Category Archives: Coffee Shops, cafes and bistros

Northern Pacific Coffee Company

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During this extended winter I’ve had more then my fair share of coffee. Today I went out for a walk, but it started to hail! So, I ducked into the Northern Pacific Coffee Company at 401 Garfield Street South, in the Parkland area of unincorporated Pierce County. The coffee shop features lunch, sweets, wine, beer, coffee drinks and frappes. I had a delicious Americano and a chai cupcake.

Northern Pacific Coffee Company’s facebook page can be found here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northern-Pacific-Coffee-Company-NPCC/167740459948412

 

Update: Northern Pacific Coffee Company closed as of January 2017.

 

 

Bubble Tea Shop

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Today I had parental obligations and found myself near the University of Washington Tacoma campus. I took the first parking spot I came to and found myself in front of the recently opened Bubble Tea Shop at 1712 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma. It was great to see a new business along the strip. We enjoyed our bubble teas and thought the shop had the coolest black tables.

 

Five Guys has the best soda machine!

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Five Guys at 5605 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd., Lakewood, WA 98499 has an amazing soda machine. You push on your choice of Coke Product and there are 22 choices. I picked diet, caffeine free Coke. Then a second screen appears with seven more choices: cherry, vanilla, lime, orange, raspberry, cherry vanilla or plain. I tried cherry and orange (not together) and really they were pretty good.

   

Five Guys is a hamburger chain that originated out of Washington D.C. and currently has 900 stores. There are two locations in Pierce Co., this one and one in Puyallup. Their website (http://www.fiveguys.com/) says there are over 250,000 ways to order a burger here!  The restaurant was packed when I got there at around 4. There must have been 30 people ahead of me in line. But the line moved quickly and my order came up in no time. Or maybe the time just passed quickly since I was fascinated with the soda machine 🙂 The interior was a cheerful red and white and free peanuts were available

 

A&W and KFC

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At the corner of Sprague and Division ( 2006 Sixth Avenue, Tacoma WA 98403) there is a A&W.KFC Co-Branded fast food restaurant. The A&W part is one of three A&W locations in Tacoma. All are co-branded with KFC. In fact we now have to drive 20 miles to Port Orchard to find a stand alone A&W. I wonder if it is the drive up kind.here are six KFCs with a Tacoma address, which includes the three just mentioned.

Per Wikipedia, both KFC and A&W had been owned by Yum! until recently and that “Most A&W stores that opened in the U.S. in recent years were co-branded with another of Yum!’s chains— Long John Silver’s, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell or Kentucky Fried Chicken. On December 19, 2011, A&W and Long John Silver were sold to A Great American Brand LLC.


 

Starbucks in University Place, will it snow?

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They tell me there is a big old snow storm coming, though when I snapped this photo the skies were mostly blue. I needed some provisions (cookies, chips, milk, cheese) and stopped at Trader Joe’s and then for a cup of drip coffee at Green Fir’s Starbucks. It was packed and there was no inconspicuous way to take a photo, so I took one of the outside and it was truly awful! I mean really, really bad. So, here is a photo that I do like of one of the trees in the Green Firs Center. Now let’s see if we actually get this huge storm!

Satellite Coffee on Division

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“Coffee in Tacoma that doesn’t suck” is the motto of Satellite Coffee at 817 Division Ave., Tacoma, WA 98438. I stopped in today for coffee and a cookie and they were both unusual. The coffee was French Press and really good and the chocolate chip cookie had raisins. The cookie was good to, just not what I expected. There are two Satellite Coffees and this one is located up a short flight of stairs. Inside there was some catchy music and a funky, pleasant atmosphere.

There website is here:  http://www.coffeetacoma.com/

The write up of their other location is here: http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2237

North Slope Coffee House

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North Slope Coffee House by Gexydaf
North Slope Coffee House, a photo by Gexydaf on Flickr.

I needed a lime for Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup http://www.food.com/recipe/black-bean-soup-with-sweet-potatoes-174500. Stadium Thriftway was nearby so we made a quick stop and then grabbed a decaf Americano at North Slope Coffee Shop at 915 N Sheridan Ave, Tacoma, WA 98403. The Shop is at the entrance of Stadium Thriftway and today it was pretty chilly. The coffee was extra good and the service was cheerful. I remember when the coffee shop was in a slightly different location before they remodeled Stadium Thriftway.

German Pastry and Coffee Shop in Lakewood

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The German Pastry and Coffee Shop at 6108 Mt Tacoma Dr SW, Lakewood, WA 98499 is not the same thing as Hess Bakery and that confuses me. They both specialize in German Food, but have different strengths. Both of them are located in a brick building is known as European Square. Each of them has a sign on their door that says they are not affricated with the other. Well, OK. I’ll just go back and do Hess Bakery some other time.

The German Pastry and Coffee Shop has display cases and metal racks for tasty treats. I got two bags of cookies and two pieces of pastry, all for takeout. What I tasted at home was yummy. Maybe next time we’ll have lunch. I love the décor. There is one almost full wall mural of an alpine scene and many large jigsaw puzzles that have been framed.

 

Tea at Starbucks

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Seems like there is a never ending supply of Starbucks and today I stopped at the one in Mildred Center at 1816 S Mildred, Tacoma. I ordered a coffee and a piece of gingerbread.Then I went to the coffee counter and picked up my Americano and when I went back to pick up my gingerbread it was gone! When I asked about it, the barista said the other customer took it. Well, ok then. May I have an other piece? Nope, that was the last one. But they kindly gave me something else and a coupon for a free Starbucks drink of my choice. Win!

Starbucks in Federal Way

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So I was going to stop in the Port of Tacoma and take a great photo of an industrial building. But it was raining and raining hard. So this fair weather photographer stopped at the Starbucks at 34024 Hoyt Road SW, Federal Way instead. My FourSquare check in phone program declared that I had checked into 40 different coffee places! Really? I should be jumpier 😀

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I think the Starbucks’ Create Jobs for USA campaign is interesting. Sounds like a good idea to me!
www.starbucks.com/responsibility/comhttp://www.starbucks.com/munity/create-jobs-for-usa-program