In Pullin' Shots, Seattlest visits some of the region's best coffeehouses. Nothing is more Seattle than our unique coffee culture, and it is our goal to uncover what makes our famed "third places" so special. Today, Pullin' Shots stops in at Urban Coffee Lounge in Kirkland's Juanita neighborhood.
Where do they get their beans? Urban Coffee Loungs (UCL) uses Stumptown beans roasted in Seattle.
What espresso machine do they use? La Marzocca GB5
What kinds of milk do they carry? Whole and skim milk, soy ( an additional 40 cents & for Breve) and Hemp Milk for an extra 50 cents. We were very surprising and a sign of the times, to learn that they serve considerably more Hemp milk than Soy! Also of interest, UCL offers what they call a Top Shelf Mocha (which is a bit more than their normal Mocha) that uses handmade truffle chocolate syrup from Chocolati.
What food do they offer? For such a small place, UCL has a lot of great food choices. Two delicious looking loaves of fruit bread sit at the counter from Finales (this Seattlest tried the Vanilla Blueberry bread and it was great!), plus sandwiches and wraps from Domovoi Happy Foods, assorted other pastries and delectables from Essential Baking, McTavish Shortbreads, Blazing Bagels, Chocolati Chocolates and the list goes on and on.
Music? Devotion by Beach House, on the Band of Horses Pandora music station.
Snob Factor? Surprisingly, very low! Pulling into my parking space in this little contrived “Downtown” setting (complete with contrived, avant garde iron sculpture that seem to be all the rage throughout the Eastside!) in Kirkland's uppity Juanita neighborhood we couldn't imagine that this place is half as cool as it actually is. UCL is unexpectedly laid back with a mellow, natural meets industrial design and attention placed on all the details. Staff including Assistant Manager, Andrew are uber friendly and helpful. On a side note, we really have to respect such confident owners who step into the belly of the beast so to speak, and have opened UCL kitty-corned in the same small intersection with a bustling Starbucks.
Ambiance/Clientele: This is a great neighborhood coffeeshop doing a lot of things right, in quite the unexpected location. During the day they cater to the usual Suburbanite Soccer Mom crowd with kids in tow, laptop shielded students and a handful of groups conducting business over their lattes. At night UCL dons its hipster, cool-cat hat and welcomes yuppies (and yippies !!) to relax with coffee, a rotating selection of bottled beer (Everett's Scuttlebutt Brewing, Stone IPA, North Coast's Old Rasputin and La Fin Du Monde) and wine by the glass or bottle (including 14 Hands Chardonnay and Cab, Trinity Oaks Pinot Noir and Desert Wind Ruah). During the cold months, they host unplugged musicians on their small stage on Friday nights and then heads outside for louder live music on their expansive patio.
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