Let’s say you were born and raised in Manhattan or Chicago. And let’s say you moved to Seattle for its lovely weather a few years ago. And you now want to find an inner-city coffee house that reminds you of the ultra-urban environment you had back home. If you can relate, you’re cool. You’re very cool. And Caffe Vita is designed just for you.
This coffee house is so mellow I might even call it “comatose.” It’s clean. It’s urban. It has smooth jazz at just the right volume playing behind the counter. And the customers have their laptops situated in front of them, one leg bent with a foot on the opposite chair, never diverting their gaze from the screen. The wall colors are straight out of Architectural Digest and there’s nothing untidy; it’s like a movie set…no heartbeat, no pulse, nothing real or friendly to make me want to return.
And, unfortunately, the coffee was tasteless. They sell their own blend but I wouldn’t buy it. The coffee was fresh and hot and had no distinguishing flavor at all. It was like drinking a cup of very dark hot water. Just bland. The employee who waited on me was robotic; efficient but lacking personality. And this is curious: they sell Caffe Vita coffee mugs but they serve their customers in paper. Go figure…I would think they’d promote the heck out of their own mugs by using them for customers but I’d be wrong.
Caffe Vita has seating both inside and outside which is a plus. And they had a nice variety of pastries, fruit juices, and other offerings. The artwork was appropriate for the atmosphere; all textile-related and attractive. It was just missing something. I found Caffe Vita to be boring, quite frankly. If I was in really urgent need of a cup of coffee and couldn’t wait a minute longer and Caffe Vita was the only place to choose, they’d get my couple of dollars. But if there was any alternative in close proximity, I’d rather give another place my business. Caffe Vita left me feeling like it was the 2-dimensional imposter to a 3-dimensional coffee house. Too cool for this ex-hippie.
Located at 50th & Wilson in Seward Park with three other Seattle and one Olympia locations.
Comments
Bummer. So close to home. Oh well. The coffee needs to be good. Thanks for the review!
Im sorry to say that this lady is completely out of her mind. Caffe Vita is one of the Best Coffee Roasters in Seattle. They are featured in all of the best restaurants, cafes, and hotes across the country. Or maybe she doesnt understand good coffee.
Plus.. I frequent the Seward Park Cafe and I love the neighborhood feel and the outdoor seating. And an Iced Latte on a hot day! Amazing!
Its deffinately not a good location for you to quilt and be surrounded by your 30 stray cats.
Who cares? Can you stick your neck out and write something with any real value to the human race sometime? Like an ex-hippie?
Thanks to everyone who posts Comments. It's interesting that your experiences are so different from mine. Obviously, the first thing that occurs to me is that certain coffee houses aren't being careful about enticing new customers to come back... something I hope the column encourages them to do. I'll always "call it as I see it," and if you disagree, I welcome your thoughts. And if you have favorite places you'd like to see highlighted in future columns, let me know. Just be prepared for me to write it as honestly as possible based on my own personal experience.
Happy Coffee Sipping!
Very well written article. It is all true. The fact is Cafe VIta was the first big anti Starbucks coffee roaster. To the cool people, at least the cool counter culture people of Seattle who think they they are so cool, because they are so counter culture. they actually are the culture.
That is why this article will make a lot of those people mad because everyone knows if you don't like Cafe Vita you totally are not cool.
Everything is true including the baristas that think they are so cool because they serve the counter culutre people that it is not cool to have a personality.
One more time. Great article, keep writing and being truthful even when you go against the cool counter, counter culture people of Seattle
I liked the place MUCH better when it was Solstice—soy lattes to die for.
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