Seattle’s Best Coffee

Lovely staff, clean and quiet, convenient pit stop during my morning run, but the coffee could be an awful lot stronger. It’s a great option for working from home, studying, etc. Comfy and cozy and lots of edible options (that I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole due to a major case of Carbophobia) as well as nutrition bars (which I will happily devour mid-​run or mid-​work).
Also located inside Borders and since I really like books and I really like coffee, this is a very good thing.

My rating is based on the absolute horror of a bathroom situation they have going on at this place. I’ve never actually ordered a beverage here so I can’t vouch for how good they are. And you’ll see why shortly.
Employees that work in food establishments are under legal mandate to wash their hands after leaving the restroom. But I’ve used this bathroom multiple times (just couldn’t wait) while browsing books at the adjacent Borders store and not ONCE has there been soap in there (good thing I’ve got hand sanitizer). There’s not even paper towels in the dispensers! This may sound a bit germaphobey but if I’m potentially going to order food some place, I want to know that the person who’s serving it to me has at least washed their hands within the last hour or so.
And that’s not even going into how slimy the bathroom is in general.
Let’s just hope there’s an employee-​only restroom that’s chock full of soap…

7:30pm on a Wednesday in January can be C-​O-​L-​D in San Francisco. In a bit of a time-​crunch to catch a show, dessert at Brickhouse was out of the question. Enter: Seattle’s Best Coffee. The fact that it’s *inside* a Border’s bookstore just makes it all the more convenient and irresistible!
Must try: hot chocolate with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, white chocolate shavings, and a chocolate stick for dipping. YUMMYYY! It’s got all the traits of a dessert, but no need for a spoon. In fact, just put a lid on it and take it with you for a walk!
Great way to warm up and satisfy your sweet tooth for under $ 4.

Meh coffee…1 star, +½ star for not charging extra for soymilk, +½ star for the cool dude who was extremely nice.

This was once my favorite coffee, back in the day when Seattle’s Best was duking it out with Starbucks for coffee supremacy. Over the years, they’ve been left behind by Starbucks and cannot complete with local, high quality, boutique coffee roasters with emphasis on fresh & small batch roasted coffee.
The coffee is still decent here, just not spectacular and a little weak. If there’s not a Barefoot, Blue Bottle, Philz, Peet’s or Starbucks in the vicinity (in that order), this would be my choice…

To be fair, I am not a coffee addict or lover. Lattes are fine once in awhile, but this was by far the worst iced vanilla latte I’ve had. I’m pretty sure McDonald’s new «McCafe» iced latte is better, and that’s saying a lot. This one was way too sweet. Granted, it’s a latte so you won’t taste as much espresso as a regular iced coffee, but jesus, I feel like they entirely skipped it. It tasted like artificial sweeteners swirling in a million pumps of vanilla syrup and some milk. It was oddly very light-​colored as well. I went back to work, spilled some out and doused it with strong regular coffee. It helped the sweetness go away a little, but I couldn’t drink the rest of it. I hate when I practically just burn cash like that.
Okay end of my rant. The café has a good amount of tables and couch chairs to lounge and relax, but I won’t be stopping by there for any drinks.

Never had a bad cup of coffee here. My favorite was the Irish Cream Latte, but I may have a new fav now. Blackberry Cream Latte. Sounds weird, but I like the fruity sweetness of this one. Their coffee in general is very good. I don’t get that weird ‘sour’ taste in my mouth afterward drinking it (like I do with Starbucks). I’m not into strong coffee, so this place suits my taste.
Nice to be able to relax in the cushy chairs and read, or just people watch through the tall windows.

I have breakfast here at least once a week.
I recommend the Ovensong Egg mixed with Spinach, Sausage, and cheese on an english muffin (also available without sausage) warmed in the oven.
The staff is super friendly and since I always order the same thing most of them now just ask with sausage or without.
One of the times I went in with my girlfriend they were out of sausage, and the manager only charged me for one of my breakfast sandwiches.
Thanks friendly manager guy!
Also, the ice cream blended coffee’s (shakes) are ridiculously tasty!

