Caffe Vita - Fremont

Caffe Vita - Fremont

4301 Fremont Ave N

Seattle, WA 98103

(206) 632-3535

Rating: ★★★★☆

So incredibly close to perfect. Except all seats are wooden - no comfy chairs. Yeah, I know. But this is important to me.

Hours:

M-F 6am-8pm | Sat & Sun 7am-8pm 

Website:

http://www.caffevita.com/locations/wa/fremont 

Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/caffevita 

Who Is It For?:
Everyone.

Neighborhood:
Fremont.

Ease of Location:
Easy as can be. Blocks away from Aurora Ave / US Hwy 99, blocks south of N 46th St, Downtown Fremont, 2 miles west of I-5 (taking NE 45th St).

Local:
Yes.

Multiple Locations:
Yes.

Transit: 
KC Metro 5.

Parking:
On-street only. You might have to walk a block or too, but it's a pretty slow neighborhood and you could use the exercise anyways, dude.

Price: 
$

Coffee Brand: 
Caffe Vita. That is correct; they make their own.

What I Had: 
Decaf Americano.

How Was It?:
Unbelievably amazing. 

Staff:
Very, very friendly. Barista Tiffany was super and very helpful. 

Food: 
Baked goods, gluten-free selection, Mighty-O Donuts, Theo Chocolate, Skydotter Epic Cookies. Milk alternatives soy and milk rice milk hemp and almond. Theo has their own blend of coffee designed to drink with their chocolate. It's not chocolate, but a coffee blend.

Seats & Tables:
2 2-person tables with bench seats and one wooden chair
3 3-person table with wooden chairs

1 5-person bar-height counter, facing the window that looks out on Fremont Ave N with 5 Bar Stool seats, made of wood.

Outdoors:
Yes. 3 Outdoor tables, metal with 2 metal chairs each.

Recycling:
Yes. Compost too!  

WiFi:
Yes. Free.

Power:
Good. One outlet near front windows, one by the two free-standing tables, one by the 1-3 chair table & 2-2 chair tables, 3 along the bench seats.

Music: 
Barista's choice. Good stuff while I was there, including Television's "Marquee Moon." 

Decor:
Old school decor, for instance old school clock, phone. I love this kind of stuff. Light brown, dark brown, aged wood.

Temperature:
Good. Same as outside - 65°. 

Heat-A/C:
Central Air.

Lighting:
A lot of windows, natural lighting. The rest is incandescent. 

Special/Extra:
Caffe Vita supplies the coffee for several other coffee shops in town.
Lots of swag. They sell their own coffee cups and T-shirts, Theo chocolate. 

Other Notes:
Bay windows open up to both streets, Fremont Ave N and N 43rd St, which is awesome!

Chocolati - Green Lake

Chocolati

7810 Green Lake Dr N

Seattle, WA  98115

(206) 527-5467

Hours: 

M-Sa 8am-9pm | Sun 10am-8pm

Website: 

www.chocolati.com

Facebook Page: 

https://www.facebook.com/ChocolatiFactory

Rating: ★★★★★

Who Is It For?:
Anyone, especially coffee and chocolate lovers.

Neighborhood:
Green Lake

Ease of Location:
Not bad. West of I-5, not too far from Hwy 99/Aurora Ave, it's nestled in the middle of E Green Lake Dr N, it's a bit of a chore with all the runners and slow-moving cars in the way. But not that big of a deal.

Local:
Yes

Multiple Locations:
Yes

Transit:
KC Metro 16, 48

Parking: 
Non-Existent. You need to park on the street, and it's usually pretty packed. Don't be discouraged, it's worth it.

Price: 
$

Coffee Brand: 
Lighthouse from Fremont

What I Had: 
Decaf Americano and a sea salt truffle (see below).

How Was It?: 
Blast off! It was great!

Staff: 
Best yet. Friendly, outgoing, totally got my sense of humor. This of course scores big points with me.

Crowd: 
Locals, lots of folks on laptops.

Food: 
Ungodly amount and choice of chocolate, hand-made, pre-made sandwiches, fruit.

Seats & Tables: 
2 2-person square tables
2 2-person round tables
Wooden chairs
3 comfy chairs w/coffee tables

Outdoors: 
2 2-person square tables, wooden seat chairs w/metal frames
3 wooden park benches

Recycling:  
Yes, plus composting. Nicely done, Chocolati!

WiFi: 
Yes, free.

Power: 
Ok. One plug only, however, the place is tiny. Bring your extension cord.

Music: 
Barista's choice. Black Keys, XX, Johnny Cash, Modest Mouse were playing overhead from Pandora. This could read like my favorite music list.

Decor: 
Rustic. Wood floors, wood ½ walls, burnt orange walls.

Temperature: 
Perfect. Same as outside; it was 75°

Heat-A/C:
No heat. Wall-mounted a/c & fan unit. 

Lighting: 
All natural on South Wall, takes up a huge amount of the interior.
Incandescent track & recessed lighting.

Special/Extra: 
Chocolate is unbelievable. They'll give you a free truffle on your 1st visit.  I had one with sea salt. I thought I would pass out this stuff was so good.

Other Notes:
Place is really small.  It was hard for me to fit in, because of my size. Place could be really tough to navigate in busier times. I was there at 4:00 pm on a Thursday afternoon, so I'm not sure if the size is a pain. But you could always walk around Green Lake instead of hanging out inside.  Totally worth it, this place is amazing.

