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…