Volunteer Park Cafe & Marketplace

The location is really neat– a cozy neighborhood café. It gets really crowded and you have to squeeze past people since you order at the counter and wait for them to yell out your name.
There is seating outside if you want to bring your fur baby (but then it’s really hard to hear when your order is up).
I went here on a Sunday afternoon — the coffee was great, and I also ordered the quiche. They didn’t tell me it takes awhile to bake and I actually ended up waiting close to 25 – 30 min for my order. My friend finished her panini so I just took mine to go. The portion was a little small and tasted alright– not amazing. The staff is friendly– and busy! One sweet staffer gave me a free chocolate chip cookie since I had to wait so long.
Overall it’s a little pricey for what you get — but its garden cottage theme is adorable and makes me want to come back, have a coffee, and hangout.

Took a dear friend there last week. He ordered a Rueben and I noticed he left much of it. I asked him afterward and he said it was so fatty it was like chewing on greasy rubber. He had not wanted to complain as I had picked the place. He noticed I had opened my BLT with a frowning look: the bacon was overdone, dry and tasteless, and there was one lettuce leaf and a thin layer of tomato, so it was overwhelmed with bread. I felt like an idiot for not asking for something else, but we put up don’t we. I work at a business a few blocks away and have told the staff to stop recommending the café to clients. This place has really taken a dive.

This café is very charming and the food is delicious! But… have to say 1 — the wait times for drinks and food are ridiculous… I know that this is not McDonald’s or Starbucks, but it seriously takes forever considering it is a café w/​counter service. Most full-​service restaurants are way faster. 2 — the owner has let the yard and parkway area really go and looks pretty bad… it makes it look really run down. Seems like they should be able to maintain the property better given the reputation and pricing? Hopefully they will spruce things up soon.

I got the Caramelized Banana Brioche French Toast and the Café Mocha.
The Caramelized Banana Brioche French Toast: ⁴⁄₅. They flambee the top of this french toast, and you can really feel and taste it when you bite into it. The french toast was sweet, crunchy, had great texture and feel, and I was definitely a huge fan. If you make your trek over to Volunteer Park, I recommend you try the Caramelized Banana Brioche French Toast out. I’ve never had anything like this, and would definitely be ordering this if I was ever in the area again. The only reason I’m giving it a ⁴⁄₅ instead of a ⁵⁄₅ is because the ricotta instead the French toast was a bit cold; I would’ve preferred it if the ricotta was warm and melty.
The Café Mocha: ²⁄₅. When I got my drink, it was almost unmixed. There was the chocolate syrup/​base at the bottom of the drink, and my drink had separated into chocolate syrup/​base mix and milk. I had to mix it myself with a straw. Additionally, it took a while for my drink to come out — I would say a good 10 – 15 minutes. My food came before my coffee did.

This place is super cute and cozy; it has that community look and feel to it… after all, it’s located in a neighborhood. The experience itself wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t great either.
There were two people in front of me to order, but the line was moving really slow (it wasn’t the customers’ fault). Once I finally ordered, the meal was a little on the pricey side. I ordered a bacon and egg Panini, and it was $ 12 before I asked to add Brie. It didn’t come with any sides.
It took a while to actually get the food, at least 10 – 15 minutes, and it wasn’t busy at all. The food was tasty, but I don’t think the price and service was convincing enough for me to go out of my way to return.

Gah. My experience here sucked. Crowded, overpriced, mediocre food at best. I ordered the $ 14 ruben and got the $ 12 chicken and mozzarella panini, which only had chicken on half a side and only tasted like burnt panini press. The chicken noodle soup tasted like canned chicken stock. Service was super slow. I left very disappointed and smelling like smoke from burning food.

I really enjoyed this place. It feels like a neighborhood joint and the houses around it are beautiful. I’ve had the daily quiche twice and it was fantastic. I’ve also had their latte’s and loved those too. I would love to come back and have some of their other menu items.

Had outstanding service from our host Liz! Celebrated my anniversary with my fiancé and it was perfect. Got to meet the owner and was very pleased with the all around service and food. The Brussels sprouts and beef were to die for. The drink selection awesome

Came here to eat before walking around Volunteer Park. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich. Nothing amazing. Too much bread in the bread to meat ratio. Food was warm, but not hot. For $ 10+, I wouldn’t really say it’s worth it.
Don’t really get the hype. Maybe the breakfast + mimosa or pastries are better. Not sure I’ll be back to try though.

I ordered the chicken pot pie topped with a filo crust. It arrived within ten minutes. («How did they do that so quickly?» I asked myself.) The server cautioned me that it was very hot, to be careful. Alas, it was barely warm. Worse yet, it was literally impossible to cut through the crust with a knife or a fork. I had to gingerly lift it up. The filo had lost its flakiness and become tough and gummy. I suspect it was reheated in the microwave. A definite no no for filo. I shared my concerns with the server to no avail.
Won’t go back.
My friend had a salad that was quite tasty.

Super cute, nondescript little café in the middle of a neighborhood. It’s warm and cozy, serves soups, sandwiches, salads, coffee and desserts (more like cakes vs. pastries). I got a brie panini with lavender honey and it was simple but good. It did take a while to make as it was kind of crowded on a Tuesday lunch.
Not a full service restaurant. Just a cute, cozy café.

