Victrola Coffee Roasters – The Most Heavily Guarded Cafe in Seattle

Victrola Coffee Roasters – The Most Heavily Guarded Cafe in Seattle

Description on  Victrola Coffee Roasters’s website : Victrola Coffee has been sourcing, roasting and serving premium coffee since 2000. Shop our coffee online or visit one of our Seattle coffee shops.

Neighborhood:  Downtown

Address: 300 Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98101

Music Playing:   Challengers by The New Pornographers

What we ate/drank: Macchiato

Comments:  

Like most Seattlites, I try to avoid  3^rd and Pine (aka 3^rd and Crime), which for as long as I can remember has been the de facto crime spot in all of Seattle. I actually had some visitors from France who witnessed a stabbing here.  If I ever want to scare straight my daughters, this is where I’d bring them and say, “If you don’t listen to your parents and study hard in school, this is where you’ll end up” and then I’d point to the plethora of shady characters who hang out here.  I had an appointment and was walking to my office and took a path that took me by 3^rd and Crime. What is this I see?  Lo and behold, what is this new place in the Macys building?  A Victrola Coffee Roaster?  I had to rub my eyes to make sure it wasn’t a mirage.

It’s actually not that unexpected since Amazon just leased the floors on top of the Macys store and you know Amazonians love them some good coffee.  So this Victrola Coffee Roasters is located in the lobby of the entrance to Amazon offices, but it really is on the corner of 3^rd and Crime. This is where you can witness the ultimate Seattle worlds clashing and why I’ve named this coffee shop, “The Most Heavily Guarded in Seattle”.  After seeing this Victrola Coffee Roasters, I decided to visit it a few weeks later.

UPDATED 9/14/19- If you still don’t believe me about 3rd & Pine & here.

UPDATED 2/23/20 –Another shooting and fatality. The Seattle Times article even talks to a Victrola employee. More  here.

The first thing you notice are the security guards everywhere. When I went, there were two guards stationed outside of the doors. Inside there was a desk with another security guard sitting and one guard standing. Near the elevator to the offices there was another security guard and a another guard sitting having a coffee in Victrola.  That’s six security guards total!  In the café sat four patrons, including myself. If these security guards were not there, I’d guarantee you this place would be teeming with a cast of 3rd and Pine characters.

If you’ve been to the flagship Victrola Coffee Roasters in Capitol Hill you would never have guessed this is another Victrola Café. It is the exact opposite.  The Capitol Hill Victrola is cozy, with worn wooden furniture, exposed brick and feeling of yesteryear. The 3^rd & Crime Victrola is sleek, modern, new and I don’t want to say sterile, but it’s not as inviting as the Capitol Hill Victrola. It has pendant lighting and modern straight line furniture.

Take a look at the picture below of the long table with a purple neon light running down the center. Is this really Victrola? I understand that the feel of this café probably has a lot to do with matching the aesthetics of the company that inhabits the offices upstairs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice café, but I wasn’t expecting the huge difference in atmosphere and décor.

Another difference is they have no Mighty-O Donuts! What? But they do have Soco Tacos, La Parisienne pastries. They also have drinks such as Izze, San Pellegrino and Naked Juice.

The definite highlight of the café is the corner facing out on 3^rd & Crime is completely all glass and quite impressive.  It makes that part of the cafe bright and airy. You can sip your coffee and watch the drug deals going down right in front of you across the street at McDonalds.

Although this Victrola is closer to my work, I’d still prefer to walk a little further and go to the one in Capitol Hill. I’d most likely come here if I were shopping at Macys or Westlake Center and needed a coffee break or if I needed to scare my daughters straight.

Ratings(1-5)

Favorite Thing:   The huge all window corner of the cafe looking out on 3rd & Pine

Atmosphere: 4.25

Service: 4.00

Food Options: 5.00

Overall: 4.35

Eavedropping  Convo:  None

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