How do you find great coffee in a city like Seattle known for its great coffee? In my case, I did not have to look far…
Best Coffee In Seattle
After a flight delay into Seattle, I was ready for my afternoon cup of coffee. While my hotel, the Hyatt Olive 8, had a highly-regarded café, I ventured directly across the street to a chain called Mr West Cafe Bar.
Mr West Cafe Bar Downtown
720 Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 900-9378
7:00 am – 7:00 pm (Monday – Friday)
8:00 am – 7:00 pm (Saturday, Sunday)
The dining room has a four-sided bar in the center with seating around it. You can order food (menu in hte link above) and alcohol after 3:00 pm, as well as coffee. I stuck to coffee.
Very simple: a cortado at 3:00 pm holds me over for the rest of the day. I don’t drink coffee for the caffeine, though I notice that a mid to late-afternoon coffee helps me to get through the day. Generally, I do not set alarms and I do not need coffee first thing when I wake up in the morning, meaning I drink coffee more for the taste.
The coffee was excellent and I quite enjoyed my cortado.
As I mentioned, I stayed at the Hyatt Olive 8 which has excellent coffee in the O8 Bagel Shop.
O8 Bagel Shop
1635 8th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 676-4600
6:30 am – 1:00 pm (daily)
Thumbs down for not serving coffee in a ceramic cup, but the cortado here was excellent…good enough that I had two of them and took a bag of coffee home.
Finally, on my way out of town, I walked up the street and stopped at a place called Monorail Coffee, named after Seattle’s vintage Monorail system. This too is a chain.
Monorail Espresso
1004 Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98101
8:00 am – 4:00 pm (Monday – Friday)
9:00 am – 5:00 pm (Saturday, Sunday)
I had passed it the previous night (when going for Mexican food) and examined the menu and was glad I made the trip back up. Yes, another cortado…my drink of choice…but this was the best cortado of the four I had and it was served in a ceramic cup…a big plus.
I will certainly return here.
It’s fair to say that Seattle is full of great coffee shops…there are probably many more I should try next time and I welcome your recommendations.
I grew up drinking cortados in the afternoon. Hot beverages trick the thermal neck receptors into feeling cooler especially during humid weather. Garlic buttered soda crackers or grilled baguettes were offered when visiting someone as a welcoming gestures. Let me know if you like the taste of soda crackers dipped in hot coffee.
Soda crackers dipped in quality hot chocolate are better , and retain some crispness .
If soda crackers are dipped in hot coffee they become mushy and not-crisp .
The best cup of hot chocolate can be found in Chartres , France , on an overcast day , after walking up the hill .
Isn’t the best coffee in Seattle “Seattle’s Best?”
I’m kidding. Seattle is an enigma. Home to Costco, Boeing, Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, Nordstrom et. al, yet obsessive with supporting small business. I once flew out of Sea-Tac and lamented my frustration that there wasn’t a local coffee shop near my gate. Well there was a Starbucks, so I guess my frustration was misguided.
For local coffee, there’s just a Caffe Vita in N gates (the C gates location closed for construction recently). There’s also a Dilettante in the central area, which has good coffee but focuses more on chocolate.