Gretchen’s Place

Uffff. Where to begin? We ordered some wraps and a few drinks. The chicken Caesar wrap was lacking in Caesar and we asked for a bit to moisten up the sandwich. After ten minutes or so of waiting, we gave up. On the other hand, the ham and cheese wrap was literally oozing mustard and some other sauce with every bite, to the point that you couldn’t even taste the meat or cheese. Or wrap. Or tomato. In all, we had to wait in line three times, once to order and twice to ask for Caesar dressing and never got an edible sandwich. Baked good looked dry and I didn’t see many empty plates in front of people who ordered them. Stick to a coffee here. One star for serving Café Vita.

This neighborhood café has been here at least ten years, run by the same woman. It is very family friendly. Although they don’t have boosters, they are very nice to kids and not judgy mcjudgerson when you have kids with you. I have seen regulars visit here for long periods of time as well as the breakfast and lunch rush folks. I have happily sat with a 10 month old and been surprised that my drink was brought to me.
Love me an iced breve mocha!

The one star is for the Tuna sandwich which is actually pretty good. The missing stars are for the customer service. My husband & I stopped for lunch. My sandwich came out fairly quickly. I went outside to grab a table in the sun since it was freezing inside. I sat patiently, looking at my sandwich, waiting for my husband to follow with his. Maybe fifteen minutes he steps outside to let a couple ladies know that their coffees were waiting for them on the bar since the staff couldn’t be bothered to do so. At that point he checks with the girl at the counter to see if his BLT would be ready soon. Her response – «I have no idea». Come on, the «kitchen» is right there and it is not busy. Turns out, the order never got put in. Ok, mistakes happen. He sits down to wait a little more. I’m still outside, looking at my lunch. After another ten minutes or so, the gal making the sandwiches asks my husband if he was waiting for a sandwich!?! I guess it was it a mistake to assume that the order would be put in after he checked on it once? Pretty ridiculous. At that point, husbands asks for a refund and we split my tuna sandwich. When I step back inside to bus my table there is no apology for the mistake. Girl taking orders was downright snarly and rude. We won’t be back. Sad to see a cute little neighborhood spot go downhill.

I hate to write this. I love local eateries and want to support them.
Every single time … I order 2 things, say a coffee and a quiche (their quiche is awesome by the way) and I get one. Sometimes it’s the coffee, sometimes the quiche. But never both.
Every single time I have to go back to the counter and gently remind «Did you forget?». Today, typical order, a couple of things. Other people are getting their order taken to their table so I think maybe at least they will call when mine’s ready? After 3 people who ordered after me are served their meal I come back up … my food’s waiting on the counter.
I am pleasant, look decent, floss and shower and heck, I even tip and tip well each and every time. I understand that working in the industry is tough, been a chef. But every.single.time.
The food is great, atmosphere is pleasant, handy to many errands you may want to do. Dog friendly.
I’ll still go because the food is awesome. Just be patient with the customer service.

This place is OK if I don’t want to drive. Cute little coffee shop but I don’t think the customer service is very welcoming. We sort of have to figure it out ourselves. We usually get the quiche which they just microwave.
The coffee… I am not a huge coffee drinking so I am not sure how to judge it but it’s definitely not bad.

Small, quaint, off the beaten path — literally (across the street from the Burk-​Gilman Trail) and staffed by a bunch of nice people. There are a few sandwiches, quiche, and cookies available, But the coffee… now this is the reason to drive here from anywhere north of the Montlake Cut. They serve Caffe Vita coffee, which is undoubtedly the best bean in the Pacific Northwest. Let’s be honest, this is not a five-​star restaurant. Who cares. They serve the best coffee in west of I-​5 and North of the Cut. That’s why I go there just about everyday even though it is 15 minutes out of my way on the way to work. Try it. You will see. In fact, you may see me. One last thing: some of the baristas are better at pulling shots than others but they all pull at least decent shots. More than once the owner has tossed out a shot before giving it to me because it didn’t feel right. Golden.

At Gretchen’s my first — and LAST — time. Customer service is below acceptable. No friendly greeting when I first walked in, the girl at the register acted as if I was a bother to her, then she and the other person working were having an argument that kept going on for several minutes. They made no effort to keep their voices down or walk away from me or the other few people present.
Then the girl says «If *one* more customer comes in…» followed by a few not very nice words.
Too bad.

My mother has purchased several whole quiches at Gretchen’s. The last one was over cooked to the point of being burnt. I said something when I picked it up, but was assured it was the way it was supposed to be. I bought it for a luncheon my 88 year old mother was having for the minister of her church. I dropped it off at her house. Later, when I asked her how her luncheon went, she said the quiche was burnt and inedible. She had prepared to have the quiche and didn’t have anything else to replace it and couldn’t go out as she doesn’t drive. When I called Gretchen’s to tell them this the next day, Thursday, I was told the manager, CJ would get back to me on Saturday. I waited until the afternoon and called only to have CJ answer. «Oh yeah,» he said, (sounding as if he’d had no intention to call me back). Well, I got the forty questions game. «Was it burnt all the way through?» «Was the crust burnt?» etc. etc. etc. My question to CJ was, «If she’s purchased several quiches from Gretchen’s in the past two years, don’t you think she knows how a quiche is supposed to be?» CJ said I could go to Louisa’s where the quiche had been made and purchase directly from them. (A bit of a smart-​Alec response, I’d say. He said he’d have the owner get back to me. One week later, nothing. No call. No apology. Nothing. It’s too bad. It’s locally owned and in my mother’s neighborhood (where she’s resided for over 45 years). They won’t be getting her or my business anymore. I wonder if they understand, word of mouth is everything? Never again.

