Caffe Umbria Pioneer Square

This cafe carries three generations of one roasting family. Ornello Bizzarri started a home roasting business, Torrefazione Perugina, in Perugia after World War II, and his son Umberto brought the family trade to Seattle in 1986 as Torrefazione Italia, which later passed to Starbucks and closed. Umberto's son Emanuele opened the first Caffe Umbria in 2005 in the same Pioneer Square building that held his father's first Torrefazione cafe, and the company still calls this address its flagship.

The coffee is Caffe Umbria's own, and the company describes its craft as blending and roasting. In 2017 Italoamericano placed that roasting at a 22,000 square foot facility and warehouse in south Seattle running two roasters. The company sells the room as an Italian bar experience, and Seattle Magazine's coffee guide noted an espresso machine imported from Italy and pointed readers to the cappuccino.

The company's cafe page lists pastries, panini and gelato, plus Italian beer and wine, so this works for a quick lunch on a Pioneer Square walk as well as a morning espresso. Seattle Magazine described the room as one part Pioneer Square, with exposed brick, and one part Perugia, with Italian tile and ceramic, and the same guide noted outdoor seating.

Hours on the company's own page are 7am to 5pm on weekdays, 7am to 4pm on Saturday and 8am to 4pm on Sunday; some older listings show longer days, so trust the company page. Seattle Magazine's guide listed no wifi, which makes this a stop for an espresso and a panino rather than a laptop session. Caffe Umbria runs three more Seattle cafes, in Westlake, in Ballard and on Olive Way, and the Olive Way cafe also sits in a former Torrefazione Italia space.