For coffee lovers, taking a seat at Fonté’s café is a lot like foreplay… when you’re there, you simply can’t help the feeling that you should be getting more of this in your life.
Fonté is an exceptional café and certainly one of the city’s finest coffee shops I have ever visited.
But wait!
I bet you never heard of them, right?
Well, that’s because they aren’t actually that well known here in the Emerald City. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t been busy or have gone unnoticed. In fact, they have been growing steadily since their inception in 1992 and developed a strong name for themselves as a primo-high-end coffee supplier of five-star hotels: Four Seasons, Wynn Las Vegas, St. Regis, and the like. That’s right, this wonderfully roasted coffee is enjoyed by even the most discriminating patrons.
The micro-roaster had a couple of cafés in other states, but they closed them down to focus on this jewel of a café here in Seattle. Wonderful for us, right?
Fonté is an elegantly designed sit-down café, meaning that unless you’re ordering a coffee for the road, just come in, find a seat and let the staff come to you.
For sure, once you are seated it’s hard to find any motivation to leave any time soon. And why should you? Fonté has everything you would possibly want – excellent coffee, fine wines, and a surprisingly deep menu.
If you’re in the mood for wine, they offer wine tasting every first and third Wednesday of the month ($8).
This café, while elegant and beautiful, is not pretentious. In fact, the staff welcomes anyone from international tourists to familiar locals who stroll in with bed head. Yes, despite their location, they manage to pull off that welcoming “local coffee shop” vibe that you would find in any neighborhood. In addition, they aren’t ridiculously priced.
Besides great coffee, Fonté serves delicious breakfasts and lunches and has a good selection of light snacks and fresh bakery items. If you invite somebody to Fonté surprise them with a Desert rose latte that comes with rose water, cinnamon syrup, and dried rose petals. I love their Nitro float with Portofino blend and gelato. Yummy!
Their service? Superb. The super-friendly baristas and waiters appear free of adolescent angst, beanies, and longboards (damn, that was snobby of me) and simply focused on making your total experience pleasant and memorable.
Fonté takes the Seattle Coffee Scene in an entirely fresh direction of sophistication and modernity. Getting a solid five out of five stars in my book, this place needs to be on your Seattle Coffee “To Do” list.
Can’t Make it Downtown? Joe Bar serves Fonté Beans for their espresso shots.
Hosting Alert: Do you have friends and family visiting who want to try out Seattle’s famous coffee? There is no doubt that you should take them to Fonté.
Location: 1321 First Ave
Neighborhood: Pike’s Place
Parking: Paid
Espresso: $2.15
Map below shows exact location of Fonté:
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