Wayward Coffeehouse - Roosevelt

Wayward Coffeehouse

6417 Roosevelt Way NE #104

Seattle, WA  98115

206-525-5191

Hours: 

Mon-Fri 6am – 11pm | Sat-Sun 7am – 11pm

Website: http://www.waywardcoffee.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wayward-Coffeehouse-Roosevelt/231526896911038

Slogan: 

They have a philosophy, instead of a slogan. 

From their website:

"Philosophy. We are not trying to be “all things to all people” we just want to be a place where we would want to come to! We focus on creating a warm, friendly, casual atmosphere and promote courtesy and mutual respect for and from our customers and our staff. We like being a little bit silly, eagerly launch into geeky banter, and strive to enjoy making great coffee as much as our customers enjoy drinking it."

Rating: High ETM Recommend.

Who Is It For?:  

Nerds, geeks, students, mass trans riders, late night people who don't have to be up early, people who need a lot space for an informal meeting.

Type: 
Coffee shop.

Location: 
Roosevelt, 65th & Roosevelt.

Ease of Location: 
Exceptionally easy to access shop and neighborhood. 65th & Roosevelt. Mere blocks from I-5; minutes from Greenlake, Ravenna and the U-District.

Local: 
Yes.

Multiple Locations:  
No.

Transit: 


Parking: 
Shared lot, downstairs behind the business. On street more difficult; very busy neighborhood.

Price: 
$

Coffee Brand: 
Tony's. Local, independent. 

What I Had: 
Decaf Americano

How Was It?: 
It was fine. Not bad, not great, just fine.

Staff: 
Outstanding. I talked geek stuff for at least 15 min with the barista before ordering. X-Men and Star Trek dominated the conversation.

Crowd: 
Geeks, students, locals.

Food: 
Sandwiches, baked goods, Mighty O donuts. Cold bottled drinks and juices. 

Seats & Tables: 
A shit ton.
(6) 2-person tables pushed into four.
(2) 2-person tables.
(2) Round 4-person tables.
(3) 6-person oval tables.
(5) Comfy padded chairs.
(2) 2-person couches with (2) coffee tables.
(2) 4-person rectangular tables.

Chairs are padded except oval tables - wood chairs.

Kids table with two kids chairs. Booster chairs for toddlers. 

Outdoors: 
(2) Small 2-person metal tables with metal chairs.

Recycling:
In the bus bin.

WiFi: 
Free

Power: 
Good. 4 plug outlets every 2 tables or so.

Music: 
Mainstream radio. Good volume - background music type of music.  KJR type of music.

Decor:  
Not sure how to describe it. Plain, nothing fancy, not entirely aesthetically pleasing. Definitely function over form. Cement floors. Kind of like your dad's cousin Dino's basement.

Temperature: 
Perfect

Heat-A/C: 
Central Air. 

Lighting: 
Mostly fluorescent.  Two windows near the front, but in garden level, facing north.  Very little natural light.

Special/Extra: Nerd paradise, especially for me. 3-D models of ships (like the U.S.S. Enterprise, with a "Khaaaaan!!!" word balloon attached), Sci-Fi drawings on menu boards.

Other Notes: Stays open way later than most places in town. Very family friendly, especially geek families.

Starbucks U-District - NE 42nd St. & the Ave

Starbucks

4147 University Way NE

Seattle, WA 98105

(206) 547-3280

Hours:

M-F 5am - 11pm | Sa - Sun 6am - 10pm

Website:

http://www.starbucks.com/store-locator/search/location/98105/detail/9070

Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/Starbucks

Rating:

★★★★☆ 

Four star place that gets one star less for no padded chairs, but one star plus for good mojo, so it's a wash.

Slogan:

They don't have one. They do have a mission statement:

"To inspire and nurture the human spirit–one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time." 
Ugh. Astonishingly lame, considering they started the whole upscale coffee revolution.

Type:
Coffee Shop.

Location:
University District.

Ease of Location:
Easy and Difficult, simultaneously. Depends on the time of day. Close to I-5 & SR 520, and almost on top of 15th Ave NE and two blocks south of NE 45th St, it's easy before am rush hour, or after pm rush hour.

Smack dab in the U-District and on the Ave, the neighborhood is packed during the day, especially while University of Washington is in session.

Local:
No. Huge Chain. The granddaddy of them all.