Great little coffee shop for weekend refuel before getting back on the Burke-​Gilman trail. Parking in this lot can be a nightmare so park out on Sand Point. Their lattes are soul-​warming and the employees are everything you’d expect from a neighborhood coffee shop. It’s even great if you go to the wine tasting next door and just need a little coffee to spruce yourself up afterwards! Pastries here have also been tasty, but it’s a small case upfront and they sell out of goodies early. Make this your first stop on your way out for best picks!

Lots of quiche! In many varieties! On the way to magnusen too! They carry Café vitta coffee and they have dog treats too!

I really wanted to like Gretchen’s Place, as I always like to support local places, and this is the only coffee shop within easy walking distance of where I live… but after trying a couple of times and being disappointed, I don’t think I’ll be back.
The seating area is small, narrow, and doesn’t feel like a place you can relax. The food selection is limited. The last time we were here, the cashier seemed really stoned and kept forgetting what I was trying to order.

This is probably my favorite café to get my coffee and just hang out a bit, getting done some of my all-​important thinking for the day ahead. They have all of your beverage favorites, including coffee, tea, sodas, etc, and they have great tasting breakfast sandwiches, quiches, salads, and soups, but no bagels (no biggie for me, but people ask for them so I wonder why they don’t have them). It’s always fun to come in and they know my usual order. I’ll sit with my coffee, reading the free copies of the Seattle and New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal while retirees, mothers with their kids, and sometimes students come in and out, happy they have their food and got it from friendly baristas. There is plenty of free parking out front, a nice outdoor patio for those sunny days, and free wifi if you plan to work there a while.
Hot tip: they charge a small fee for credit card purchases under $ 5, but you can avoid this by buying one of their gift cards and putting at least $ 25 on it.

This is my go-​to place in the Wedgewood/​Laurelhurst area for coffee in the mornings. Yes, it is small. But it is in the neighborhood, they know my name, and the coffee– wow. It is super good. Like the best. They certainly know how to choose a great coffee. I have also had the chocolate croissants (a lot of them) and they are delish, plus a quiche or two. It can get crazy busy in here, which I love, because supporting local is a good thing.
Parking can be odd I guess, but I haven’t had any problems. It just gets full like all parking lots in Seattle.

I give this place three stars, for three reasons. Firstly, the place albeit cozy, is just a little too small if you want to study. There is one large table, but the rest are small and not much room to spread your laptop, notebook etc. Second, the quality of coffee and other drinks are superb. Third, it is normally nice and quiet (except when they’re taking out the trash– but hey who can do that quietly?) Overall a nice place to get coffee, but if you want to stay and study maybe take it to go, unless you snag the big table!

I went to Gretchen’s Place for the first time today. The parking was weird so I ended up parking on the street a block away. I saw they now serve Almond milk with their Caffé Vita so I got a mocha with almond milk. It had the beautiful foam art (a heart) and tasted great… something $bucks could never pull off. I give the coffee 5 stars.
However, the atmosphere was so small and not inviting at all. The tables were dirty and there were so many people in there it felt totally cramped. There were three women who walked in who were looking for something for lunch suitable for vegetarians/​vegans. They were pointed to the yogurt and granola… and then they all walked out.
When I left I asked the barista if they had anything that was gluten-​free for future knowledge. He pointed me to the yogurt. Since I need gluten-​free and dairy-​free I was totally out of luck. He thought one of the bakery items might be gluten-​free but I mentioned it looked like it was on the same platter as a gluten item so I said that would be cross-​contaminated. It would be cool if they had some individually-​wrapped gluten-​free vegan treats from a dedicated gluten-​free place like Flying Apron or Wheatless in Seattle. One can dream…

Yay for the private parking lot. Yay for that it’s rarely busy. Nay for the wi-​fi. I come to coffee shops to do work and I had to stop every 10 minutes because the wi-​fi would die. Literally. And it took 9 lives for me to finally decide it was time to leave.

Bottom line: A small, neighborhood favorite, fated to stay a local’s hangout only because of its size. Good prices — you can get a bite and your caffeine fix for less than $ 10. As noted in other reviews, parking can be kooky in the lot.
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Gretchen’s is a small, locally owned coffee shop in Sand Point/​Laurelhurst with a slavish following serving several varieties of quiche (brought in from Louisa’s on Eastlake), breakfast burritos, wraps, sandwiches and pastries… all reasonably priced. Add to the mix Caffe Vita, and you’ve got the picture. (
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So here is this sweet, little shop — little being the operative word — where a lot of the people walk in and out greeting the baristas and each other by name. It’s so inviting, but so small I can’t really recommend it. The place might have room for 14 people, if you jammed them in… with the same number able to sit outside. The tables are tiny, round café tables… so this is NOT conducive to laptop camping (Sorry Lolia).
Fun for a cuppa if you’re stopping by the shops surrounding Gretchen’s, but not a destination café.

Cute, small shop if you live in the neighborhood. I regularly go here for coffee (mmm… Café Vita). The baristas are really friendly and the coffee is good.
It’s a pretty chill place without much seating so if you’re looking to hang for hours on end someplace, this probably isn’t the spot for you.

Friendly staff, not a coffee drinker but they had great ice tea. Nice place to sit and watch others pass by.

Gretchen’s is right around the corner from my work so I stop in here some mornings if I’m not in the mood for drinking staff room coffee. It’s a cute little place with good coffee and delicious quiche if you’re in the mood for something savory. They have a number of standard pastries (scones, muffins, etc.) as well.
The tables outside are a nice place to sit if you have a minute and City People’s is right next door if you feel like accidentally buying 123 872 things that you don’t need.