Victrola Coffee & Art

Am I a coffee expert? No. Am I a coffee snob? No. But I know what I like. My go-​to is always either an iced mocha or an iced latte. This place came in the recommendation of our Airbnb hostess and my goodness was it dead on.
This is the best mocha I have ever had. Living in California, there is no shortage of good coffee but wow this mocha was so memorable. Typically mochas are overrun with chocolate so the coffee flavor is lost but this was the perfect blend. Please don’t go to Starbucks just because it’s Seattle. You’ll never think of coffee the same way.

This place is amazing. Solid coffee, good wifi and even a conference room where I took an important client call. No reason to ever step foot in the Starbucks across the street!

Summary: the decision to come here depends on what you want from a coffee place. If you need a place to work or chill with friends on a rainy day, this is your spot. If you’re looking for really searching for the best tasting coffee look elsewhere, as this place is good but not fantastic. Definitely worth repeat visits.
Sample size: I’ve been here many times — espresso macchiato, Americano, straight espresso, drip, iced tea.
Pros:
1. espresso is usually pretty tasty and not over-​saturated, though sometimes it can be thin
2. Some of the nicest baristas I have ever encountered! Seriously, they are super friendly even early in the morning
3. Great spot for working. They also have a backroom that can be reserved for meetings
Cons:
1. Temperature — I feel like in general the drinks get cold quickly, but this is solved by just ordering a drink extra hot
2. The non-​espresso drinks are okay but not spectacular. I had one pour over I liked and a couple other coffees I did not care for as much. I would say the espresso drinks have a higher batting average.

Stayed in Capitol Hill for three days and went to Victrola everyday. Great coffee and atmosphere!

Over priced and crowded. Coffee is good, but not sure why this place is so popular.

Despite having been in Seattle for a while, I’m generally not a frequent coffee drinker. However, I find Victrola to be a good place to catch up with a friend or to grab a cup coffee/​drink and get right to a work session. The place is huge with many tables to sit, so you are likely to find a spot to sit. I typically come here whenever someone wants to chat over coffee or whenever I purposely want to drag myself out of home to work and prevent myself from being lazy and rolling right back into bed.
Service here is generally good and the coffee was good, too. They also have a small selection of sandwich or bakeries if you are on a hungry side. I typically just get either a chai latte or Italian soda just to quench my thirst. Either option is aromatic enough for me to keep myself awake and get going on work. The baristas and cashiers were always friendly and I never felt forced to have to give up my seat/​table.
WiFi was a little spotty. I got dropped off a couple of times over a few hours that I sat there, but it’s not too annoying or anything. at least I can concentrate and get some work done :)

This place has really good coffee! When I asked the server how often they brew their drip coffee, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they do a french press and it is brewed every 5 minutes. Quite impressive and also not overly expensive either! The décor and atmosphere of the shop was very lively and relaxing.
The only thing keeping this place from a solid 5 stars would be my complaint with the Wifi. Yes I know it shouldn’t matter when it is free and normally the coffee is what sells me on a place. However, many people go to coffee shops to get work done while enjoying a solid cup-​o-​joe. They got the coffee right, now just work on that WiFi!
TLDR: Excellent place with awesome coffee and great staff, but WiFi is not the greatest.

It seems most of the reviews of one of my favorite coffee shops mention issues with wifi, or not being able to find seating to work on their laptops. News Flash — this is not WiFi City, it’s Victrola Coffee! That being said, love the coffee, the atmosphere, and location. I’ll be the one sitting in the front enjoying my coffee and surroundings without a Mac in front of me.

Solid, that’s about it. I’ve heard good things about Victrola on Pike so I thought I’d give this place a shot, but it was just okay for me. There’s not a ton of character to this café and that’s something I look for when I decide to splurge on a cup of coffee. Cappuccino was aite, paintings that were up when I went were kinda funky, tables in the back where we sat were kinda smooshed into the dim-​lit corner, and service was just mediocre. Barista man came off a tad grumpy for me, didn’t look up at all when I asked about wifi– at least the girl at the register had a smile on her face. Honestly, I don’t know if I would choose to come back here with all the other cute coffee stops in the area.

