Canlis Jilts Starbucks, Shacks Up With Intelligentsia

As if Canlis didn't generate enough buzz this weekend with its newly announced scavenger hunt, the folks at Sprudge say that the venerable restaurant has majorly switched up its coffee service. The restaurant, "long an unquestioned Starbucks province," has left the Mermaid in favor of Chicago-based Intelligentsia. The coffee program also includes highly respected independent roasters like Sightglass, Barismo and Transcend, though the ever-twittering Brian Canlis said over the weekend that those will change seasonally. Expect "a rotating menu of single origin offerings served via Chemex."

The Sprudge piece notes that this is a huge financial win for Intelligentsia and the others, "especially in light of the small fortune Starbucks execs spent on the top floor of Canlis throughout the 1990s." It's also another way that third-generation owners Mark and Brian Canlis (seen above busking outside Starbucks) have demonstrated they're not afraid to evolve the family's 60-year-old restaurant. And now coffee geeks, and aspiring coffee geeks, have yet another reason to visit the restaurant besides chef Jason Franey's menu and James MacWilliams' cocktails. A Sprudge operative told Eater "this menu is as good or better than anything in New York, San Francisco, or LA."

· Starbucks Out At Seattle’s Canlis, Intelli + Others In [Sprudge]
· All Canlis Coverage on Eater Seattle [-ESEA-]
[Photo: Canlis/Facebook]