08/12/09

With an extra shot of attitude

by kaffe

By now, Victrola has become a Seattle coffee house institution. Yeah, but who wants to have coffee in an institution? Started a few years ago by some former Microsofties who thought it would be fun to run a café, Victrola attracts the cream of the depressive, zombie-like Seattle crop, who crouch above their laptops (on weekdays) or pretend not to be smoking too close to the door (on weekends) and never talk to anyone. Meanwhile, the "we're too cool to wait on you" baristas ignore you for several minutes as you stand on the other side of the counter, if you're not one of their friends or coworkers; don't thank you for your tip; and make you wait forever for their sour-tasting coffee. But, hey, it's Victrola, and it's the best coffee shop in Seattle, right? Even Starbucks wanted to steal their thunder, and that really says something.

• Pros: Barely acceptable coffee
• Cons: The quintessential Seattle coffee shop

03/22/08

good coffee, slow & unfriendly service

by shannongwolfe

victrola has very good coffee. the people who work there are unfriendly and way too-cool-for-school.

• Pros: coffee
• Cons: service

07/18/07

YUM!

by meowmeowmeowmeow

Victrola is awesome - my favorite place to get tea (Burrough's Brew is the best!) and Mexican tea cookies. Their new location on Pike is nice, but very unwelcoming - they need to buy a couch; it's cold. But I frequently go to the one on 15th and love it.

02/18/07

nothing special

by kimberlic

The coffee drinks are fine. The staff are your very average hipsters but nice if they bother to speak to you. They turn off their wifi on the weekend which is retarded. It's supposedly to promote conversation and community, but seriously - when people want THAT they go places that don't offer wifi in the first place. It's not like there's not a million other espresso joints that do or do not offer wifi. They should just turn off their wifi altogether.

• Pros: decent coffee
• Cons: nothing special

01/13/07

Best coffee around, great atmosphere, if you like coffee this is the place

by tourgee

Victrola roasts and serves coffees they buy from around the world. You can get the absolute best espresso in town here. Baristas are superb, atmosphere is excellent. Coffees include "cup of excellence" winners -- that is, the beans chosen as the finest in annual competitions throughout Latin America. Victrola also imports from a few small farms in Africa and Latin America where they have established relationships with the growers. Most of it is fair trade, organic, etc. (but they're not doctrinaire about this) There's a revolving art show on the walls, an interesting variety of stuff, and a wonderful collection of people, young and old for watching. They're opening a second store on Pike Street. If you're not in Seattle, order some of their coffee by mail -- if you want the best coffee, you won't regret it. If you're in Seattle, and you want to taste the best of the best coffee, don't miss Victrola!

• Pros: Best coffee, great atmosphere

10/29/06

Excellent coffee!

by tangotraveller

I'm pretty fusy about my coffee having been a barista myself, and Victrola consistently makes good drinks. When you want to show people what really good Seattle coffee tastes like, take them here. That said, when I was in a few days ago, it was difficult to find a table to chat with a friend because of all the laptop drones taking up space. The problem is that each laptopper was sitting at a table meant to hold four people, therefore, ten people with laptops were tying up enough space for forty regular customers. Victrola management has wisely turned off the WiFi on the weekends, but perhaps they should put a big picnic table in the back and designate it as the laptop drone area thereby leaving tables for the rest of us. Actually an easy way to limit time that people use their laptops would be to cover up or eliminate all of the 110V AC plugs, then, people would be limited to the duration of their batteries...just a thought.

• Pros: Great drinks, friendly, good location
• Cons: Laptop people tying up the whole room, tends to be slooooow....

Local art shows, an upright piano, in-house roasting and front-row seats on 15th Avenue create a truly original Seattle cafe.

by Contributor

In Short
Choose from an arrangement of upscale pastries, sit back in a slightly tippy chair and wait a few minutes for some of the very best coffee in this coffee-filled city. This Capitol Hill cafe encourages community through a range of art- and politically minded events, while the free Wi-Fi provides the ubiquitous keyboard-tapping background for today's cafe culture.

03/22/03

A Gem

by vint20

The best espresso and most comfortable and welcoming place in all of Seattle.

• Pros: perfect drinks, kid friendly, comfortable

10/31/02

why go anywhere else?

by sweett

Victrola has the best damn coffee in the city! Not to mention a great staff, wonderful pastries & the most comfortable space in the city. Why go anywhere else?

• Pros: great coffee, comfortable space

08/31/02

A REFUGE IN THE CITY!!

by mojitomermaid

Delicious coffee is the reason to stop in - the kind & artistic staff is the reason to keep coming in. Gentle and warm - why go someplace loud and abrasive when you can be welcomed at Victrola.

• Pros: good coffee, great art showings, kind staff