Cafeography
Seattle · Queen Anne & Uptown

Cafés in Queen Anne & Uptown

Cafés around Seattle Center and the Space Needle, Danish pastries in a 2nd Avenue West basement and espresso on top of Queen Anne Hill.

Photo: Josh Hild, Pexels License

Queen Anne Hill is named for the Queen Anne-style houses that dominated it by 1885; Lower Queen Anne, also called Uptown, sits at its southern foot, north and west of Seattle Center.1 Seattle Center covers 74 acres left from the 1962 World’s Fair, the Century 21 Exposition, and its landmark is the 605-foot Space Needle.2

The hilltop business district runs 2,600 feet along Queen Anne Avenue North between West McGraw and West Galer streets.1 Kerry Park, a 1.26-acre park on Highland Drive, looks over downtown and the Space Needle to Mount Rainier on clear days.1

Local tip: Nielsen’s Pastries closes at 14:00 and all day on Sundays, so go in the morning, and carry the snitter up to Kerry Park for the view.

At a glance

34Cafés listed
12With opening hours
04:45Earliest opening
22:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Gourmet Latte Espresso Bars, from 04:45 (Mon–Fri 04:45–18:30 · Sat 06:00–18:30 · Sun 06:00–18:00).
  • Closes latest: Metropolitan Deli & Cafe, until 22:00 (Mon–Fri 07:00–22:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–20:00).
  • Most listed streets: Queen Anne Avenue North (4), Elliott Avenue West (2), Queen Anne Ave N (2).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (21%), outdoor seating (15%), toilets (9%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Seattle.

Coffee chains in Queen Anne & Uptown

Getting up Queen Anne Hill

The Seattle Center Monorail runs between Seattle Center and Westlake Center downtown.2 The climb from Uptown to the top is steep: three cable car lines reached the summit from 1890, including the Queen Anne Counterbalance on Queen Anne Avenue.1

At the bottom, Caffe Vita, founded in this neighborhood in 1995, has a café at 813 5th Avenue North; at the top, its branch at 224 West Galer Street opens at 06:00 every day.3 Two Kick Coffee, at 3208 Queen Anne Avenue North on the north side of the hill, serves until 19:00 Monday to Saturday.

Nielsen’s Pastries and the snitter

John Nielsen, from Copenhagen, opened Nielsen’s Authentic Danish Pastries downtown in 1965, at Third and Union, where Benaroya Hall now stands, and moved to Lower Queen Anne when the hall was built.45 He sold the shop to his apprentice, Darcy Person, in 1999, and Holly Prairie bought it in 2017.5

The shop is a daylight basement at 520 2nd Avenue West, down a few steps, and its “potatoes” are cream puffs filled with whipped cream and custard, covered in marzipan and dusted with cocoa.4 Its snitter is a flattened cinnamon roll with a line of custard; the word is Danish for slice.5 Nielsen’s opens Monday to Saturday, 08:00–14:00.

Coffee around Seattle Center

La Marzocco opened a café and showroom in the KEXP radio building at 472 1st Avenue North in 2016, with monthly guest roasters; Caffe Vita took it over in October 2021 and kept the La Marzocco equipment and the Home Lab at the back.6 Vita at KEXP opens at 07:00 on weekdays and 08:00 at weekends, with Wi-Fi and outdoor seating.

Sugar Bakery at 110 Republican Street serves until 20:00 every day, and Hagen at 800 5th Avenue North has outdoor seating. Down on Elliott Avenue West, Gourmet Latte Espresso Bars at 540 opens at 04:45 on weekdays.

Café Hagen on the hilltop

Maria Beck, who is from Denmark, founded Café Hagen in December 2019; the name is a nod to Copenhagen, and the Queen Anne café opened in 2022 in a former Storyville Coffee.7 It sits at 2128 Queen Anne Avenue North, opened at the end of October 2022 and serves daily 07:00–16:00; its Scandinavian-style brunch, with a Danish waffle, cheese and house-baked bread, cost US$21 in 2022.8

A few blocks south, Queen Anne Coffee Co. at 1811 Queen Anne Avenue North has outdoor tables and Wi-Fi, open daily 07:00–17:00.

Sources

  1. Queen Anne, Seattle, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Seattle Center, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Caffe Vita Coffee Roasting Company, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Nielsen’s Pastries: stepping down a few steps to heaven (March 3, 2014), Queen Anne & Magnolia News, accessed October 2026
  5. The mysterious origins of the Seattle snitter (Feliks Banel, April 1, 2022), MyNorthwest, accessed October 2026
  6. Caffe Vita Reinvents the Former La Marzocco Cafe at KEXP in Seattle (January 5, 2022), Daily Coffee News, accessed October 2026
  7. Café Hagen, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  8. No ordinary coffee shop (November 3, 2022), Queen Anne & Magnolia News, accessed October 2026
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In Queen Anne & Uptown, also browse: Specialty coffee Outdoor seating Wi-Fi Bakery cafés Open by 6am Open late

FAQ

Queen Anne & Uptown cafés: questions

What is a snitter at Nielsen’s Pastries in Queen Anne, Seattle?

A snitter is a flattened cinnamon roll with a line of custard, sold at Nielsen’s Pastries, a Danish bakery at 520 2nd Avenue West in Lower Queen Anne; the word is Danish for slice. John Nielsen, from Copenhagen, opened the shop downtown in 1965, and Holly Prairie has owned it since 2017. It opens Monday to Saturday, 08:00–14:00.

Is there a café at KEXP near Seattle Center in Queen Anne?

Yes. Vita at KEXP, at 472 1st Avenue North, is run by Caffe Vita, which took over the former La Marzocco café in the radio station’s building in October 2021. The La Marzocco equipment and Home Lab stayed. It opens at 07:00 on weekdays and 08:00 at weekends.

Where can you get Scandinavian brunch on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle?

Café Hagen, founded by the Danish-born Maria Beck, opened at 2128 Queen Anne Avenue North at the end of October 2022. Its Scandinavian-style brunch, with a Danish waffle, cheese and house-baked bread, cost US$21 that year. The café serves daily 07:00–16:00.

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