Multiple Locations:
Oh, good lord yes.

Transit:
Bus stops one block away, north or south on University Way (the Ave). KC Metro routes 30, 71, 72, 73, 74, 83, 373.  The 15 Ave NE bus stops are one block to the east. The Campus Parkway Station is less than three blocks away to the south.

Parking:
Street parking only, and it's tough during weekdays in the middle of the day.

Price:
$

Coffee Brand:
Starbucks

What I Had:
Venti iced coffee with two Splendas and half & half.

How Was It?:
Pretty good. Nothing that's going to blow your mind, but it's pretty damn good - that's why their stuff is so popular.

Staff:
Very friendly, very hard-working.

Crowd:
Almost exclusively students. I was the oldest guy in the joint by far, by probably 10 to 15 years.

Food:
Fresh baked goods and pastries. Refrigerated pre-made sandwiches and salads.

Seats & Tables:
Lots.
(2) 6-person bar-style counters, against the NE 42nd St windows.
(1) 8 person bar-style counter.
(8) 2-person tables.
(2) Rectangular, 4-person wooden surfaced tables.
(7) Bar-style, 4-person round tables.
(1) Bar-style, 6-person round tables.
(1) Rectangular wood surfaced community table. 6 wooden chairs.

All bar stools are metal, no padding.

All table chairs are wooden chairs, no padding.

No padding on any seats at all whatsoever.  This scores negative points with my bony butt.

Outdoors:
No outdoor seating.

Recycling:
None! You gotta be kidding me.

WiFi:
Yes. Free.

Power:
OK. Bring an extension cord. 

Music:
Not even sure if there's music playing. This place is so crowded; it's really noisy during the day.

Decor:
Typical Starbucks. Some flair of personality. No one's going to be unhappy with the way the place looks. 

Temperature:
Good. A little too much a/c. It was only 68 degrees that day; not really necessary.

Heat-A/C:
Central air. This place has been very comforting during the heat waves of Summer 2014.

Lighting:
Lots of natural light. Two walls face the outdoors and are almost completely windows top to bottom. 
Over head: Smoked glass incandescents.
(4) glass cone-shaped glass incandescents over the 8-person bar counter.

Who Is It For?:
Students, professors and employees of UW, business people & people who work in the U-District, visitors to the U-District, residents of the neighborhood. People looking for a non-offensive, non-exciting place to meet early in the morning or late at night.

Special/Extra:
The staff is incredibly hard working here. The place is busier than almost any coffee shop I've been to, and they crank out dozens of drinks per hour. The line never stops, even late at night when there's one or two people in line.

Other Notes:
I like this place. It has good mojo. I can't put my finger on it, but I like it. Most corporate places bore me; this one doesn't. Lots of young folks from other countries. Good energy here.

Irwin's - Wallingford

Irwin's Neighborhood Bakery and Cafe in Wallingford 

2123 N 40th St 

Seattle, WA 98103 

206-675-1484

Hours: Weekdays 6am-8pm | Weekends 7am-8pm

Website:

 http://irwinsbakeryseattle.com/

Facebook Page: 

https://www.facebook.com/Irwinsbakeryandcafe

Slogan: "Seattle's favorite little neighborhood cafe spot"

Rating: ★★★★★

Type: 
Coffee Shop and Bakery.

Location: 
Wallingford - N 40th St and Bagley Ave N. 

Ease of Location: 
Wallingford is easy to access from I-5 or Aurora Ave (Hwy 99).  Location is easy to access too.  You gotta know how to find it. It's in a residential neighborhood.

Local: 
Yes.

Multiple Locations: 
Yes - 2. Other location is on 1201 B Eastlake Ave E.

Transit: 
The bus stop is literally about 100 feet away. KC Metro Buses 26, 31 and 32.

Parking: 
On-street, residential only. Pretty quiet neighborhood, you should be fine.

Price: 
$$ - The smallest drink I could get was $3.69 plus tip. But worth it.

Coffee Brand: 
Stumptown Coffee.

What I Had: 
Decaf Americano with steamed cream.

How Was It?: Amazing!

Staff: 
Very friendly; very mellow. Nice experience - it was a pleasure.

Crowd: 
Not sure; I don't think my visit was typical. I was there at 6:45 on a Saturday night.  Seems like local neighborhood folk, with a hippie kind of clientele.

