In the Pacific Northwest, a cup of coffee often comes at a counter or through a window.
In the Pacific Northwest, a cup of coffee often comes at a counter or through a window.
Small drive-up espresso stands have become a familiar sight across Washington, offering a quick stop for caffeine while feeling like a neighborhood gathering place.
The format isn’t exclusive to the state, but it grew alongside the region’s coffee culture. Coffee giant Starbucks opened its first Seattle location in the early 1970s.
By 1980, Monorail Espresso was serving drinks from a cart in downtown Seattle, helping spark a coffee-cart boom. Over the years, drive-up kiosks have become another way for people to get their espresso on the go.
Small drive-up espresso stands have become a familiar sight across Washington, offering a quick stop for caffeine while feeling like a neighborhood gathering place. (KOMO News)Kirkland resident Randi Manuel noticed the stands after moving to Washington from Nevada.
“I’m from Las Vegas originally, and I try to tell everybody, like, the coffee stands out here are like smog stands out there," said Manuel. "You know? They’re on every corner.”
Manuel was drawn to the local businesses behind many of those windows.
“Coming from Vegas and coming out to here, there were so many more family-owned businesses out here that I wanted to support,” Manuel continued.
Now she owns one of them: The Coffee Stand in Kirkland. Manuel was a longtime customer before co-purchasing the coffee kiosk during the pandemic.
Small drive-up espresso stands have become a familiar sight across Washington, offering a quick stop for caffeine while feeling like a neighborhood gathering place. (KOMO News)The stands are built for convenience, but Manuel says many of their customers don't seem to be in a hurry as they grab their morning cup of coffee. Some of them will return to the line just to finish a conversation with the person at the window. “It feels more like family than it does just customers, which for me is more meaningful,” Manuel says.
“If you’re going to pay me money for a cup of coffee, like, it just feels so impersonal. And then knowing that we’re going to see them every single day and we have those relationships, it's just nice.”
That relationship, Manuel says, is part of what keeps a local stand in someone’s daily routine.
“You’re not a number to us," said Manuel. "You’re a person with a name and a drink order and a dog and a family. We want to talk to you as much as you want to talk to us.”
