Cafe Suisse

All of the rest of the reviews are pretty much correct. I've been in when the chef/cashier was getting pastries out of the tabletop oven and swearing to herself, "Burned them again!" The hours are unreliable. This is not a well-financed business and help can be out. I get a large hot tea, for which they stuff gourmet tea into tea sacs. There are tables for lunch -- seating for 6 -- with plastic covers tacked over their tops. There used to be a fondue lunch once a month. I don't know whether that's still going. But it's not the food or the convenience or the hours or the fondue or the chocolates imported from Switzerland that made me a daily customer when I worked downtown. It's the adventure and joy and kindness of someone trying to make a go of it and welcoming gratefully every customer with a cheap CD player playing hits from the '70's. It's the suspense of whether the pastries will come out well this time. It's friction-full interface of lovely accepting proprietors tending to the young tech diaspora of Indian, Chinese, French, and Russian software engineers and project managers. I love it.

A very cozy coffee shop plus a small store in downtown Seattle. And it has the best Mocha or hot chocolate drink. The coffee beans they use is from Victrola Coffee. The owners and staff are all very nice and friendly. If you sit down and eat, they are awesome people to have a conversation with about almost anything. Some of the pastry items are great (try the Belgium waffle). I am so happy we still have this place after the pandemic in this location.

A downtown café that opens at 9am seems quite unacceptable to me, but anyway, I managed to visit Café Suisse on a rainy morning and tried their croissant, a mediocre one at best, soft, dry and lacks flavor. Disappointed, I was then intrigued by their Swiss chocolate and almond cake and had a piece, which turned out quite satisfying. This is a small bakery cafe that sells traditional style pastries and content to be living in its little world. The price, service, and interior decor (lots of old Swiss maps and posters!) all reflect that simple joy and pride. Customers don't come here for the taste (which is just ok), they come for the familiar comfort. If one of the handwritten notes in the pastry shelf reads, "best chocolate cake", I wouldn't accuse them of lying. After all, this is how we all remember about our grandma's cake. They have many gluten free options, but also note that they don't seem to make a lot everyday so they may start to sell out things in the late morning.

We stayed in Seattle for about three days, and we definitely ate way too much in that time frame. That being said this was the BEST and FASTEST place we got food from. Food readily available, staff super nice, food also being delicious??? It's like a little hidden slice of heaven. It didn't seem to have a dining inside option (due to covid or maybe the time of day), but they do have two little tables with two chairs each if you wanted to sit and chow down! Their sausage turnover was to die for and the pastry was so flaky and soft and the filling was amazing. Needless to say: if we lived in Seattle, we would be visiting daily!

I haven’t been able to get there in a while, but always love going to this wonderful coffee and gift shop. I live in the Bay Area, but go to Seattle often to see my sons and always go there every day of my stay. The owners and employees are lovely people, and we always have a delightful visit while I’m sipping my delicious mocha. Please hang in there, Cafe Suisse! You are the best! I hope to see you again soon!