If you have ever visited the beautiful and ever-busy city of Seattle, you will know that it’s packed full of fancy restaurants, coffee shops, and cafes. In fact, when tallied up, Seattle has the second amount of overall coffee shops in America with a staggering 843, only being beaten out by San Francisco.
Whale this does offer a tremendous amount of variety and plenty of places where you can take time out from your busy schedule and enjoy a warm cup of coffee or maybe a fresh snack, it can also make it hard to know precisely which coffee and cafe spots are the most worthwhile to visit.
To make this easier, here are 15 essential Seattle coffee shops and cafes that you need to try out today whether you’re just visiting, or if you live in the area and just want to find a few new places to hang out.
While many newer coffee shops and cafes will try to look as modern as they can in order to appeal to younger generations, there’s nothing wrong with kicking it back to a more traditional setting, which is exactly what Analog does.
With its retro-styled newspaper clippings hung up all over the walls and record players and vinyls stacked up on the outside tables of the interior, Analog serves some delicious beverages sourced straight from local Herkimer Coffee, and look’s stylish while doing it.
Serving up a mixture of delightful sandwiches and croissants along with some incredibly unique coffee recipes you won’t find anywhere else, Caffee Ladro located on Queen Anne Avenue is a cute little cafe that first opened its doors in the 1990s, but has gone on to become well known all over Seattle.
With free Wi-Fi in each of its 18 shops dotted around Seattle and with some amazing coffee mixtures such as the slightly tangy but delicious Yankee Dog, you can be sure a Caffee Ladro won’t be far from wherever you are in Seattle.
Located in Greenwood Seattle, while Preserve and Gather offer a good selection of warm and comforting coffee choices, they are also very well known for their downright scrumptious treats.
Whether you’re in the mood for a warm and tasty homemade pastry, or if you like the creamy sensation of yogurt or maybe even some ham and jam biscuits, the options are essentially endless when it comes to Preserve and Gather, not to mention the incredibly modern and spacious interior of the cafe itself giving it a warm and cozy atmosphere to enjoy your coffee in.
It’s virtually impossible to talk about the very best cafes and coffee shops in Seattle and not mention Sound and Fog, a minimalistic shop that offers a wide range of coffee options including their acclaimed spiced espressos, along with a huge selection of seasonal drinks including brew on tap and espresso soda, perfect to relax with after a hard days work.
Address: 4735 40th Avenue SQ, Seattle
Pike Place Market Seattle – the birthplace of Starbucks
Classy, stylish, and instantly recognizable for its illuminated LED sign that stands outside every shop. It is set in the heart of the Pike Place Market district.
Seattle Coffee Works gives the customer the tools to make their own unique coffee just the way they like while offering some amazing options such as the Award Winning Seattle Space blend, definitely a shop to check out when you want to learn more about brewing while making your own unique drink.
With three different coffee brands on offer being Fulcrum, Silver Cup, and Urban City along with one of the coziest interiors to a shop you’re ever going to see, Fulcrum Cafe offers some incredibly delicious coffee options for you to choose from so you can decide whether you’re in the mood for a more traditional flavor, or you want something a bit more unique and memorable to go along with their satisfactory food options including pastries and cakes.
A small cafe that many coffee enthusiasts consider a bit of a hidden gem within the Seattle area, Cafe Alegro offers both original espresso blends, along with many small batches of premium coffees and a huge variety of baked treats to snack on.
With an incredibly vibrant and friendly atmosphere in each shop, it’s also a great place to sit back with some friends, or to relax while on a quick break from work.
With some beautiful plants and ornaments dotted around the shops to give it an extremely vibrant and welcoming atmosphere, the Mr.West Cafe Bar is a coffee shop you would go to just to take a snapshot of, but end up staying for their delicious selection of drinks.
With the fantastic matcha latte and the Seattle Fog being just two of the amazing drink options that you can sip on, the Mr. West Cafe Bar is always a great bar to visit when you’re exploring.
If there was one word to describe the Fonte cafe, it would be variety. From its warm and tasty breakfast pastries and baguettes all the way to its signature Turkish latte, this European-themed cafe is perfect for when you can’t decide what you want to eat or drink, but you know you want something delicious.
First opening its doors in 1997, this coffee shop used to be a regular hang-out spot for rock fans during the grunge era, and while it still maintains the unique aura of that time, it also provides a huge variety of both classic and premium coffee blends, along with a wide selection of flavors including citrus and even chocolate.
Alongside having single-origin coffee beans in a variety of flavors and styles, Elm Coffee Roasters is also well known in the Seattle area for their incredibly welcoming atmosphere which makes it a fantastic place to hang out, even if you aren’t buying a drink.
With that being said, you definitely should pick up a tasty beverage while you’re there with the signature One and One (black coffee and espresso) being a delicious menu option we would definitely recommend.
Being the only coffee shop in Seattle to score beans from Tartine Bakery’s Coffee Manufactory, there’s a very distinct sweet taste to Poindexter Coffee’s menu options that is so delicious, you can guarantee you’ll be visiting again after you take that first sip.
With each shop also selling a selection of delightful wines, both from local growers and from Europe and Australia, it’s very easy to step into this shop in the morning without even realizing that the evening has already rolled around.
While it may be one of the older and more traditional-looking coffee shops in Seattle, opening its doors to the public in 1985, this is not to suggest that Caffe D’arte lacks behind its competitors in terms of its coffee.
In fact, their nitro wood-roasted brew and stovetop espresso are some of the most unique and delicious coffee blends out there, perfect when paired with one of their warm and delightful croissants or a jam sandwich.
This Filipino-themed cafe and coffee shop serves some of the most unique and memorable coffee brands you will ever have the pleasure of tasting, especially their signature pandan lattes and iced calamansi espresso tonics which hail from the Philippines and have a very distinct and delicious cool flavor to them, making this a warm and friendly cafe that every coffee enthusiast needs to visit at least once.
It’s hard to wonder exactly how Tougo Coffee packs so many flavors into a single drink, whether it’s the Honey Goat Latte or the Lavender Good Good, with such a wide variety of vibrant and exciting options on the menu to choose from, Tougo Coffee offers a fantastic switch up from the norm, not to mention offering some incredible sourdough bread and other appetizing snacks to enjoy along with your flavorful beverage.
Address: 860 Yesler Way, Seattle
Summary
Whether you’re planning on visiting the expansive and vibrant city of Seattle, or if you already live in or near the area and just want to expand your horizons, with a coffee shop and cafe dotted around each and every corner, it’s never too late to try out some new ones.
Check out a few of these delightful coffee shops to enjoy some warm and delicious beverages and snacks with your friends when it’s time to kick back and relax, who knows, you might even find your new favorite hangout spot.
My name is Dana Dupree and I am an avid coffee lover. Since I began college and realized what a heavy load writing majors took on, I have been a fan of the bean juice.
My job has taken me all over the US on book tours and press conferences, and my favorite part about the trip is exploring the best places to grab my cup of Joe.
