Palazzo is a tiny, tiny coffee shop in Wallingford. This is one of those places that you can easily drive right by and not even notice. It is also one of those things where by I would drive by, usually on the weekends, and especially Sundays, and the place was always closed. In fact for the longest time I thought that the place had actually gone out of business and they never bothered to actually take down the sign.
So imagine my delight when I happened to drive by Palazzo and they were actually open. This was on a weekday lunch time and I was actually on my way to the Ballard area to my appointment. As always, as I drove by I looked to see if the place was open, and indeed it was. Then I thought about the coffee I was going to be offered by the office administrator at the office. Their coffee is pretty bad and so whenever I visit them, I would normally pass by some coffee shop to get an espresso drink. This time around I noticed that Palazzo was actually open. I knew that if I did not stop and get a latte, I may not have another chance to since it was pretty clear to me that I seem to pass by during their after hours.
And so I dropped in.
The inside was really tiny… did I mention before the place was tiny? But it was also cozy. There were a group of older folks there enjoying coffee and conversation. In fact it totally reminded me of what I would expect to see if I went to a small espresso bar in a small Italian town. The owner was behind the counter and he is the one who both took my order and pulled the espresso to make my latte.
He was actually pretty cool to chat with. He told me that they do roast their own coffee, right there in the shop. I think he said that they do so daily, I can’t quite remember, but I do know that they roast their beans pretty regularly so the coffee is always relatively fresh roasted. He also told me that they primarily use South American coffee beans. I asked him why he did not also use beans from East African, i.e. Kenya and Ethiopia? He agreed that the coffee from East Africa was really high quality but it was also really expensive. In other words using those beans would certainly drive up the his costs and the final prices of his coffee.
Since I was in a hurry, I couldn’t hang around and chat, so I picked up my latte and headed on my way, savoring my latte as I drove to my appointment. I must say I liked the latte. It was nice and strong, just the way I like it, with great taste and flavor. As I was drinking I was thinking how I wished I had been able to try out the coffee more often… but alas, I don’t think I will have the opportunity to go back now that I am getting ready to leave Seattle in a week’s time. But I would certainly encourage you espresso lovers out there to go check out Palazzo and let me know what you think 
