Café Allegro

Café Allegro opened in 1975 in Seattle's University District and is often described as the city's first espresso bar and its oldest coffeehouse. It is tucked into an alley behind University Way NE, with the entrance in the alley rather than on the main street, and its several rooms and multiple doors give it the feel of a long-established student hangout. The founder, Dave Olsen, chose the location because it faced the busiest entrance to the University of Washington campus.

The café has a remarkable link to the story of Seattle coffee. Olsen bought beans from Starbucks and helped develop an espresso roast with the company, which is still its standard espresso. In 1987 he became Starbucks' head buyer and roaster, and Howard Schultz, who led Starbucks through its international growth, called Café Allegro a prototype for what Starbucks later became. In 1990 Nathaniel Jackson and Chris Peterson bought the café, and in 2014 they turned the second floor into a roastery.

Today the coffee is roasted in small batches on site, using beans from family farms around the world. Espresso is at the centre of the menu, and beans are sold to take home. The building itself has history: it dates from 1909 and has been used for retail, a bank and even a funeral home.

The café is open on weekdays from 7am to 6pm and at weekends from 8am to 6pm. With the university next door it draws plenty of students, and it suits solo travellers and anyone interested in the history of Seattle's coffee culture.

Allow 30 minutes to an hour. Look carefully for the alley entrance off University Way NE, as it is easy to walk past. The café also sells coffee subscriptions and gift cards through its website. Café Allegro also supplies coffee wholesale to cafés, restaurants, bars and offices, so you may come across its beans elsewhere in the city. If you enjoy a cup here, the café sells individual bags, subscriptions and gift subscriptions, which make an easy souvenir with a real link to Seattle's coffee history.

The University District is north of downtown and easy to reach by light rail. The University of Washington campus is next door, so a coffee here fits well with an afternoon walking around the grounds.