Cafe Allegro | ★★★★★

Cafe Allegro

4214 University Way NE

Seattle, WA 98105

Rating: ★★★★★

Hours:

M-F 6:30am - 10:00pm  

Sat 7:30am - 10:00pm 

Sun 8:00am - 10:00pm

Website: seattleallegro.com

Facebook Page: facebook.com/seattleallegro

Who Is It For?:

Anyone - if you can find it. 

Neighborhood:

University District

Ease of Location:

Impossible to find unless you are looking for it (and know where to look). It is in an alley between University Way NE and 15th Ave NE off of NE 42nd St. Got it? Whew!

Local:

Yes.

Multiple Locations:

No. The one and only.

Transit:

Tons! Holy Cow! King County Metro 30, 43, 44, 48, 49, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 83, 167, 197, 271, 373. Sound Transit 542, 556, 586 all within 1 block of the coffee shop.

Parking:

Tough. U-District. Metered or parking lots.

Price:

$ Coffee. $$ Food

Coffee Brand:

Cafe Allegro.

What I Had:

Decaf Café Americano, Steamed Cream, 2 Splendas.

How Was It?:

Great!

Staff:.

Friendly, but not overly so. It was Sunday afternoon; I think shift-change was right around the corner.

Crowd:

Mostly students, artist-types.

Food:

Don't know - they were wiped out when I got there.  That's a good sign as far as I'm concerned.

Seats & Tables:

Wooden chairs with seat padding, which was the final tipping point that gave them 5 stars.

(3) 4-person booths, wooden seats.

(4) 2-person tables downstairs; (6) two-person tables upstairs.

(8) 3-person tables.

(6) 4-person tables

Outdoors:

Yes. Two long, wooden benches.

Recycling:

Yes. Plus composting.

Power:

Good as long as you have a table by the walls. If you're in the middle forget about it.

Music:

Interesting mix of 50's  & 60's music while I was there. Early Ike and Tina Turner review, Santo and Johnny's ever timeless and beautiful "Sleepwalk."

I went back a second time - good music again plus live music upstairs!

Decor:

American rustic. I'm not sure if there's any other kind of decor for a coffee shop in Seattle.

Temperature:

Ok. A little chilly for my taste. But I'm always freezing.

Heat-A/C:

Central air.

Lighting:

Incandescent. Giant bay windows along the front wall bring in tons of light. Upstairs and the extra room are full of light too.

Special/Extra:

My friend Pat, a Seattle native, says this was the first espresso coffee shop in Seattle, having opened in 1975 and that Starbucks borrowed the idea from this place. 

Their website confirms this and says that Allegro has "…apparently served as the basis for the design of the original Starbucks coffeehouses."

Wikipedia also says that "…founding proprietor Dave Olsen designed the Starbucks coffee product line."

Other Notes:

Fantastic vibe and mojo in this place. It has two extra, attached rooms that give it this rambling/ambling/stumble around feel to it. One of the rooms is upstairs and the stairs can only be accessed from outside.

Foreign currency and art posters on the walls. Love it.

More Info from their Website:

In 1975, Allegro founder Dave Olsen started a little coffee shop in the 1909, former mortuary that still houses us today. 

Olsen's original design of the coffeehouse as an cozy, artsy, neighborhood joint survived the success of the "to go" focused, fast-paced environment of his later Starbucks legacy--and apparently served as the basis for the design of the original Starbucks coffeehouses. 

Over the years, the cafe has been managed by two sets of baristas-turned-owners, whose prime directive continues to be a continued adherence to the Old Ways: keep the coffee good, the music on and the atmosphere chill. So seriously--this place is addictive. Watch out.