Top Coffee Shops to Visit in Seattle This Year

Since its opening in 2011, Analog Coffee has become renowned for its commitment to quality. Nestled on Summit Avenue East, the café embodies its mission through a charming atmosphere, complete with a rustic wooden sign and a collection of newspapers and art publications. The eclectic vinyl playlist ranges from soul classics to contemporary hits. Guests can savor expertly brewed single-origin espresso or enjoy a fresh cup of joe brewed to order. The adjacent B-Side Foods provides delightful breakfast sandwiches and colorful grain bowls.

In Bao Nguyen’s Little Saigon coffee shop, traditional brewing takes center stage, as there is no espresso machine in sight. Each drink is crafted using a phin, a four-part metal filter common in Vietnam. The brewing method resembles a combination of French press and pour-over, resulting in strong, flavorful beverages. Nguyen serves these drinks with varying ratios of housemade condensed milk or paired with a tangy yogurt that adds a unique twist.

Known as the gold standard for multi-roaster cafés, this spot delights coffee aficionados with its rotating selection from various specialty roasters. The knowledgeable staff skillfully brews coffee using the Aeropress, a method that often reveals flavors that might surprise anyone, even the casual drinker. With a welcoming atmosphere, Milstead and Co. invites all coffee lovers, whether seasoned or novice, into its flavorful world.

Founded in 2012, Solomon Dubie transformed a Rainier Valley mini-mart into a sanctuary for Ethiopian coffee traditions, particularly using the jebena clay pot. The café now operates in a cozy space within the Liberty Bank Building and a second outpost on The Ave, serving exquisite single-origin Ethiopian beans from its sister roaster. Avole prepares coffee using the jebena method, resembling espresso pulls. Customers who linger are rewarded with complimentary refills for their patience.

As you place your order, don’t be surprised if the barista reaches for bitters or a cocktail shaker. This unpretentious café on Pike/Pine, with an additional location downtown, takes a cocktail bar’s approach to specialty coffee, focusing on flavor without any pretense. Unique drinks such as the Lush Life—a blend of espresso, almond milk, and grapefruit aromatics—prioritize balance over excessive sweetness. Insightful staff is always available to guide patrons through the extensive menu.

A visit here offers a glimpse of Scandinavian design influenced not by coldness, but by warmth and community. Baristas engage with one another as they prepare pour-over coffee using beans from Copenhagen’s Coffee Collective. The light food offerings enhance the surroundings, showcasing pastries from Pan de la Selva alongside buttered bread sourced from Ben’s Bread.

This casual café, characterized by retro decor like an old-school CRT TV, is the first Seattle location for the acclaimed Portland roaster. While the ambiance may be effortless, the coffee is anything but. With an adventurous selection of experimental beans, this spot offers unique experiences, such as Nicaraguan beans processed using carbonic maceration or an anaerobic naturally fermented Ethiopian variety with rich stone fruit notes.

The nonprofit Coffee TAB has recently relocated to a larger venue, paving the way for this hyper-focused café dedicated to high-end specialty coffee. Here, patrons can explore the menu featuring super-premium options like September Coffee Co.’s prized geisha beans from Panama. Knowledgeable baristas provide insights into the differences between offerings from Metric and Dune, ensuring an educational experience.

Moonshot Coffee stands proudly in the heart of a bustling commercial area, closely resembling its sister café Burien Press. It serves as a perfect stop for a quick cortado while also functioning as a pop-up market offering craft beer, natural wines, and unique gourmet items. Many visitors enter seeking caffeine but leave with everything from tinned fish to a nonalcoholic negroni alongside their oat milk latte (featuring beans from Olympia Coffee).

This coffee shop defies typical college café expectations, bustling with activity from students, professionals, and coffee enthusiasts alike. With an aesthetic blending minimalism and warmth, the space features wood and leather accents, creating an inviting atmosphere for studying over single-origin drips or enjoying rich drinking chocolate.

