👑 Losing our coffee crown?

Is Seattle Still a Top Tier Coffee City?

Every few months, a new study comes out crowning a U.S. city the monarch of some food or beverage. And usually, when it comes to coffee, Seattle reigns. But this time, when personal finance company WalletHub released its latest ranking of the best coffee cities in the U.S., Seattle came in… 5th?! To add insult to injury, Orlando, Florida came in first. The culprit for our low ranking? You guessed it: affordability. [WalletHub]

• WalletHub’s methodology: The ranking compared the 100 largest cities across 12 “key indicators.” The author looked at criteria like the number of places to get coffee per capita, the average price of a cappuccino as well as bag of beans, the share of residents with coffee makers at home and the average coffee spending per household. Orlando secured the top spot by having the highest number of free wi-fi coffee and tea shops per capita and, crucially, the most affordable coffee shops with good reviews. I’m all for an affordable cup of coffee, but is that what makes a coffee city? [WalletHub]
• Our favorite Seattle coffee spots: Executive Producer Ashley Smith put together a list of her favorite coffee shops earlier this year including Bake Shop, Cardoon, Bonito Cafe and the now maligned Monorail Espresso. And if you’re committed to iced coffee year-round, Keep It Local author Harry Cheadle has this list of places he recommends for cold coffee. Oh, and, might I recommend my neighborhood favorite Orange Goose 🪿
• Check out Georgetown’s Voi Cà Phê: Speaking of amazing coffee, I was stoked to see the South Seattle Emerald featuring my favorite Georgetown coffee and báhn mí spot. The Vietnamese café opened in 2022, and is a family-run business. It was founded by the husband-and-wife duo Khôi Phùng and Hiền Đặng and Đặng's mom is the head chef. As the article explains, “The menu has three sections: Under ’easy’ are pandan tofu and miso caramel lattes, while ‘intermediate’ has jackfruit and a phở spice latte, which includes the broth's foundational spices like star anise and cardamom. ‘Advanced’ dares visitors to be adventurous, offering a Red Boat caramel latte that uses fish sauce and an intriguing black garlic latte.” And while you’re there I recommend getting two mini bánh mì so you can try more than one. Yum! [South Seattle Emerald]

🥳 Charlie’s Queer Books to open second location: At a time when many small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open, it feels great to celebrate a win. Katie Lee Ellison (who is talking all things books on today’s podcast) reports that Charlie’s Queer Books is opening a new location in Capitol Hill across the street from Wildrose. Yes to more bookstores and yes to keeping the gayborhood alive! [The Stranger]

🪧 Restaurants will soon have to display labor violations: Last year, the King County Board of Health approved a new rule adding a sign next to the one for food safety ratings, at establishments with unresolved labor violations. These include things like withholding pay, forced overtime, or limiting use of paid sick leave. Only 10 to 20 businesses in the county are out of compliance. [KUOW]

🍳 State Supreme Court strikes down natural gas ballot measure: A 2024 ballot measure trying to stop Washington’s shift away from natural gas has been found unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. Initiative 2066 was written by The Building Industry Association of Washington and put on the ballot through the signature gathering efforts of Let’s Go Washington. Nearly 52% of voters approved it as it passed in 34 of Washington’s 39 counties including Snohomish and Pierce. [Washington State Standard]