Tag Archives: coffee

This Capitol Hill coffee shop could be the start of a new Seattle trend: tipping

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(Image:Fuel Coffee)

A Capitol Hill coffee shop could be part of a new trend in Seattle food and drink.

The Fuel Coffee chain has announced it is re-instituting tipping at its three Seattle cafes as it tries to balance reasonable latte prices with fair compensation for its employees.

Ownership says it has been tip-free since 2020 when it instituted service charges but is bringing the practice back as they cut wages to Seattle’s upcoming $21.30 an hour minimum to counteract the soaring price of coffee beans. CORRECTION: CHS didn’t get this right. Fuel adjusted its prices in 2020 but did not institute a service charge. Sorry for the error.

“Based on our own research, along with customer and employee feedback, we’ve come to the conclusion that we would not be able to raise prices to the necessary degree needed to cover cost increases, pay our baristas a competitive wage, and still remain a viable option in the community,” Fuel said in its announcement.

Fuel says it is making the switch in a way it hopes will protect its employees, guaranteeing “that all team members will earn at least their current wages through the end of November–and if they don’t we will make up the difference.” Continue reading →

Coffee giant Starbucks shuts down its Capitol Hill Roastery — UPDATE

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(Image: CHS)

The Capitol Hill Starbucks Roastery is permanently closed. Starbucks shut down the more than $20 million coffee destination with boarded windows and a paper sign Thursday morning.

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the closure of the Seattle Reserve Roastery. This location has been the destination of coffee lovers from down the block and around the world,” it read. “That you have chosen to share this experience with us is deeply appreciated.
For our Cap Hill neighbors, thank you for making us a part of your life. Your loyalty over the years and the meaningful connections you have made with our partners will not be forgotten.”

The shutdown comes as the coffee giant announced it is shutting down more “underperforming stores” and laying off 900 workers. The company previously announced it was laying off 1,100 in cuts earlier this year.

Monday, unionized workers from Starbucks Workers United were outside the Melrose roastery rallying for a fair contract. Melrose roastery workers at the massive store, roasting plant, restaurant, and cafe voted to unionize in 2022. Continue reading →

Mintish Coffee House brings Palestinian heritage and community connection to Capitol Hill

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Brothers Nano and Mahmoud Farajallah and friend Abdullah Alabed

Capitol Hill has a new gathering spot. Mintish, a Levantine-inspired coffee shop on Harvard Ave E, represents both a business venture and a cultural bridge for brothers Mahmoud and Nano Farajallah and friend and business partner Abdullah Alabed.

The cafe is now open at 515 Harvard Ave E in a space that the owners transformed themselves from what was once the last vestige of legendary Capitol Hill hangout Bauhaus.

Mahmoud Farjallah, who was born in Seattle but raised in the Middle East, returned to Washington 12 years ago to study accounting at the University of Washington. His friend Alabed grew up in Jordan. Both are Palestinian-American, and their family story reflects the displacement many Palestinian families have experienced over generations. Nano was in Dubai during the interview with CHS.

“My dad was born in Gaza,” Mahmoud Farajallah explained during the shop’s soft opening week. “Unfortunately, I never went to Palestine, but it always grew up with me.” Continue reading →

Mintish, a ‘Levantine🇵🇸🇯🇴🇱🇧🇸🇾-inspired Coffee House’ with Seattle vibes, coming to Capitol Hill

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Thanks for the picture and tip, Tammy Jo

There are lots of ways CHS gathers local news. Ohe of our favorites is the reader tip. The latest comes to us from the CHS Facebook Group where longtime reader Tammy Jo got the scoop on a new cafe coming to Harvard Ave E — welcome Mintish:

Their tagline is Levantine roots. Seattle vibes. ❤️ We walked by and met Nano, who is opening Mintish with his brother in late August. (space was the former Bauhaus reboot) Coffee Teas and Food. Super friendly + the renovations look fresh & welcoming.

The new project is coming along in the Rubix Apartments building space where the Bauhaus reboot sputtered to a recent stop. Continue reading →

Groovy — Capitol Hill mushroom coffee joint Wunderground adds founder of one of Capitol Hill’s most popular cafes

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(Image: Wunderground Cafe)

A founder of one of Capitol Hill’s most enduringly popular cafes has returned from retirement to help create “the coffeehouse of the future” with an overhaul of E Pike adaptogenic mushroom coffee joint the Wunderground Cafe. They’re celebrating Saturday with a Pride rave.

Ericka Burke says she is joining Wunderground founder and CEO Jody Hall to give the four-year-old E Pike cafe and adaptogenic mushroom startup’s showcase cafe a fresh start, “offering food and beverage to nourish and flourish.”

