The downside here is that parking around Ballard Avenue can be annoying. But once you get here, the possibilities are endless. There’s granola or gluten-free oat pancakes if you want breakfast, a pastrami and egg sandwich if you want something more substantial, meze if you want to snack, and cocktails and beer if you’re not really here to *work*. Sabine turns into a bar around 4 p.m., but you should be logging off by then anyway.

We wish there were more places like this in Seattle. This Fremont cafe-slash-restaurant keeps long hours (it’s open from at least 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day but Monday), and has a wide-ranging menu of pastries, small plates, and not-so-small plates, with an emphasis on catering to vegans, vegetarians, and the gluten-intolerant — and there’s lots here for the non-alcoholic drinks crowd too, thanks to the smoothies and juices. It’s healthy food that doesn’t feel like “health food.”

The Caffe Vita attached to the KEXP studio next to Seattle Center is a de facto coworking space. Any day of the week you’ll find dozens of people on phones, tablets, and laptops sprawled across the tables and armchairs. Despite the crowds, there’s a library-like atmosphere here, and mostly what you hear is the KEXP broadcast being created a doorway away. While there’s nothing beyond the usual Caffe Vita food, that food isn’t bad — have you tried the Mamnoon wraps? A bonus for early risers: Drip coffee is $1 here from 7 to 8 a.m.

Pioneer Square has more bars than coffee shops, but the Chief Seattle Club’s ʔálʔal Cafe (pronounced “all-all”) is a gem. It’s a beautiful, high-ceilinged space full of rustic tree-trunk tables; the mugs, stamped with the ʔálʔal name, are a gorgeous deep shade of blue. The food menu emphasizes pre-colonial ingredients — the bison barbacoa tacos tend to sell out quickly, but there’s lots of unique baked goods here too, like the blue corn bread, which has corn kernels baked into it. 

On weekends this Central District bakery often draws out-the-door lines for Christina Wood’s creative pastries, like the cruffins, the chocolate rye croissants, or the inventive macarons (black sesame yuzu is one current flavor). But on weekdays things are quieter, especially in the afternoon around the time you need to get out of your home office and get a pick-me-up — whether that means a Broadcast coffee or one (or two) of those macarons.

Matthew Wendland, owner of Burien Press and Moonshot Coffee, recently opened this place in Beacon Hill and we’re not sure what to call it— it’s not quite a coffee shop, it’s not quite a bar, it’s not quite a restaurant serving lunch and dinner, but it’s also all of those things? The menu changes based on what’s in season, and what dishes the staff can dream up, but the vibes are always immaculate, whether you’re drinking a coffee or sipping a can of craft beer. Come hang out here before it gets too popular.