Amocat Cafe

I was in the Triangle District on St Helens Avenue in Tacoma last week. I love this little neighborhood just north of downtown Tacoma. I had a meeting in the morning with a couple of coworkers and they chose the Amocat Café. It’s my first time here and it was love at first site. It’s so totally authentically Tacoma with a great laid back vibe.
The Amocat Café serves well crafted espresso drinks, beer and wine, and tea from the Mad Hat Tea Company. They also have live music occasionally on Friday nights.
I’m looking forward to checking out their handcrafted small batch beers brewed in house by the Tacoma Brewing Company. And, I signed right up and became a card carrying member of The Society for a Backwards Tacoma!
I’m giving it 4 stars only because I didn’t get to try all that much, yet everyone with us is a raving fan! I’ll be back!

The coffee does not get any better than this. My recommendation: order the Urbanist Cappuccino (dry cap) so that the barista can show off his coffee mojo. Also, Morgan the owner brews his own beer, don’t be shy in trying one.

Amocat = tacomA
Located on St. Helens Ave. between downtown and the Stadium District, Amocat is a cheerful little café and a great place to pick up an espresso, hang out for awhile, or even go shopping for some Tacoma-​centric local gifts.
Though mainly a coffee shop, Amocat also carries a variety of local teas (from Mad Hat), a surprisingly good selection of bottled/​canned microbrews, some tasty baked goods, and pre-​made panini sandwiches. Any of this good stuff is served up quickly and graciously by the staff (usually the owner). The interior is bright, comfortable, and decorated with lots of local artwork and historical photographs. T-​shirts, stickers, art prints, playing cards, and other Tacoma goods are available available for purchase near the cashier.
As of this month (November 2012), the café is also home to Tacoma Brewing Company. A brand-​new nanobrewery, they aren’t putting out a lot of volume yet and the taps are currently only flowing a couple of nights each week– check out their Facebook page to find out what’s on tap and when you can get it. When I was in there recently, I got a growler filled with Imperial Coffee Stout ($ 15), which was just all-​out awesome! I also tried a small glass of the Ginger Beer (very *interesting*, might make for a good thirst quencher on a hot day but didn’t really do it for me on a November evening) and tastes of the Pomegranate Porter (fruity, but in a good way!) and Roasted Rye IPA from Reuben’s Brews in Seattle (holy smokes, good stuff!). Really looking forward to seeing what else these guys come up with.
All in all, Amocat is pretty swell just as it is now. They’ve been expanding and experimenting ever since they opened a couple of years ago, though, so I’m sure it’ll only continue to improve. Some more food offerings and expanded tap hours would be nice.

where should I start? The service… the worst ever! The owner primary runs the place, whenever he decides to come in. His hours are not coffee shop hours. More like brunch hrs w/​no brunch. He doesn’t know how to make a decent drink. The pastries are like day old bought from a bakery up the street. And there’s hardly any seats in the house… as well as no customers. Not open on Sundays and Mondays. Who does that? Coffee shop? Terrible. Do not buy into the groupon like I did!!! There’s nothing worth buying so save your $.

I looooo~ooooove Amocat!
They have a nice selection of beverages and delectables as well as a lot of Tacoma Love items. The owner is really nice. He has very good suggestions if you don’t know what to buy. He always remembers the faces of recurring customers and never seems to be in a funky mood (unlike many starbucks occasions).
I really like the fact that it’s local and that he tries to keep/​source products as local as possible. For example, he features Mad Hat Tea from Tacoma. He turned me onto the Orange Popsicle and Red Flower Earl Grey. I drink my tea English: cream and sugar with a heavy hand. Just ask for half/​half or cream and he will gladly give it to you.
TIP: Remember to turn your wheels the right way when you park!

One of the only true coffee «houses» in Tacoma along with Bluebeard, Metronome, and Mandolin. Amocat offers ample seating and a comfortable laid-​back vibe. The only drawback is the early hours — unfortunately our downtown doesn’t yet have an environment to support a late night coffee house (apparently).
The whole space is a love letter to Tacoma. From the local food items to the 253 and Tacoma tee’s they carry, T-​Town love shines through. They display local artists, and have a nice community bulletin board as you enter the shop.
The owner, who is there almost all the time, is a very thorough and thoughtful shop keeper. His selection of items is well-​rounded and all local — sandwiches from Joeseppi’s, a small but adequate pastry selection, tea from Mad Hatter, a smattering of artisan sodas and well crafted espresso drinks. I wouldn’t put the espresso ahead of other good shops in town, but it’s solid.
Rumour has it that they may expand into beer or alcohol, and I wish them success if they choose to go that route.
Definitely worth a stop if you’re in the area and need a place to sit and relax or get on your laptop for awhile.