Embrace a time-honored Seattle tradition in the renowned Cafe Allegro, the self-proclaimed oldest continuously operating espresso bar in the city. Tucked away down an old alley, this café boasts impressive ceilings, strong coffee, ample tables, and extra seating upstairs—thanks to a continued commitment to serving the academic community.

This trio of coffee houses embodies Seattle’s all-day café movement, characterized by vibrant interiors adorned with plants, house-roasted beans, and a diverse menu featuring trendy toasts and creative grain salads. Mr. West excels in crafting specialty coffee drinks, from cardamom rose cold brews to matcha lattes.

A unique Haitian coffee cart has made its home on the first floor of Labour Temple, featuring a colorful ambiance marked by lush green and gold decor. The barista greets customers with warmth, inviting them to order standard coffee drinks alongside Haitian specialties such as the bannann dous latte, enriched with salted sweet plantains. Patrons can also enjoy Caribbean delights from Pizza by Ruffin served in patty form.

Here, an espresso drink known as an Americano is cleverly referred to as an “Africano,” subtly showcasing the Eritrean roots of owner Efrem Fesaha. Boon Boona sources premium coffee from small African farmers and roasts their beans locally in Renton. Expanding its reach, the shop now brings this fine coffee to several locations throughout the city.

Yenvy Pham, who manages Phở Bắc alongside her family, also operates this coffee counter within the Little Saigon Creative community space. Utilizing family connections, she and her partner, Nghia Bui, source high-quality robusta beans from Vietnam. This coffee is typically exported as commodity-grade filler, but here, it’s transformed into rich drinks embellished with condensed milk and a delightful salty egg cream.

With its matte black design inspired by Berlin’s nightlife, Anchorhead stands out in the Seattle coffee scene. Known for its focus on bold, full-bodied natural process coffees, the café also offers unique pastries unavailable elsewhere, such as seasonal pistachio matcha croissants. The interior maintains an inviting atmosphere, effectively balancing its edgy aesthetic.

This SoDo roaster’s café, located beneath the iconic Space Needle, caters to a diverse coffee-drinking audience. Whether a Belltown office worker looking for a quick morning boost with a breakfast biscuit or tourists in search of the quintessential Seattle coffee experience, this café delights. It also caters to aficionados with an impressive selection of single-origin pour-overs sourced from uncommon regions like the Philippines and Thailand.

While many associate Howard Schultz with the rise of Seattle’s coffee culture, it was David Schomer, co-owner of Vivace, who truly influenced the scene. Launching an espresso cart in 1988 on Broadway, he trained countless baristas and roasters in perfecting the art of Italian-style extraction. Vivace now operates two locations, continuing the legacy of impeccably crafted espresso. (Schomer was instrumental in popularizing latte art in the U.S.)

Uptown Espresso epitomized the early ’90s coffee culture in Seattle, particularly at its original Lower Queen Anne location where many coffee pioneers honed their skills. Although the original venue closed in 2021, six other locations are still in operation, offering signature breakfast burritos and a proprietary blend from Fonté Coffee Roasters, which acquired Uptown in 2019.

Caffe Vita began as a second-wave coffee shop serving up local musicians and has evolved into one of the largest independent coffee roasters in the U.S. Following a change in ownership in 2020 by Deming Maclise, the café entered a new era, maintaining service that is consistently warm as ever. Crafting high-quality brews is a priority—under the expertise of Samantha Spillman, the 2019 U.S. Barista Champion. Their sibling establishment, Caffe Fiore, offers a smaller setting with the same charm.

Known for its audacious name, which translates to “coffee thief,” Caffe Ladro opened its original location to challenge Starbucks directly. Since its inception in 1994, Caffe Ladro has steadily grown, now boasting 17 locations that focus on quality coffee. Owner Jack Kelly, well known for his culinary prowess, also serves a notable selection of burgers.