Take a drive along 65th Avenue in Ballard, and you will find a local favorite Seattle coffee spot: Cafe Bambino.
The façade drips of character and charm that is uniquely Seattle, but what it serves is traditionally Italian. Café Bambino proudly serves Italian coffee, roasted and shipped every month to Ballard’s oldest* coffee shop.
Owned by Anhdi and Gretchen Kudla, the pair has dedicated themselves to create a special community gem.
They serve Berardo coffee, a coffee roasted over a wood fire outside of Rome, known for its toastiness and dark chocolate taste.
Café Bambino aims to consistently serve a great cup of coffee that the way it was meant to be traditionally served. “They are roasting with the assumption we are going to do it in Italian style,” remarked Gretchen.
There’s no third-wave coffee antics here… “We don’t do pour-overs, just espresso, no WiFi,” added Gretchen. There is no shortage of community love in the 160 square foot space, which also has a covered patio.
What they do serve at Café Bambino is community flavor. “It’s about community. And that’s the responsibility of a coffee shop… it’s not about making money… it’s to provide an anchor in the community and we have done it,” said Gretchen.
Café Bambino is a community mainstay where local high schoolers meet before heading to school, community cleanup meetings gather, and neighbors come to talk about local news.
“If we (our coffee) weren’t good we wouldn’t be here…but it’s really about community, I have to do both things as well. There’s a sense that its “their” coffee shop, I just happen to own it,” Gretchen added.
And that’s true: the community is built around friendly and welcoming baristas who provide great customer service. They also serve delicious pastries, baked goods and cakes. I tries their lemon cake and it was superb. Café Bambino is small but very cosy with a few seats inside and outside as well. I like the Italian feel here. Grazie!
Cafe Bambino
Address: 405 NW 65th St, Seattle, WA 98117
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*Allegedly the cafe was founded in 1928. *Wink.