Food: 
Baked goods. I didn't have any, but good lord they smelled delicious. Some Odwalla juices, that's it.

Seats & Tables:
Indoors:
4 wicker chairs and a 2 person wicker couch, giant coffee table in the middle.
4 tables with 2 chairs.
3 bar-stool seats, up against a counter in the back of the shop.
1 oval shaped table that can fit 6.

Most of the chairs are wood, most without seat padding.
Wicker chairs have padding, but padding is worn out.

Outdoors:
4 metal tables with 2-person chairs.
6 wooden Adirondack chairs.
2 metal benches.
A few plastic green lawn chairs thrown in here or there.

Recycling: 
Yes. They ask that you put your stuff in the garbage, and they will sort the recyclables later. Weird, but it's recycling, so it's a win in my book.

WiFi: 
Yes. Free.

Power: 
Enough to get you by. I saw four different outlets.  You may want to bring an extension cord, but it's not bad.

Music: 
Employees' choice.  Alt/Folk/Rock band Timber Timbre on the overhead. The volume was perfect!

Decor: 
The place has a definite 1970s, back-to-nature, hippie kind of vibe to it. Which was pretty awesome. Rustic furnishings. I really like the decor a lot; it took me back to my teenage years.

Temperature: 
Perfect. But It was a really nice and sunny day in the 70s.

Heat-A/C: 
No A/C. Baseboard heating. The windows are not insulated - nice looking, but not practical. Bring an extra sweater and scarf in winter.

Lighting: 
Lots of natural light; two of four walls are large glass windows. The remaining light is provided by incandescent lights that are mounted in orange colored glass fixtures hanging from the ceiling.

Who Is It For?: 
Wallingford neighborhood residents, people looking for a really nice, quiet and out of the way place to go to for a conversation or to relax.

Special/Extra: 
Outdoor seating is comfortable and absolutely fantastic. 
Lots of plants trees shrubs and green foliage outside of the place, a nice touch.

Other Notes: 
The outdoor seating faces N 40th St, which is a fairly busy through-way; noise from the street is quite much. I'm sure Sundays and weeknights are better.

Smoking is apparently not discouraged. There's a couple of cigarette pails out front, and a couple guys walked up and started smoking. Perhaps not too ironically, this is a 1970s thing too, as I remember the 70s.

Tully's Coffee - Nickerson

Tully's Coffee - Nickerson

101 Nickerson St. Bldg. B, #200
Seattle WA 98109
206-826-4050

Hours: M-Thu 6-8 | Fri-Sat 6-7 | Sun 7-5

Website: www.TullysCoffeeShops.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Type: Coffee shop

Location: Easy to find; not so easy neighborhood to access. 
On the back side of Queen Anne, across the Ship Canal from Fremont, Northwest of Westlake Avenue North. Whew!

Coffee:  Good; slightly too bitter for my tastes. But this isn't "What would Ed drink". I had an iced coffee.

WiFi: Yes. Free.

Parking: Free, in their own lot. More free on-street parking. No Drive-thru.

Crowd: Students, business people. 

Recycling: None!! :( 

Food: Baked goods, hot foods (e.g. egg/sausage muffin)

Price: $ of $$$$

Seats: 
(8) Big cushy brown chairs. 
(2) Six-person tables. 
(4) Two-person tables. 
(2) Two-person round tables.
-All have wooden chairs.  
(2) Two-person high rise tables with metal bar stool chairs. 

Staff: Super friendly & warm. Couldn't have been better. I talked about films with the two young ladies behind the counter.

Power: Everywhere. Multiple plugs in each outlet. Multiple outlets, plus outlets on the floors too.

Music: Not mainstream, but not out of this world. A comfortable volume (thank god), slightly quieter than the louder more raucous shops.

Decor: Usual corporate stuff, combination of tile floors at front serving area, carpeting in dining area. Nicely decorated, but nothing original.

Temperature: Perfect.

A/C: Yes (87 degrees today).

Lighting: Lots of outdoor light.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.  
It's like hanging out with your sister: it's fun, nice and enjoyable, but it's not exactly exciting.

Who is it for?: 
Early morning, mid-day and early-retiring crowd.
Students, business people working on proposals, multiple parties who would like to meet for conversation and people who want to read a book.