Stumptown Coffee

Doesn't Recommend

donacutso

Joined 8 years ago

Just say no. Pros: the visual is nice when you walk in, and the coffee's decent. Cons: coffee is expensive, service is unfriendly at best, and you find that the spare and clean visual makes for a cramped and awkward waiting area. I left here feeling mildly alienated and ripped-off. There are a lot of good coffee shops on Cap Hill to support, with Vivace at the top of the heap. If you want an amazing cup of coffee, go there! It's got great atmosphere, and wonderful baristas, many of whom have been there for years. This, to me, is how a coffee shop should be - inviting and warm, neighborhood-y. Stumptown sounds wonderful in Portland, but they're not making the grade in Seattle.

Doesn't Recommend

rupee101

Joined 5 years ago

Latte with double shot of bad attitude. ugh - another place full of baristas and customers with hipster wannabe attitudes. i support the coffee sourcing philosophy of the place, and will pay the extra for the higher priced coffee.... but could the service be more annoying? it makes it hard to go back.

Recommends

Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Editorial Review. Heavenly coffee served with a back-to-basics philosophy at the Seattle outpost of Portland's legendary coffeehouse.

Photo by Chris Daniel

Doesn't Recommend

ishouldcoco

Joined 5 years ago

Poor Version of Portland Original. I live a few blocks from the Stumptown on Division in Portland. I love their coffee, atmosphere, people etc. So upon visiting Seattle and learning that Stumptown had a new location, I insisted we go have some delicious coffee! What a disappointment! Snooty service, overly loud ironic hip-hop, bad coffeemaking! My dining partner, wanting to try their "french-pressed" coffee, got disgusting bottom-of-the-barrel drip with no aroma and a burnt, bitter taste. When she went back and OFFERED to pay for a new coffee, but told them that this was undrinkable, they ARGUED with her, saying it was just the type of coffee and that they change it all the time! Nonsense! And, they messed up my order, giving me a latte instead of a mocha. A poor latte as well, far inferior to Victrola.

Stumptown has a lot of excellent local competition in Seattle, and they cannot afford to have a bad review of their space or of their coffee! I think this is an example of something that you cannot export (the great thing about Stumptown is the freshness of their roasted beans, and that's gone when it has to get trucked for hours, god only knows what the NYC brew will taste like, terrible I'm sure), and its sad that Stumptown is putting expansion over quality. Too bad, my Seattle makes me want to go out of my way for Blue Gardenia here in Portland, just to avoid this place.

Doesn't Recommend

fryhead

Joined 6 years ago

i expected better considering all the hype. well, we waited with baited breath for stumptown to come to seattle. i heard it was to blast all our roasters right out of the water.....what a dissapointment.

when you walk into a coffee shop and the decaf beans look alot prettier than the beans they are serving regular, well you should have misgivings. we decided to go there anyway and ordered a cuppaccino and a latte. they were awful. you expect a rich bold creamy taste when you have an espresso. what we got was a powdery tasting, mild flavored coffee that tasted alot like coffee flavored coco. i didnt bother to finish my latte. it got worse the more i sipped. it wasnt good at all.

i reccommend vivace, umbria, the mystery roast at the BnO, or PEETS (out of san francisco) over this dreck they call coffee any day.

wow, THIS is supposed to be better than our local seattle roasters? heh!

this isn't a comfortable place to sip this bad coffee either. the minimalistic thing is nice, but when you have minimised the seating to a narrow hard barely enough room to visit punishment bench, well, geez, couldn't you even make a good cuppa coffee to make my suffering worth it?

just go to umbria......or really anywhere....

Recommends

trackbike

Joined 7 years ago

Very nice addition to our crowded cafe landscape. Stopped in here the other day for a macchiato and to read a book. It's beautiful, as is the Stumptown I've been to in Portland -- modern, minimalist, expensive Design Within Reach type decor, which is quite different from the classic Seattle style coffeehouse. It isn't as warm or comfortable, but it is elegant. The seating here will accommodate individuals or maybe two people -- you wouldn't want to come here with a larger group (no study groups at this place, and that's not a bad thing). I do wish the long narrow couches were a bit more comfortable -- you do need to sit rather upright. They're pretty, though.

The barristas were very friendly and the macchiato I had was excellent. I would still give the nod to Vivace, where I usually go for my fix. I think their macchiato is a bit smoother and richer tasting at Vivace, and I suppose I do prefer comfort over high-style. But Stumptown is great and I'd definitely recommend it.