Lakamila Cafe

Okay, so mileage may vary, I acknowledge… but as someone who’s never had any side effect to coffee except what I call «Starbucks stomach» (from drinking a lot of poor quality, acid-​wrenching beans a la Starbucks, Seattle’s Best, McDonald’s made in massive batches), let me tell you that if you DO have any possibility of said effects, as delicious as the white mocha (made with Ghiradelli chocolate while regular is made with yucky Hershey’s like too many places) tasted, TWICE now, about 6 weeks apart with plenty of drinks served to me between, it has, about half a day after consumption, sent all my solid food racing through my gut along with the coffee in a liquid form through my colon (neither time was anything else remotely possible as the culprit – I keep good tabs on my diet)…
The reason I really need to point this out is that as my punch card shows, I’d been there 7 times with no incident prior to «whenever Hangar Orthotics moved out of that building» since that was my last okay visit to them… I asked last time, and the beans last time and this time were different roasters… so I THINK that last time I was told the old roaster (Bean or Green Bean, local and only distribute to cafes as far as I know) and the G-​name is what they swapped to not long before my previous visit (Geraldi or something like that – the very tan curly haired fellow guy who made my delicious but deadly weapon had a bit of an accent… actually, so did the pale, blondish-​red haired, blue eyed lady that sounded vaguely eastern European last time)…I thought maybe it was just her since she wasn’t amazing as a barista or even maybe the half and half (it’s Darigold so it may worsen other symptoms to be sure)… In any case, wow. The biggest issue is how unpredictable this particular side effect is, and because of that… eh, I’ll have to stick to «anything else… got water and a tea bag? that’ll do» for a year or two when they maybe change again. If a staff member there would take note of this review, done a day and a half after the coffee was ordered, and consider going to something a bit stable like Zoka (for drip, their Tuscan would have me ordering every single time FYI as it isn’t sold by the cup AT Zoka) or Lighthouse or Fonte or even Vivace I’d be alright with that.
That said, if you’re looking for a bit of a colon cleanse, an espresso based drink from here may be your ticket. The service is so so nice, but being in a medical building (I used to even walk there from other spots when in that area because it was small and had sweet people and I never got granules of coffee in my drink like The Peak Café)… I just can’t quite say it’s a great idea to go there. I guess maybe that’s why I still see people walking in from Starbucks and such.

Really?!? Even after 10 minutes, my coffee was boiling hot, my doctor appointment started and could still not drink the darn coffee. Barista 101, serve the beverage at the right temperature.

Jorge and Georgina are great baristas, they are so friendly and I enjoy seeing them everyday.
Before I come into work, I always prefer to come to Lakamila over Sbux.

I cannot believe no one knows about this place yet! So it is across Broadway from Swedish, across James from Yosuko’s Teriyaki nestled into the lobby of the 600 Broadway Medical Building. Sick of getting crappy coffee at Swedish, Harborview or Seattle U? Saunter on over. I mean I may be a bit biased as I have gone here since 2001 and the name has changed at least twice since then, BUT the D’arte coffee is delicious and prices do not go up like elsewhere. The baristas Jorge and his sister are friendly, just don’t cop an attitude or ask for anything before 7.00am even if you do see them setting up. They respect that you do really want your late hot enough to burn you because you are a slow drinker. They have goodies and whatnot and if you have time take a seat in the lobby (there is no where else to sit) and watch the crazy array of clients in the building (kidney dialysis, prosthetic clinic, facial plastic surgery)
Yes they take cards, yes they do cash back within reason, street parking or pay at the garage that’s under the building, Oh and nothing blended here for health code reasons.