Bauhaus Books & Coffee

Just a fantastic cafe – tons of character and nice people!

summer memories of sitting in chairs outside with friends sipping coffee, kool-aid, or tea. I wrote some nice pieces there and like others said, it’s great for people watching.

After a 5-year stint in Columbia City, and another 2 years in Squire Park, I’m back on Capitol Hill with Bauhaus conveniently located midpoint along my walk to work downtown. I truly love this place! The Online Coffee Company is much closer to my house, and I like that place well enough, but it just doesn’t have the same cozy atmosphere and people watching potential as does Bauhaus. Plus, in the week or so that I’ve been back on the Hill, I’ve run into quite a few people at Bauhaus that I haven’t seen in years. I’ll be spending quite a bit of time here, I know…

The place was packed. People were actually visiting with each other! I brought my laptop and the upstairs was filled with others working away. For the first time in a long time, people were actually very friendly.

I go back and camp out with my work at least 2-3 times a week now!

when I moved to Seattle about 12 years ago. I read the entire Dune series sitting upstairs over countless cups of coffee. Also some of the best people watching on Capitol Hill if you’re lucky enough to find a seat outside!

Try to get a highscore by counting the people outside boosting wifi. I got 14, a personal best

The last time I went to Bauhaus was last night (and I’ll probably go again tonight, so there may be another “last time” story) – I was there for three or four hours, had many cups of cheap and delicious coffee (generally those things are mutually exclusive, but not at Bauhaus), and saw some of the more interesting things I’ve seen in Seattle. First was the duckload of pirates. A duck, as in, the amphibious tour-bus fleet that goes around Seattle, except it had no top, and in its’ place, a parade-float-like stage, full of pirates singing sea chanties and generally having a good time of it. Shortly after this was the Hale’s Ales bus, a British-style double-decker with a full bar in the lower level – people seemed to be enjoying themselves on this as well. Combine the sights with the people (who are frequently also sights), and Bauhaus is the place to go.

So I finally visited, and the place seems cool enough, but so many people have told me so many great things about the place that I felt kind of let down. I mean, it’s just another coffee shop. Sure, the books and spacious environment are cool, and the baristas seemed a bit more than competent, but I don’t know if I’d go out of my way to visit it. Seems like it’d be a cool place to frequent if you lived really nearby, though.

Home of my coffee pushers.

...oops, I failed. (Great place, this, though my eternal abiding memory of it all might have to be the guy who was the vaudeville comedy bum outside—which is a bit mean of me but he was pretty remarkable.)