Firehouse Coffee — Restaurant in Seattle

I just want to start off by saying this is a great place for coffee but service, not so much. The service from Tina(barista), in particular, was down right rude. My neighbor and I go to many coffee and breakfast places between downtown Seattle and Edmonds. We enjoy all of them and rave to my friends on fb and take them to my hot spots and write raving reviews about our experiences.

This morning around 8:20. We walked in and came up to the counter to look over the menu. The barista TINA doesn't say "hello" or "good morning" but asks (body language and tone seemed annoyed) "what can I get ya". My neighbor says "do you serve hot food". TINA reaches forward points and says "it's right here". My neighbor giggles (bc she feels silly it's right in front of her). Tina giggles back mockingly. My neighbor pays for the food and steps back. I step up saying "I'm paying for the coffees" and proceed to order my drink of a white mocha with almond milk and no foam(I hate foam) and then asked her for a cup of water. Her response" Kay, the water is over there"(points to the front part of counter). My card declines and I say "I'll be right back I have to go get my other card out of my car". I return and a gentleman(super polite and smiling) swipes my card and just couldn't be nicer let's me know my drink is on its way. My neighbor points out."I think that's your drink on the counter (it wasn't there when I paid. TINA just didn't announce my drink was up(let it slide). I open my lid and say to gentleman "could you please scrape/ scoop of the foam please. She interjects and proceeds to tell me that I should have told her that when I ordered bc she didn't hear me say "no foam" So now I'm fuming! She scoops what she feels is "satisfying" to her "standards" and she returns it to me and says "there wasn't that much". I say "thank you" and turn and walk away. This place has great coffee! A shitty barista who needs an attitude adjustment. The gentleman had stepped outside and as we are coming out says, "thanks you guys, have a good day". He's the only reason I didn't lash...

This was my home away from home while my daughter was 1-2 before Covid started. They have amazing food and coffee and are so kind. I would go to the kids play area and chill and read while my daughter played quietly by herself.

During Covid I made it my life mission to keep this place afloat. They have a drive through so almost every day on my way to work, I'd drive up and get a quad-shot mocha and a sausage bagel sandwich. I would share their business on the Ballard Facebook page like every other week, just reminding people they did not need to wait in line at Starbucks, just go down a few blocks and support a local business.

The owner is a nice Asian lady and is SO kind and sweet. We would chat a bit after I had been going for quite some time. They did have a difficult time staying open during Covid but were able to be the small business support from the gov.

I miss this place the most having moved to Oregon...

Overview: The coffee is decent but I'm giving it an above average rating for service! The staff here are friendly and very helpful so I'm a fan. This coffee shop has a decent amount of seating and an area for the little ones to play in. Additionally, this local coffee shop also has a drive-thru which is a nice feature for those who are on the go.

Food: Had a vanilla mocha here and it was good - nothing amazing but certainly decent and on par with your average mocha. I also had a lemon cake since I'm a huge fan of them and this place sells a good one. Overall, I would recommend coming here to try it out if you haven't been. I probably wouldn't choose it if I needed to get some work done since the seats and tables were very large and the place can be a bit loud if you don't have headphones...