Must-Visit Coffee Shops in Seattle

Seattle is known for having amazing coffee! In this blog post, we’re sharing our must-visit coffee shops in Seattle that combine both high quality coffee, cool spaces, and a great experience!

From the moment we moved to Seattle, we have made it one of our goals to explore as many local coffee shops as possible. We are hugeee coffee fans and while it may be impossible to visit every coffee shop in Seattle, we sure as heck are going to try!

After doing tons of coffee research (it’s hard work, but somebody has to do it! 🙂 ), we’re rounding up our top 10 must-visit coffee shops in Seattle. Our criteria for this list includes: coffee quality, service, and having a space that is good for working and socializing with friends.

For us, the best coffee shops are more than just great coffee, but are a great overall experience as well!

Check out the list below and watch our Seattle coffee tour, where we visit 5 of these shops! We also have a Seattle Bucket List full of tons of other coffee shop suggestions.

And if you have any must-visit coffee shops in Seattle that we didn’t mention, let us know! We love trying new coffee shops 🙂

SEATTLE COFFEE WORKS

4 locations around Seattle–Downtown, Ballard, Capitol Hill, and Cascade

Seattle Coffee Works is another coffee shop that holds a lot of meaning for us. When we visited Seattle for the first time in March 2014, our first stop was Seattle Coffee Works right outside of Pike Place Market.

We got the cutest lattes and then headed to Kerry Park. The park where Adam proposed years ago! There are 4 locations in Seattle and each location is named after the neighborhood it is in.

Our favorite location is Cascade Coffee Works because the space is very bright, the decor is cute (they have swing chairs!), and there are lots of spots to work! The coffee is great at any location though!

LA MARZOCCO CAFE

Lower Queen Anne

La Marzocco is a one of a kind experience in Seattle and is one of our absolute favorite coffee shops in Seattle. For those of you unfamiliar with La Marzocco, it is a high end Italian espresso machine company that you’ll often see in high quality coffee shops.

If we ever win the lottery, we want to buy one of their home espresso machines, which are around $5,000 (oof!). There are a couple reasons why the cafe is super unique.

For one, it’s in the same building as the KEXP radio station and you can see and hear the radio live from the cafe. Secondly, La Marzocco has a program called Roasters in Residence, where coffee roasters apply to be a featured roaster for a month at the cafe.

This means that every month you get a completely different experience and menu at La Marzocco. It’s so fun to try different roasters and interesting coffee concoctions! We also love La Marzocco because it has tons of space to get work done, meet with friends, or just hang out!

ADA’S TECHNICAL BOOKS AND CAFE

Capitol Hill

Ada’s Technical Books and Cafe is an awesome hidden gem in the quieter portion of Capitol Hill. We aren’t sure how we discovered this spot, but we love it and feel like it is still undiscovered by many Seattleites.

Ada’s is part technical book store, part cafe, and part coffee shop. The space is bright, has tons of cool books and trinkets to look at (including cool trinkets under the table glass!), and has great coffee.

We also hear that their food is very good, but we have yet to try it. This is one of our favorite spots to work in town, although there is a Wifi time limit so keep that in mind!

MILSTEAD

Fremont

We first went to Milstead shortly after we moved to Seattle when they were in their temporary space (while their original space was being redeveloped), which was windowless and pretty dark. The coffee was great, but the ambiance wasn’t our favorite.
Fast forward to the present and they are back in their original space, which is now completely redone, full of windows, beautiful inside, and has a great view of the Aurora bridge and part of Lake Union. Their coffee is still some of the best in town and now they have the environment to match it!

There are a bunch of tables (although they do get busy!) and we have spent an entire day working here. The staff is also friendly, which is super important to us!

The Wick

Upper Queen Anne

The Wick is a super cool, small coffee shop and motorcycle shop combo located on the backside of Queen Anne hill. It’s a bit tucked away, making it feel like a hidden gem.

While we aren’t motorcyclists, we love the combination of a coffee shop and motorcycle shop—it’s a super unique vibe! The inside of the coffee shop is pretty small, but there are a handful of seats if you want to sit inside, as well as a patio outside.

Every drink we have had from The Wick has been delicious! Adam loves their macchiatos and I have always enjoyed their lattes. We lived walking distance from here, but didn’t discover it until later on in our time living in Seattle and regret not visiting more!

STORYVILLE COFFEE

Multiple locations, but our favorite is the one at Pike Place Market

Storyville Coffee is a local roaster that not only has great coffee, but also is on a mission to help end human trafficking. They donate profits to the cause, which is pretty awesome!

There are multiple locations in Seattle, but we personally love the Pike Place Market location, as it overlooks the market and the Puget Sound.

Every drink we have tried there has been awesome, but we especially love their Americanos and anything with their delicious homemade coconut cashew mylk!

ANCHORHEAD COFFEE

Downtown Seattle (they also have a location in Issaquah too!)

Wow, we love Anchorhead Coffee! It’s tucked away on the edge of downtown Seattle, is cozy, and has some innovative and legit coffee and food options!

For example, a quaffle, which is a cinnamon roll croissant waffle and a pistachio matcha latte, which is not only a fun color, but has a nice unique taste too.

The decor inside of Anchorhead is different than the standard bright coffee shops that are popping up everywhere and instead has a cool grey interior, blue accents, and beautiful plants.

It also has huge light up letters that spell “coffee” in the windows, which makes for a nice little photo op. Between the fun drink options and the beautiful interior, Anchorhead is one of our go-to coffee shops in Seattle for a solid drink and cool environment.

And bonus: they have a location in Issaquah that you can visit before or after hiking over in Snoqualmie Pass!

EVOKE COFFEE

South Lake Union

Do you know what makes coffee even better? Coffee with dogs! Evoke Coffee in South Lake Union wins for having the cutest coffee shop mascots ever, not one, but TWO Bernese Mountain Dogs named Pablo and Pedro.

It’s hard to not enjoy coffee when you can simultaneously get puppy cuddles! In addition to the doggos, they also have an awesome neon light sign that says “but first, coffee,” which is one of our favorite phrases. 🙂 And to top it all off, the coffee is delicious too!

STARBUCKS RESERVE ROASTERY

Capitol Hill

You may be thinking: “Wait, Starbucks is making this list?!”, but this is not your everyday Starbucks. The Starbucks Reserve Roastery is a coffee DREAM and more of an experience than a traditional coffee shop.

The space is gorgeous, they roast their reserve blends right in front of you, they have unique brewing methods, wayyy different (and higher quality) drinks than a regular Starbucks (like their Hazelnut Bianco latte with hazelnut praline-infused milk), cocktails, and fancier food options.

Whenever someone tells us they are visiting Seattle, this is a must on our list–not just for the coffee, but as a full on attraction!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Okay, we know we said this blog was our 10 favorites, but we are going to cheat and list a few more because it’s so hard to choose!

Our honorable mentions go to: Elm Coffee Roasters, Victrola, Monorail Espresso, Moore Coffee, Sound & Fog, Espresso Vivace Sidewalk Bar, and Street Bean Coffee (a nonprofit that gives homeless youth jobs!).

Ready to get caffeinated?

Pin this list of our must-visit coffee shops in Seattle for your future coffee adventures!