This place has great character and a good selection of teas and baked goods. But the chai latte is so disappointing that I had to take off two stars. I’ve ordered it twice and each time it had almost no flavor. Just tasted like steamed milk.
The baristas are nice and there’s a back room that is perfect for meetings… But I am never paying that much money for steamed milky water instead of a chai latte again.
Perhaps I will edit his review after trying another drink of theirs

As always amazed by the fantastic Kombucha on tap. Fleur de Lis is the best, very light, and floral.

This place is great. I was in town and wanted to meet up with a friend after years of not seeing him. It’s a decent sized coffee shop, even though it looks small from the outside.
Great customer service! Great drinks! This is a local spot. Lots of tables! A lot of students scattered around working on their laptops. They do have free wifi! That is very easy to connect to.
We both got a Chai Tea. They asked if we wanted regular or soy milk (which was nice because not a lot of places ask that). And the prices are very reasonable!
Overall great place to grab coffee or do some work on your laptop. Would definitely go back when I’m in town again.

Coffee and food and snax and environment and location = ¹⁰⁄₁₀
WiFi = –100,000/10
It took 30 minutes of browser loading to write this out.
I would give you negative stars if I could. Invest in decent WiFi and your score will improve.
Editing cuz owner was nice and actually apologized on here for the spotty wifi. Holy crap. Just take my money!!!

Popped into Victrola for a quick mid-​day coffee hoping to get me through the day as I was still operating on London time. Ordered a cappuccino and was given sizing options, 5oz or 8oz, both with the same amount of espresso. I went with the 8oz, just because. The place was packed given it was around 3pm on Saturday but we were able to find a table near the door which was not the best table but got the job done.
My cappuccino was good but was not served hot enough and it had a very sweet smell, probably the sweetest smelling cappuccino I’ve smelt in my life though it didn’t taste sweet.
Victrola is clearly a hotspot for people to come, take up residency at a table and pound away on their Macs for hours on end. I will likely be one of these people in a few weeks time when we move to our house in Capital Hill.
Toilets (aka bathroom) were large and clean — such a nice change from the awful toilets of London!

Solid coffee, cool space inside to hang out and socialize (or get some serious work done while enjoying the distractions that CH affords you) and enjoy said coffee. Prices were in line with other coffee shops and it’s an easy walk from the bus stop for nonresidents like myself.

Victrola serves a great coffee and seems like a very nice place to hang out or work. The service was very friendly and fast. They even allow dogs inside. The cold brew was very tasty and not bitter like it can tend to be, especially in the afternoon. This is also a great location to grab a cup and head to one of the nearby parks to hang out on a nice day.

The worst cold brew iced coffee I’ve ever had. So bitter!!! Seriously, I couldn’t finish it and had to brush my teeth to get the awful taste out of my mouth. The whole point of cold brew is that it’s supposed to be smooth, not bitter. But Victrola’s so-​called «cold brew» tastes like they just empty out the left over coffee at the end of the day, refrigerate it overnight, and then call it «cold brew» and sell it at a mark up. What a joke!
2 stars because the cashier dude is nice, even though Starbucks has better iced coffee.

When people think about Seattle, they think about coffee. Thus, there’s an archetypal «Seattle Coffeeshop» that people imagine — and Victrola is that place. It’s big enough that you should be able to find seating if you’re patient, small enough that it feels cozy, and covered with art. Reliable sources tell me it’s the best coffee they’ve ever had, and I love their loose leaf teas, which come in a little brewer that lets you reuse the tea leaves for a second, third, fourth cup of tea, etc. Just ask the staff — they’ll give you a fresh cup of hot water to re-​steep. (Re-​steep? Is that a word?!)
My only complaint is that it can get a little dark on the inside because the windows are only at the front, but other than that, Victrola is the best.

Some of the staff could be a little friendlier or speak up louder since you can’t really tell when your order is up.
It is a bit pricier than some other places but the macchiato I had was tasty. It was a little small shot size served with sparkling water. I only come here when I’m in the neighborhood for my appointment and I do like the feel of the place. It is especially nice around that area in general when the sun is out.

Victrola is the best for coffee on 15^th (sorry, Café Ladro…). Expect to wait a bit for your drink, because the baristas take their time. Most of them are pretty friendly, some have got the Seattle barista attitude going, but isn’t coffee supposed to be a little bitter?
Wish they’d up their pastry game, but no matter — Wandering Goose is next door.
They are expert shot pullers and milk steamers.