Seattle is a close-knit community tucked between two mountain ranges, luscious evergreen forests, and both salt and fresh waterways. Being famous for our coffee, Grunge Music, Greys Anatomy, Space Needle, and Pike Place Farmers Market, Seattle has a robust hospitality industry that helps support our growing tech industries that some of you may have heard of… Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Google, and so many more.
Community in Seattle is of the upmost importance to Caffe Vita since we have been roasting and serving our passion to the city for 26 years this year. Being in a major city that is relatively small in population, we have some of the most amazing restaurants and attractions in the country, which made it that much more difficult for me to create this list.
If you plan to take my advice, I encourage you to make your trip to Seattle between late July and September. Our waterfront restaurants, beaches, and sunsets with a stunning backdrop of Mount Rainier will leave you speechless. But, don’t move here… It rains here all the time.
Caffe Vita
Capitol Hill HQ, Roasting Facility, and Café
1005 East Pike Street
Seattle, Washington 98122
Open daily 8:00 am
Nestled in the heart of Capitol Hill, Caffe Vita has been roasting our flagship blends and Farm Direct specialty coffees for 26 years.
Capitol Hill is the heartbeat and LGBTQ+ epicenter of Seattle with its diverse restaurants, bars, music venues, and more coffee roasters than you can visit in one day.
Beecher's Handmade Cheese
1600 Pike Place
Seattle, Washington 98101
Open daily 10:00 am
Beecher's Cheese is an artisan cheesemaker in the Pike Place Market with multiple locations around the Seattle area and New York City. Beecher's is well known for their Flagship Cheese and what Oprah has listed as her Favorite Things — "World's Best" Mac and Cheese. While in the area, also be sure to check out Daily Dozen Doughnuts, Michou deli, and Old Stove Brewing Co.
Golden Gardens Park
8498 Seaview Place Northwest
Seattle, Washington 98117
Open daily 6:00 am
Golden Gardens Park has exceptional views of the Olympic Mountains and is comprised of wetlands, beaches, Caffe Fiore, and hiking trails. You can find groups of people having bonfires while enjoying cold Rainiers any day when the chance of rain is below 50 percent.
Natural Wine Cafes
Natural wine cafés are the best trend that has popped up in the recent years. Washington being recognized for our exceptional wines (sorry California and France), our biodynamic and natural wine culture has created a need for shops like Glinda, La Dive, L’Oursin, Wide Eyed Wines, Molly’s Bottle Shop, and Left Bank. Coffee nerds rejoice!
Ballard Brewery District
5306 Ballard Avenue Northwest, Suite 216
Seattle, Washington 98107
Open daily 8:00 am
Ballard Brewery District is home to 12+ craft breweries within a one-mile radius. This area has become such a destination, they created a Ballard Brewery Passport that when (and if) you finish still standing, you will earn commemorative glassware for you to hydrate with the following day.
My favorite of mash up of breweries are Stoup Brewing for fresh IPAs and lighter beers, Urban Family Brewing Co. for their unique Sour and fruit beers, Fair Isle Brewing, which offers an array of Saisons, Sours, and Farmhouse Ales, and Rooftop Brew Co for living up to their name with a great rooftop patio and their Gateway IPA.
Olympic Sculpture Park
2901 Western Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98121
Open daily 6:00 am
Olympic Sculpture Park is a must-see and helps burn off some energy from consuming copious amounts of coffee. Created and managed by Seattle Art Museum (SAM. Also worth checking out), this public park is a nine-acre free admission outdoor park with permanent and rotating art installations.
The park's western boarder situated on the Elliott Bay connects to the Seattle Waterfront that is well known for its walking/running/biking trails, ferry terminals, Fishermen’s Terminal, and Great Wheel.
Black Sun
1247 15th Avenue East
Seattle, Washington 98112
Black Sun is a popular sculpture by Isamu Noguchi and is located in the 48-acre urban oasis known as Volunteer Park.
This sculpture not only sits near the Asian Art Museum and provides a telescope like view of the Space Needle, but it is also the inspiration for Seattle based rock band Soundgarden’s song “Black Hole Sun.” Now that you have that song stuck in your head, stroll on over to the Volunteer Park Conservatory and gaze at the gorgeous Victorian iron and 3,426 glass panes that house a botanical garden.
Westward
2501 North Northlake Way
Seattle, Washington 98103
Open Monday to Thursday 4:00 pm; Open Friday 12:00 pm; Open Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am
Westward is exactly that. A marine-inspired, waterfront dining destination on the north end of Lake Union facing Downtown Seattle and the Western skies.
This restaurant features outdoor fire pits, local sea fare from the Pacific Northwest, and makes for a great place to either arrive or sail off into the sunset by water. 10/10 would recommend for a romantic date night.
KEXP and La Marzocco Cafe
472 1st Avenue North
Seattle, Washington 98109
Who could have concocted a better combination? Seattle. That’s who! KEXP the Seattle-based and internationally known public radio station has partnered with the worlds best commercial and home espresso machine manufacturer to create a café space that has a monthly rotating resident coffee roaster.
Each month you can sip coffee from a different coffee roaster from around the world in the large industrial space that is being fed with music live from local DJs like Cheryl Waters, Darek Mazzone, Greg Vandy, and John Richards. You can even cheers your favorite DJ from your table since they are sitting in the DJ booth watching the café flow like a giant fish tank.
Frankie and Jo's
University Village
4619 Village Terrace Drive Northeast
Seattle, Washington 98105
Ballard
1411 Northwest 70th Street
Seattle, Washington 98117
Capitol Hill
1010 East Union Street
Seattle, Washington 98122
Last and definitely not least. Well, probably the least guilt you will have all trip. Frankie and Jo’s is a locally based, plant-based, vegan- and gluten-free woman-owned ice cream shop. Carnivores reading this right now are going to doubt me and may have already stopped reading, but this ice cream is so good you will want to clear your freezer at home... oh and they ship. Treat yo self.