Derailer Coffee — Restaurant in Spokane

I heard that Derailer Coffee has the only Conti Lever-Pull espresso machine in Spokane and that, unlike the automatic ones that are built for speed, this one is built for flavor; and there is a spectacular difference that is worth the short trip to Hillyard. When Derailer opened a few months ago, coffee shop owners and staff from around the area came to check it out.

The Brazilian Minas Gerais espresso I had briefly greets with tart and sweet then surrounds with roasted hazelnuts before finishing with bittersweet chocolate. There are so many wonderful flavors in addition to these that are fun to explore and challenging to describe.

The recommended approach to enjoying this is to give it a short stir, sip, savor, swallow and brighten your palette with soda water before going in for another taste. The soda water also opens the complexities, revealing more flavors. As the cup cools, the three dominate flavors blend; the tart/sweet flavor lingers throughout.

This is by far the deepest espresso experience that one can have—it certainly was for me.

The coffee shop is bright, open and new, filled with the chatter of friends. In overhearing conversations at the counter, there are a growing number of regulars. It's easy to see why!

I'll be...

This is a very well structured venue with open aired seating. While many shops encourage you to leave asap with that “caveman” seating aesthetic ( short unusable and seats with low backs. They look cool but you gotta hunch over like a caveman), these guys have modern and comfortable furnishings. The highlight though is their lever espresso. Never in the history of ever did I think our podunk could get folks who cared about this level of coffee experience. Espresso started on lever machines and the silky satin cup they produce is a gold standard. Modern shops have sugar/milk’d the poor quality coffee into the over priced oblivion of what I like to call Stepford Wives’ drinks. So hail fair champions of the lever. Bring us back to the roots of enjoying the marvels of the bean itself. Do yourself a favor and check these guys out. Try an espresso before you have a milk drink, you’ll see for yourself what I’m...

This is one of my favorite places to go to just sit and snack and have a coffee while working on projects. The staff is very friendly and kind. I struggle with mobility and they're always willing to bring my order to my table so I don't have to risk spilling it. They have even plugged in my computer for me a few times at the outlets under the bench!

It is a shared business space, so you can also get things from the other businesses there, such as meals from the little deli, drinks from the bar, toys from the store, or you can visit the gaming and beer place.

It is a fantastic place to...