Refuel Cafe

Refuel opened on Black Friday 2019, started by someone who had moved out from Seattle two years earlier and missed having a third place to go. That is still what the room is built for: plenty of seating, vining plants, board games on the shelf, black ceramic mugs if you are drinking in and compostable cups and cutlery if you are not.

The sourcing is the cleanest of any shop in Renton. Beans come exclusively from Fulcrum Coffee Roasters in Seattle. Pastries arrive daily from Macrina Bakery, sandwich bread is Grand Central, and the loose leaf black, green and herbal teas are Steven Smith Teamaker out of Portland. Nothing here is generic supply.

The seasonal drink board is the identity, and regulars order off it without reading. Past rounds have carried an Ube Dark Chocolate Cold Brew, a Caramel Apple Chai, a Lucky Charm Cold Brew for March and an apple pie matcha latte. On the food side the avocado toast, built with feta, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and oil and vinegar, is the item that sells out, alongside breakfast wraps, house made stuffed croissants, paninis and Italian sodas.

It sits in a small commercial building just off NE 4th, which makes it the Highlands answer to a Seattle cafe rather than a drive up stand. Two things to check before you go: the hours have shifted recently and the listings do not agree, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday is the short day.