This Seattle’s Best is sort of inside Borders, and sort of not.
You see, they have their own door on Third Street. Borders opens at 9am, and Seattle’s Best opens at 8am.
If you’re planning to be at work at 9am, this can be a BIG deal.
Excerpt from my Borders review last week:
«The Seattle’s Best Coffee shop on the Townsend side of the store was spacious, clean, and quiet. I ordered a single latte for something like $ 3.80, and settled down to reading a PDF on my laptop until my next appointment.»

Not my favorite cup of coffee. Even a weenie coffee drinker like me would’ve preferred something a little stronger that actually tasted like REAL coffee. This was a starter’s cup of coffee. They have a few sugar-​free flavors: vanilla, hazelnut, cola, but not mocha. I preferred the other coffee brand that used to live at this site before it became Seattle’s Best. I should’ve taken my $ 3 over to Starbucks in the mall. Didn’t try any of the baked goodies so can’t comment on them.

I picked up a bagel this morning on the way to work. As I settled in for a day at work, I bit into something that nearly broke my jaw. No, there wasn’t anything foreign in the bagel, but rather the bagel itself. This puppy must have been a week old. No joke, my jaw still hurts from one bite. I surveyed the rest of the item and it was rock hard all over. Nice work, Borders/Seattle’s Worst.

even i was surprised, but in a week-​long taste test between starbucks, brickhouse, and seattle’s best, the latte that came up the winner for me was actually seattle’s best!
starbucks’ latte was too weak
brickhouse latte was too watery
seattle’s best was just right!
i will mention, though, that i have watched them make their lattes, and i feel that sometimes they are a bit sloppy with the milk frothing (and pouring!), so if crema is your thing, i probably wouldn’t go here.

STARBUCKS IS FOR LOSERS. Well, when it comes to a good cup of hot cocoa. By far, Seattle’s Best really do make a good cup of hot chocolate for a chain coffee shop. Chains like Peet’s and Nordstroms E-​Bar is not far behind, while Coffee Bean and Stabucks taste like Nesquik.
When they said they ran out of semi-​sweet chocolate, they offered bittersweet. Not a big fan of bittersweet, but why not? The barista top my hot cocoa with whipped cream and a chunk of bittersweet chocolate and I was instantly hooked. Along with an asiago cream cheese filled pretzel, mMmm my goodness, morning never tasted so good.

I stop by this Seattle’s Best occasionally on the way to or from Caltrain. It’s conveniently located and a lot more pleasant inside than most of your options in this area. I’ve had fine coffee every time, but find the pastry and muffin selection pretty miserable. I’ve also made the mistake of stopping in the restroom here — yikes — and wouldn’t exactly recommend that.

when i used to work close by, i’d stop by this place for my morning coffee before heading to work… the people working there were always friendly and it was never busy whenever i came in so i got my drinks right away.

If this is Seattle’s best, remind me to never visit the actual city.
I went to Border’s today to get my book on, and decided I was in the mood for my once a week foofoo coffee drink. I order a mocha and it was the most bitter, almost chalky disgusting piece off boobydukes I’d ever consumed.
NOT THE LOOK

Not sure which you’d possibly die from first… the excruciating heat inside (it’s always a sweat box anytime you walk in – wtf is THAT about?) or the LONG wait in line (because the baristas are too busy messing with their head set bitching about their 15-​min break to other Borders career girls) or busy doing anything but getting their head out their ass. Last three times I’ve walked in, I left a half hour later for a simple cup of coffee. Only time it’s worth bothering with this place is if you’re freezing on a sunny day. Otherwise, keep walking. Love SBC coffee, but this place ain’t worth it.

The end of June is considered summertime, right? Well not in San Francisco. Leaving the Giants game around 9pm and FREEZING, I knew I had to get something hot in me or die from hypothermia. You may think that I’m overreacting but for reals, I’m delicate and can’t stand the cold.
So I pop into Seattle’s Best (conveniently located a block from the ballpark) and was soon served one of the tastiest cups of hot chocolate ever. For less than $ 3. Take that AT&T Park!
Thank you Seattle’s Best for saving this girly man from a life of ridicule if I had lost a limb after attending a ballgame.