Cafe Allegro

Cafe Allegro opened on May 17, 1975, during University District Street Fair weekend, in the alley garage of a former mortuary, and it calls itself Seattle's oldest espresso bar. Founder Dave Olsen later became the first green coffee buyer at Starbucks under Howard Schultz. For years there was no exterior sign at all, and KUOW described the result in 2025 as a speakeasy feel. Chris Peterson bought the cafe in 1990, and KUOW marked the cafe's 50th anniversary in May 2025.

Allegro roasts in small batches on site, and the Seattle Times reported in November 2025 that Peterson roasts the signature coffees in a room upstairs. Daily Coffee News covered the launch of that in house roasting in 2014; before then the cafe bought its beans from Starbucks in the early years and later from an outside roaster and wholesaler. Beans are sold by the bag, by subscription and wholesale through seattleallegro.com.

The entrance is in the alley, not on University Way. Inside are tall ceilings and three seating areas with plenty of tables, overflow seating upstairs and, up a hidden staircase, an outdoor deck. A 2021 Seattle Refined visit found wifi and outlets for laptop work and pastries from local businesses, so confirm both at the counter before settling in. The upstairs room also hosts events.

Hours run 7am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 6pm on weekends. The cafe's real website is seattleallegro.com; cafeallegro.com is a parked domain for sale and has nothing to do with the shop. Seattle Refined also wrote up a Community Blend in 2021 whose proceeds went to local nonprofits, but it is not on the current site, so ask before counting on it.