Venerable Coffee Shop Bauhaus Closes Its Ballard Location After Seven Years

Ballard’s saying goodbye to one coffee mainstay. Venerable shop Bauhaus Strong Coffee recently announced on Instagram that it would close its location in the neighborhood permanently after service April 15. “Our lease is up and after this rough year it is no longer sustainable,” the announcement read. “I’d like to personally thank every single one of our customers for your support and positive attitude.” (H/T Vanishing Seattle.)

Bauhaus had been in the Ballard spot on and off for the past seven years, but its Seattle history goes back much further. The coffee shop opened on Capitol Hill at Melrose and Pine in 1993, establishing itself among the more prominent, independently owned cafes around town. Its space had a lived-in, used book store feel to it, and its roasts lived up to the business’s name.

The nomadic shop — which expanded to three locations at one point — has gone through upheavals before. In 2015, financial troubles for Bauhaus founder Joel Radin led to the sudden closings of the outposts in Capitol Hill, Ballard, and Green Lake. A year later, Bauhaus reopened the Ballard location, and it had stood as the sole outpost up until fall 2019, when it returned to Capitol Hill.

The most recent incarnation, a small cafe at 515 Harvard Avenue East, trades in the more shaggy vibe of the original Capitol Hill location for a more modern look. It also added beer and wine to the beverage offerings, alongside with a few salads, pastries, and sandwiches, and is open for takeout and limited dine-in services.

No word on how the Ballard closure will impact the Harvard Avenue outpost, if at all. Eater Seattle reached out to Bauhaus management for comment and will update this post if new information arises.

• Bauhaus Strong Coffee [Instagram]
• Bauhaus [Official]
• Vanishing Seattle [Instagram]
• Longtime Coffee Shop Bauhaus Will Soon Open New Capitol Hill Location [ESEA]