All City Coffee has at least two locations in the Seattle area. Their flagship store is the one located in George town and the second store is located in downtown Seattle, in the Pioneer Square area. I had ‘been to’ the George town location a couple of years ago but I don’t really remember much about it. And even after I had been to visited the Pioneer Square location on more than a few times, it took me a while to actually make the connection… more so after I was looking at my collection of coffee shop signs is when I remembered having taken a picture of this sign a while back.
Being more familiar with the Pioneer Square location, I find the interior decor to be rather interesting in that in addition to the seating at the main level, there is a small fight of stairs that leads to am retro lounge type area which though unwalled gives users a some level of privacy, while at the same time will does not feel isolating from the rest of the room. Its a nice place to hang out if you wanted to be in the place but yet away and secluded from the rest of the place.
I had always assumed that All City Coffee were basically a coffee roasting company. I don’t know why… but I did. So I was rather surprised to find that not only do they not roast thier own coffee, but they actually get their coffee from Caffé Vita. Not that Caffé Vita is bad, not by any means. In fact All City Coffee actually do a pretty decent job with their coffee. I think the problem for me is, as I have said before, there are way too many coffee shops in Seattle the serve Caffé Vita coffee beans and so after a while, there isn’t really anything that will differentiate one coffee shop serving Caffe Vita from another coffee shop that also serves Caffé Vita. That’s just my own little take…
I guess the bottom line is, even though they do make decent coffee, there are at least five coffee shops or coffeehouses within short walking distance where I can try espresso made from beans other than Caffé Vita. These coffeehouses include Trabant, Café Umbria, Zeitgeist, Frontier Coffee and the Elliot Bay Bookstore Cafe. An so the problem is that I don’t find myself going to All City Coffee often.
But that being said, it actually is a nice space to lounge and enjoy an espresso… and if you have a chance, do go check it out and let me know what you think