A great little café in the St. Helens area of Tacoma. Really excellent espresso, warm, tasteful and fun décor (mostly bric-​à-​brac of Tacoma’s history), with random books and textbooks lying around on window sills. Ample space, with two separate «gallery» rooms off the main entry/​counter area. Great Tacoma t-​shirts for sale (I bought a glow-​in-​the-​dark one that shows a skunk and the caption Tacoma: Love it or Leave It). The owner is very friendly. My only wish — and it’s not even really a complaint — is for a sofa or easy chair for reading/​lounging. And maybe a few more food/​snack options. But otherwise, I love it.

Very Local, Very Interesting and Unusual
This is an off-​beat Coffee Shop, just a bit off the beaten path. Because of that, parking is plentiful and easy … and the experience is good.
The Coffee itself is good and there is always an assortment of various food items as well, though you’re not exactly sure what’s to be had, from one visit to the next (this is not a bad thing).
There are three areas to find seating — the main area, where the front counter, register and coffee aparatus are … a large area to the left of that, in a separate room … and a smaller area to the right of that, all very charming, yet none of them alike.
They also do live music, wine tasting and things you won’t find at many of the other coffee shops around here. If you’re looking for good coffee, but want an experience a little out of the «coffee ordinary», this is worth the effort of finding — and worth the money when you get there.

best little coffee shop in tacoma. love this place the art and color and décor the owner morgan way
teas and good coffees and sandwichs. always pickup a button when i visit.
only knock and isnt the ownerS fault parking downtown is bad,
but when you have the bigboysARE allover like starbucks etc this place standsout great service friendLY smile kudos

This little coffee shop is SO pretty! The colors are so nice and it has a feeling that’s cozy & airy at the same time. No problem parking somewhere nearby & it’s walking distance to Rain City Café.
I’m not crazy about the food choices but I might have been there on an off day (or maybe too early?). Coffee is great, wifi is fast and you really just love being there, feels great.
It’s VERY local and very «Tacoma», I hope they succeed and stay in business for a long long long time. I haven’t been able to participate in their night time goings-​on, like wine tasting for example, I’ll update my review when I do.

Comfy, well-​lit space. Friendly owner. Tasty and reasonably priced coffee and also nice beer/​wine/​cider (Finn River!!) selection. Quirky, intriguing reading material scattered around. Indy Tacoma-​pride merch for sale.
Drink here, Tacoma! Eschew McCoffeebucks!

if you love coffee this is where its at!
you know when you go to a place and you get the coffee let down? like you should have ordered some sort of drink with a bunch of syrup so you could just make it through? this is the exact opposite.
what would we downtown tacomans do without amocat? i cant even imagine life without it :)
I LOVE AMOCAT!!!

Amocat is Tacoma through and through. There are several spaces where you can sit at a large or small table and get some work done while drinking a fine cup of locally roasted coffee.
They sell a lot of fun Tacoma themed stuff and a wide variety of none-​coffee beverages like fancy sodas, root beers, and real beers. This is the perfect laid back neighborhood coffee shop.

I love this coffee shop. The staff is friendly. Their coffee is from a small batch roaster and full of lovely flavor. They also carry tea from the Mad Hat Tea Company. In addition, there are wonderful trinkets, mostly Tacoma themed sold in the shop.
The room to the right of the cash register is bright and sunny, when the sun is out.
The paninis are delicious and crispy. They also have the most delicious cowboy cookies.
Worth your time. Don’t forget the beer and wine selection — local brews and wines.

Great coffee, great staff! Cute, easy, comfortable enviroment. I send my clients here over Tullys :)

This place is great! Solid espresso. Good food. Great prices. And beer. It’s like Portland funky town in Tacoma. 5 stars

I like small businesses and Tacoma is in dire need of more good small business owners. I stopped in Thursday to grab a tall drip. Amocat didn’t have any ready at the time so the owner offered up an Americano. No big deal so I figured I’d try it. But I didn’t really taste anything, it just felt like warm textured water. I know there was some bean in it cause it satisfied my caffeine need but I hate to say that I prefer the rotating daily drip selection at Tully’s. I’ll definitely go back because it’s a nice little café. I just worry that between Amocat, Vanilla Bean and that other place across from the Municipal Building, one of these places will not survive in the shadow of Tully’s.

FINALLY a café in downtown Tacoma that is peaceful, in walking distance, has big windows, is well lit, locally owned AND serves beer and wine! My only objection is that it needs longer hours.
Amocat is located right by In The Mix and PSP and is very supportive of local businesses. The staff is friendly and has great, free-​thinking clientele. Amocat also features local artwork, many tables to sit and a decent number of outlets for laptops.
I have long waited for a place where I can have a beer, read a book and gaze out the window like I used to in Brooklyn. Amocat is an essential addition to the growing scene in Tacoma and I hope people support it so that it can become a staple