Retro Coffee — Restaurant in Seattle

If you’re in the mood to be condescended to and pay $8 for a cup of oat milk, this is your spot!

I visited this coffee shop after reading all the glowing reviews, expecting a great experience. I ordered an iced vanilla latte with oat milk—and what I got was… oat milk. Just oat milk. I took one sip and waited until things calmed down before politely asking if it could be remade.

Enter the male barista (manager? CEO of Lattes?), who proceeded to mansplain the entire concept of a latte to me. According to him, if I wanted more coffee flavor, I should order an extra shot next time. I explained that I couldn’t taste any coffee or vanilla—just a big ol’ glass of oat. He doubled down, explaining the standard two shots in a latte like he was teaching a masterclass.

No offer to remake it. No “sorry about that.” Just latte-splaining. Maybe he thought I was pulling a fast one to score an extra pump of vanilla? Because yes, I definitely came in ready to risk my dignity for 75 cents’ worth of syrup… after already tipping and paying $8 for a drink I couldn’t taste.

Eventually, I gave up and said, “Fine, just add more vanilla so I can taste something.” I didn’t have the energy to continue the Great Latte Debate of 2025.

The hero of this story? The cashier in the blue shirt who swooped in, made a fresh drink without any drama, and saved the day. It was actually delicious—and they’re the reason this place gets 1 star...

Edit* I think in my previous review, they were just having a bad day. Our return visit was a lot better. Appreciate the fact that our original experience was recognized and an attempt to fix the problem was done. Thanks!

Original review: Super slow service. They really need to work on process here.

We ordered a blueberry scone (last one available) by pointing at it while someone was taking our order. It was not available by the time we came to pay. Not sure how that happened.

Ordered a flat white and a pourover. The flat white arrives and they've not even started the pourover. One coffee is finished before the other has even been handed over.

I don't know what's going on here but for a place that has 4.7 stars, this was a big let down.

I could also tell from other customers around us that they were not happy either.

To be fair, after we got the final coffee, the guy realised that we were unhappy and gave us some free coffee vouchers and apologised. So perhaps there was a new...

3.5 stars

Tl;dr - decent coffee but not a standout, slow service

This is a nice space with high ceilings and interesting art, decent wifi and places to sit and enjoy your drink and/or work.

The coffee is good but not exceptional, especially for Seattle. Flavors are monin syrups, not made in-house. They offer a number of teas and other non-coffee drinks like chai, matcha, etc. I didn’t get any, but their pastries and sandwiches seem very popular- I think literally everyone else there ordered something.

Service was friendly but slow, it took me nearly a 1/2 hr to get two drinks with only 2 people’s orders ahead of mine.

Open on weekend mornings which is a bonus. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here but I wouldn’t...