NDA Bookstore Seattles Best Coffee

This location has CLOSED in July 2009.

In a nutshell: 2.5 stars. Cute but way overpriced without the wow factor to back it up.
Will I return? Probably not.
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This place is adorable! They have several tables and chairs set up, just welcoming you to sit, relax, and enjoy any number of good reads from their wall of books. This is the kind of place I would love to spend my lazy days (if I had any) — it reminds me of an adult version of «The Shop Around the Corner» from You’ve Got Mail but with coffee and a small selection of pastries and sandwiches.
BUT it’s way overpriced. I ordered a medium latte and a croissant. At Starbucks (I know it’s an evil chain, but they get it right every time) this would usually run me about $ 5, maybe a little over. At Seattle Coffee and Books it cost over $ 7! All their sandwiches run about $ 8 (according to the menu), and a cup of soup goes for $ 4. And get this, they serve hot dogs. That’s right — step up and order your very own Hebrew National for just under four bucks. How random!
Last thing — I don’t know who picked the photo for this place, but all I have to say is CREEPY!

No wonder no one is ever really in this joint. I walked in last week since a girlfriend and I received a coupon to buy one coffee get the other free. So I walk in and sure, it’s a nice cozy atmosphere but looking at the selection of pastries and other foodies, nothing looked appetizing at all. No shtanks. So I order a non fat iced latte for my friend and a nonfat white chocolate mocha for myself. And I specifically told the girl not the iced coffee but an iced latte. She’s like OK sure.
Cut to —
She’s making my coffee and I’m hanging out, checking out the shop and when she finishes, I look over the counter to see which milk she brought out to make my latte and low and behold it’s whole milk. See, I’m lactose intolerant, I never do whole milk. So she brings me my coffee and proceeds to get my friend’s iced drink. Of course she wasn’t listening to me the first time cause she fills the plastic cup with iced coffee and not an iced latte.
I ask her, «Is this nonfat (about my mocha)?»
She says, «No, it’s whole.»
I said, «I think I asked for non fat.»
She says, «you need to specify before I make it (with attitude mind you).» Then she suddenly remembers that I’m a customer or something cause she says, «ok, I’ll remake it (with a pout).»
I didn’t even bother correcting her on the iced latte since she’ll probably throw something at me if I did.
Needless to say, this joint has a barista with a stank attitude that can’t make coffee if it were her job (wait, isn’t it her job) and barely decent coffee. Seattle’s Best should care more about who franchises their biz.

Lovely little place! Great décor, with lots of seats and table space. I come here to study because the food’s decent and it has coffee. I’m not gonna review the coffee until I actually know what I’m talking about. BUT, comparing the latte here to say, Jones Coffee Roaster, I do notice that Jones’s is smoother. Unfair comparison, i know, but they are both on Raymond and pretty darn close to each other.
One more thing you’ll have to consider is parking. Old town sucks, we know that. But if you’re planning to stay for hours, the parking garage on Union, or Green might be worth considering since they have a daily maximum of $ 6, which is about 3 – 4.5 hrs (depending on which parking structure).
Wi-​fi works fine with my prevous gen mbp except for the few minutes when I first logged onto it.
I don’t know what the other reviewer was talking about when she said bad service. I’ve had nothing but pretty good service so, take these reviews with a grain of salt.
Of course if anything changes, I’ll update this review.

While the store front may seem small, this coffee-​shop is spacious. It’s perfect if you need table space to sprawl out your papers from work/​school and wi-​fi access. Yet, intimate enough for chats on the plush oversized chairs. It reminds me a blend of mini-​Central Perk (they do host acoustic music… no «Smelly Cat» song, yet. haha) and a shabby-​chic, well-​lit family room.
They offer typical café drinks, pastries and sandwiches. I agree with another reviewer, if they up their ante on their beverages/​food, I’d give them 5 on it.

Ok… I know that I might get shit for this but I DON’T CARE… you all need to know what’s on the other side of that ridiculous door.
1^st of all… nobody has their shit together in that place. Workers are always text messaging and irritated that you’re ordering special drinks. *Ummm… you’re a COFFEE SHOP, right???*
When they first opened they had 3 menus up but you could only order from one panel *suggestion: just put up the menu of the things you CAN order otherwise it’s ‘neener neener neener… you caaan’t haaave this’
2^nd of all their internet has a firewall that most people can’t break through — so good luck with that. And if you ask, you won’t get any help.
The spot is GORGEOUS I mean you walk in and you want to spend your entire afternoon there. They have high ceilings with a window to let in natural light. The furniture is comfortable and cozy (there’s wicker chairs there… so i’d probably take those out and fill ‘em up with the other futurniture) The hardwood floors are beautiful… I mean — it all LOOKS like it would be GRRREAT… and then you taste the coffee and you want to vomit.
I don’t think the owners have made coffee ever in their life. They need to get organized! They’ve tried recruiting me to work there 3 – 4 times — NO THANK YOU!
Anyway — Tede’s Café, Il Fornaio, Leonidas… AAALLL much better coffee with much better service. GO THERE.

Here’s an interesting little coffee shop – who would’ve thought that there would be a bookstore inside a Seattle’s Best Coffee, of all places?
The coffeeshop part isn’t anything special, but it’s the whole setup that makes it special – a coffeeshop with a small bookstore selling new AND used books, as well as offering the now obligatory free Internet, and the homey vibe.
If only they’d kick the coffeeshop up a notch, they’d easily be a five.

Cool place. free wifi.