3.5
Overall: 4.75
Eavesdropping Convos: Some quips from a very loud talking real estate agent
Real Estate Agent(REA)-May I ask what you do for a living?
Home Buyer(HB)- I work for Zillow as a software engineer manager.
REA-I have a love-hate relationship with Zillow. They gouge us on advertising. For me, it doesn’t matter because I’ve got a reputation and so many referrals where I don’t need Zillow’s help anymore. Are you feeling secure there?
HB-Yes, I’m pretty secure. Watch, now that I’ve said that I’ll get fired on Monday.
******
REA-Just to prove how long I’ve been doing this, I got my first 2nd generation home buyer from a certain family I’ve been doing business with for ages. When I first worked with this family, this kid was 14. Now I just got him into a house after he graduated college. One day I’m buying him condoms for his 18th birthday, the next I’m selling him a house. Time flies, huh? **laughs heartily***
*******
REA-I’m at your beck and call 24 hours. In this market you need access to houses within 24 hours of being put on the market. If you wait for the open house on the weekend, you’re too late. I can get you to see these houses weekday or weeknight. That’s what it takes right now. Seriously!
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