CHS reported here on the fall 2021 debut of Wunderground, a grain bowl, bone broth, and mushroom coffee hangout in the space formerly home to Hall’s E Pike Cupcake Royale location and a center for the startup coffee company and its fusion of “health benefits” from mushrooms like Lion’s Mane, Chaga, Reishi, and Cordyceps with the daily ritual and the “antioxidant properties” of coffee. Continue reading →

Vroom! Phê revs up Capitol Hill Vietnamese coffee ambitions with new auto row-inspired cafe

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Any echoes of its more recent than you might expect auto row past are mostly drowned out by the buzz of customers eager to try the signature banana pudding matcha lattes and pho as Vietnamese coffee joint Phê has joined the Capitol Hill cafe scene.

“Indulge in meticulously crafted coffee, matcha, and brunch favorites, all prepared with the finest ingredients. Nestled in a minimalist, industrial-chic space,” the new cafe’s hype reads. “Phê offers a unique experience that tantalizes your taste buds and elevates your senses.”

The new cafe debuted this month in one of the more unique — and hard to fill with a tenant — spaces created by the recent wave of Pike/Pine redevelopment. CHS reported late last summer on the plans for Phê along E Pine on the ground floor of a new building built a decade ago with a street-level commercial space meant to echo the old 15th Ave Garage that called the block home until its mid-2010s demolition. Continue reading →

‘That nook deserves to LIVE!’ — Bean Espresso revives famed Broadway coffee bar

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Like any environment, you can measure the health of the Broadway biospher by some of its tiniest organisms.

Bean Espresso seems like a good sign.

Bean has given new life to the storied Capitol Hill coffee stand once home to Vivace’s walk-up bar. It appeared in the 300 block Broadway E space last week.

As a possible indicator species, Bean Espresso might represent a utilitarian, no-frills era for the street. Affordability is also a factor. The stand is starting with some of the lowest coffee prices on the Hill. Continue reading →

First Hill-born Sugar Bakery adding sweet new Capitol Hill cafe

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The First Hill counter (Image: Sugar Bakery)

Thanks to Jason in the CHS Facebook Group for spotting the new signage

A Capitol Hill cafe space left empty since a labor dispute ended with ownership pulling the plug will move back into motion with a breath of fresh First Hill baked air.

Sugar Bakery says it has been hard at work all year and is nearly ready to open along E Pine just below Bellevue Ave:

We’re very excited to announce that our newest location Sugar Bakery in Capitol Hill will be opening soon! We’ve been working hard on this location since the beginning of this year! More details on the opening date is coming soon! Thank you for your continued support!

Continue reading →

Black Coffee Northwest: How Seattle City Hall, Vulcan Real Estate, and the goodwill of creating ‘a vibrant core for Black businesses’ in the Central District could not open a coffee shop at 23rd and Jackson

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A design rendering of signage for Black Coffee Northwest at 23rd and Jackson

Depending on who you ask — and if they are willing to speak on the record — there are lots of failures to blame at 23rd and Jackson. But the bottom line is this: Despite years of work from the city’s Office of Economic Development and one of its leading developers in Vulcan Real Estate, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office, District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth, and the goodwill of rebuilding Black ownership in this key core of the Central District, it seems unlikely Black Coffee Northwest will ever open at the corner.

“We have a staff trained and ready to go. My grand opening was planned,” owner DarNesha Bowman told CHS earlier this month.

Bowman went public this year with what she says has been a lack of support from Vulcan and the city falling short on promises to help the small business entrepreneur usher in what many hoped would be the start of a new era at 23rd and Jackson with her Black Coffee Northwest taking over a space being left behind by global coffee giant Starbucks over public safety concerns in the area. Continue reading →

Ghost Note Coffee crafts expansion from Capitol Hill with Seattle Tower cafe

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(Image: Ghost Note Coffee)

(Image: Ghost Note Coffee)

By Domenic Strazzabosco

With Ghost Note Coffee’s detail-oriented approach to craft coffee, it should not be a surprise that growth has taken time. Born eight years ago on Capitol Hill, Ghost Note has finally made its second cafe permanent on the ground floor of 3rd Ave’s 96-year-old Seattle Tower.

Ghost Note’s careful expansion downtown gives them a small footprint and a more feasible and affordable way of expanding in terms of inventory, equipment and employees. They also found the space to be gorgeous.

“The building is something that we’re just so proud to be a part of. It’s a pretty stellar place,” said Christos Andrews, co-owner of Ghost Note. “I’ve noticed when people walk in the door and it’s their first time at Ghost Note, you can see the experience seems to be more impactful, which is really exciting.”

After opening with limited hours last year and slowly expanding operations through the holiday season, the space is now open six days a week. It is Ghost Note’s second location after its spot in Capitol Hill, which opened on Bellevue Ave back in 2017. Continue reading →