Olympia Coffee Roasting Proctor

Olympia Coffee opened this corner of N Proctor Street and N 26th in May 2018, its fifth location and its first in Tacoma. Co owner Oliver Stormshak grew up in the neighborhood, went to the Blue Mouse Theater and bowled at Chalet Bowl, which makes the build read as a deliberate return rather than an expansion into a good market.

Olympia Coffee says every coffee it roasts is made to order daily at its downtown Olympia roastery, so the beans here come from there. The cafe opened in 2018 with a roasting window, and the company's own Proctor page still invites you to watch, but do not come expecting a roast. Espresso comes off a La Marzocco Strada AV customized by Pantechnicon Designs, and filter is pulled on a five headed chrome Poursteady alongside Fetco batch brewers. The house espresso blend is Little Buddy, named after the 1986 Honda Civic that Stormshak's sister drove around Tacoma in the nineties.

Architect Roussa Cassel designed the room to harmonize old and new Tacoma in a space that was previously a Radio Shack. A partially exposed ceiling shows the building's history, and a ceiling cloud mirrors the footprint of the espresso bar below it. Cabinetry is by Beech Tree Woodworks, the industrial furniture by Corzine Furniture Company and the tile by Rick Bradley.

Olympia Coffee was named Roast Magazine's Micro Roaster of the Year for 2013. That is a company award and it predates this cafe by five years, so read it as why the coffee here is good rather than as something Proctor won. Hours run 6am to 6pm Monday through Saturday and 7am to 6pm Sunday, longer than most independents in the city.