I can see why this place has good reviews. Their banana toast is absolutely spot on! I love the perfect ambience. Definitely a place I would take a friend for a nice brunch or just for a catch up time with good coffee and baked goods.
My friend and I got the banana toast and their panini to balance out the sweetness of the toast. The perfect balance and size to share with one other person. Will be coming here more often!

Great, lively place to grab light/​quick meal, coffee/​snacks. A group of us stopped by Volunteer Park Café on a Sunday afternoon and, boy, this place was crowded! Nevertheless, if you waited long enough, there’s still space for us to sit and chat.
The cashier/​barista was quick and their meals looked totally healthy and yummy. Some of us had a sandwich while another person had quinoa salad. I was eyeing those thinking to myself why was I dumb enough to just get Italian soda and just a cookie! :) Next time I’m there, I will want to try their meals outside of the usual coffee/​muffin for sure!

Very good food but not very good service. The woman behind the counter couldn’t be bothered to stay focused. Three times in ordering we specified that we wanted an iced latte. The other woman makes us a hot latte because original woman didn’t specify — then the woman making our coffee acted as if we put her out and even though original woman overheard she didn’t fess up. :/
We had quiche and a sandwich and both were good. Would like to see another vegetarian option on the menu (none of the sandwiches are).

The chocolate chip toffee cookie was amazing. Just enough crisp on the outside; chewy on the inside.
The french dip was ok. The sandwich was put together nicely with good bread, meat, onions and cheese, but the au jus sauce didn’t impress me.

The café is very cute, my friend I went with said everything on the menu is great! I ended up picking a panini with fresh mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes and arugula. It was very fresh and flavorful. It’s a very cute and very Seattle café.
The service was not that great, it is a café style so you do order up front, but it does not excuse the fact that we were not greeted. The employees bussing the tables were walking into us and other customers without an «excuse me» and looked miserable. A hello and smile can go a long way!

This is a lovely little café in a really cute neighborhood. We came by for brunch on the weekend and it was just a great dining experience.
We ordered coffee and food, and I think they ran out of glasses as we were asked if plastic to go containers would be ok for our drinks.
I ordered the vegetarian quiche and the order was up relatively quickly. There were several wilty leaves in the accompanying salad though, although it wasn’t a huge deal breaker. The quiche itself was really tasty and had a great crust. He got the blt and apart from the thick sliced white bread, it was a good sandwich but nothing super fancy. The juice we got was in a cute tiny milk bottle and really fresh.
There’s also a little grocery store in the back with fancy beer, and tables outside when it’s sunny. Parking can be hard to come by because it’s just whatever is on the street.

It is a dewy Seattle morning at Volunteer Park Café and Marketplace and Mary J. Blige’s «I’m just plain olé Mary…» pulses in the background.
A mother looks at her child approvingly as he noshes on a slice of brioche french toast piled high with sliced bananas, chocolate syrup, and a dusting of powdered sugar. It smells lovely.
MJB fades out and is replaced with R. Kelly’s «Bump and Grind.»
Taking a sip of my brew I think…“Coffee can be very much like RnB… warm. mellow. smooth.“
The barista working the espresso machine croons along with Kelly: «I don’t see nothing wroooong…»
I place my order and the clerk smiles warmly, returns my change, and then delivers my lemon blueberry muffin on a plate.
It’s warm (freshly baked) and pecked with nooks and crannies like it should be.
The baked goods here strike me as more refined than your typical café fare. They’re certainly more artisanal. This includes include items like a «Pear Cardamon Muffin» and a petite strata stuffed with bits of bacon, herbs, and vegetables.
I love this café.

I stopped into this place on a Tuesday afternoon after wandering around the botanic gardens all morning. I had heard about it after reading through some «off-​the-​beaten-​track» city guides of Seattle. Some folks were sitting outside, enjoying the sun and a few more were seated inside, reading books and catching up with friends.
I looked over the menu and settled on the warm hazelnut chevre salad and an iced coffee, «for here». I sat down at the long harvest table, took advantage of the free wifi and before too long (couldn’t be more than 5 minutes) my order was ready. The iced coffee was just fine; it wasn’t the type of iced coffee you could nurse. You have to drink it fairly quickly, otherwise it gets super diluted (I prefer a strong iced coffee that can stand up to melting ice). The flavors in the salad were wonderful: the hazelnuts had the perfect crunch, the warm chevre was creamy and delicious, and the pomegranate vinaigrette really amped up the sweet sliced strawberries. It was hearty and refreshing at the same time.
So why only 3 stars? At $ 14, I think the salad definitely could have used more greens (although they were quite generous with hazelnuts and cheese)! And, coming from the Midwest, I’m really into affability and warmth when being greeted in any service industry. I’m not saying any of the team was rude, but it seemed like they were just there to take in and get out orders. Is that enough to knock them down 2 stars? Maybe not, but Unilocal doesn’t let you give out 3.5’s.
Would I come back? Definitely, as I didn’t get a chance to try any of the baked goods! And because I believe in second chances.

This is a very cute restaurant, and it can easily be mistaken for a house. I liked that their menus were simple, but I gotta say… this place is pretty overpriced.
I ordered the King Salmon, and it was tiny, dry, and flavorless. (–1 star) The salad that it came along with was delicious though. Something about the pairing of peach and goat cheese just worked. I liked the display of the food when it came. Looked like the chef treated his food like works of art.
Dinner for 3 people came out to be around $ 120 (–1 more star for being overpriced). No one had leftovers. My wallet is crying and my stomach wasn’t that content :/

Quelle petite phrase bouleversante au coeur d’un être?