Fuel Coffee - Wallingford

Fuel Coffee - Wallingford

1705 N 45th St

Seattle, WA 98103

(206) 634-2700

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Hours: 

M-F 6am-7pm | Sat-Sun 7am-7pm

Website: 
www.fuelcoffeeseattle.com

Facebook Page: 
www.facebook.com/fuelcoffeeseattle

Who Is It For?:
Anyone in the city. Easy to access, good price, enough seats and tables to accommodate the clientel.

Neighborhood:
Wallingford

Ease of Location:
Easy. 1/2 way between I-5 and Hwy 99/Aurora Ave, on NE 45th St, one of the main-est main drags in Seattle.

Local:
Yes.

Multiple Locations:
Yes.

Transit: 
KC Metro 16, 44.

Parking: 
In back, on street. Not difficult once you're off N 45th St.

Price: 
$

Coffee Brand:
Caffe Vita.

What I Had: 
Americano with steamed cream.

How Was It?: 
Great!

Staff: 
Very friendly & helpful.

Crowd: 
Locals, students.

Food: 
High 5 Pies & baked goods. Mighty O Doughnuts. The pies were totally gone by the time I got there. Rats.

Seats & Tables: 
7 2-person tables (2 pushed together to make a 4-person table.
4 1970's style chairs
1 metal framed, vinyl cushioned love seat
1 2-person bar-height counter
1 4-person bar-height counter
Both have metal stools.

All chairs are wooden, with no padding. The 1970's chairs were quaint, but not exactly comfy. And this place was almost perfect.

Outdoors: 
Yes. 3 metal lawn chairs.

Recycling: 
Yes, and composting too! 

WiFi: 
Yes. Free. I think I'm going to eliminate this category.

Power: 
Plentiful.

Music: 
Barista's Choice. "Nirvana MTV Unplugged" was on while I was there.

Decor: 
Rustic Americana.

Temperature: 
Warm - it was a cold day outside.

Heat-A/C: 
Nothing obvious. Not sure.

Lighting: 
Incandescent, frosted white globes.

Special/Extra: 
An old map of the U.S.A. adorns the back wall.

Other Notes: 
Place has a very 1930's Art Deco feel to it. I feel like I stepped into a modern-day John Steinbeck novel. 

Gourmondo Café - Elliot Ave W

Gourmondo Café

645 Elliott Ave W

Seattle, WA 98119
(206) 423-0237

Hours: 
M-F 7 a.m. - 4 p.m..  

Sat-Sun | Closed

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Website: https://gourmondocafe.com/

Facebook Page:
None that I could find

Who Is It For?
People doing business in the building at 645 Elliot Ave W (it has no name), construction workers in the area, people riding the 24, 32, 33 or the D line, and those attending the Carter Subaru Theatre (ever heard of it? Neither have I). 

Neighborhood: 
Elliot Bay.

Ease of Location: 
Not very.  If you live in Magnolia or Queen Anne, great. Otherwise, forget about it. You have to drag across Mercer St or Denny Way to get there. Ugh.

Local:
Yes.

Multiple Locations:
No. According to their website, there are two other locations, but they are not open to the public (?).

Transit: 
Yes. KC Metro 24, 32, 33, D Line.

Parking:
Yes. But very short term - 15 minutes. Or the garage ($12/over 2 hours; $6 hour). Or street parking - blocks away. Blocks and blocks (and even further during rush hour, as you cannot park on Elliot at that time).

Price:
$ - but no free refills. What?

Coffee Brand: 
Stumptown.

What I Had: 
Great! I had a small drip.

How Was It?
Quite good.

Staff: 
Fantastic, especially Tawana, the manager. Very, very friendly and helpful - and fun!

Food: 
From Gourmondo Catering - baked goods, sandwiches, salads, what coffee tables, wooden block thing something this for putting your coffee, fruit cups, chocolates. Mighty-O doughnuts, Le Fournil pastries (per Seattle Met magazine http://www.seattlemet.com/eat-and-drink/nosh-pit/articles/chef-tom-black-takes-over-at-gourmondo-opens-new-cafe-december-2013).

Seats & Tables:
5 Regular height counters by the window with counter chairs.

4 - 4 Person tables.  Plastic seating, relatively comfortable for a hard surface chair, but no cushions. But that's what the big comfy chairs are for. 

8 Really comfortable super cushy chairs.

5 Combo bench / seat tables.

Outdoors:
Yes. 3 - 2 person round metal tables with metal chairs.

Recycling: 
Nope.

WiFi:
Yes, free.

Power: 
Decent. Outlets all along the walls, but no outlets around the bench seating in the back.

Music: 
Couldn't quite hear it. Good stuff, nothing challenging - which is pretty much how it should be in a business building. It's gotta be like a band at wedding - don't necessarily need to please everyone, so much as not offend anyone.

Decor: 
Really nice wooden floors, with hand-painted murals. Glass windows for the other walls.

Temperature:
A little chilly for my tastes. Same temperature as outside, but it was about 62°

Heat-A/C: 
Central air.

Lighting: 
Incandescent globes, huge windows with lots of natural light.

Special/Extra:
It was started by Chef Tom Black as an extension of Gourmondo catering - some really great food.

Other Notes: 
I so very much wanted to give Gourmondo Café a five-star rating, it really is a fantastic place. But the access and parking is an enormous pain in the neck.  
So unless you're riding the bus, or plan on staying for less than 15 minutes (you'll get towed pretty quickly by the building), you're gonna be paying through the nose, or walking a half a mile.  Not their fault really, but what're you gonna do? It's a conundrum…