Ghost Alley Espresso
| Ghost Alley Espresso | |
|---|---|
 | |
_-_208.jpg) The coffee shop in 2022 | |
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Owner(s) | Michael Buchwald |
| Previous owner(s) | Mercedes Carrabba |
| Food type | Coffee |
| Street address | 1499 Post Alley |
| City | Seattle |
| County | King |
| State | Washington |
| Postal/ZIP Code | 98101 |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 47°36′31″N 122°20′26″W / 47.6086°N 122.3406°W |
| Website | ghostalleyespresso |
Ghost Alley Espresso is a coffee shop at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.[1] The business operates on Post Alley in a former service room for bathroom attendants. Current owner Michael Buchwald purchased the business from Mercedes Carrabba, who used the shop as a starting location for ghost tours. The space is reportedly haunted by the ghost of Arthur Goodwin, a former manager of Pike Place Market.
Description
Located at Pike Place Market in Seattle's Central Waterfront, Ghost Alley Espresso operates under an arch on Post Alley. The space which previously served as a bathroom attendants' room. In 2015, Rosemary Behan of The National described Ghost Alley Espresso as a "gorgeous, almost miniature-sized one-off coffee shop that uses the high-tech Modbar system – allowing it to mimic any espresso machine in the world by changing the settings".[2] The Los Angeles Times has called the business a "hole-in-the-wall coffee joint".[3]
Ghost Alley Espresso serves coffee drinks with an emphasis on unusual flavors such as "salty nut" and tumeric mochas. The shop has a small counter with a few stools,[4] and has served as a starting point for ghost tours.[5][6] In Leslie Budewitz's 2013 fiction book Peppermint Barked: A Spice Shop Mystery, the shop is described as a "hidey-hole carved from a former storage and rest station for Market vendors".[7]
History
Michael Buchwald is the owner of Ghost Alley Espresso.[8] Previously, Mercedes Carrabba owned both Ghost Alley Espresso and Market Ghost Tours.[9][10] In 2014, Christopher Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times credited Carrabba for converting "a 147-square-foot closet into this snug caffeine haven and tour-guide headquarters".[11]
In 2020, Carrabba read excerpts from her book Market Ghost Stories at Ghost Alley Espresso and other reportedly haunted locations at Pike Place Market.[12] Rachael Jones of Seattle Refined has said of the haunt:
According to Ghost Alley Espresso's website, Arthur Goodwin, one of the Market's first managers and a designer of the buildings, kept his office closest to Ghost Alley Espresso. And he's known as their resident ghost. Goodwin is the spirit that makes himself the most known, with baristas at the shop claiming to have felt the presence of a man in the shop. With one barista stating they saw the apparition of a tall man wearing a hat and standing in the doorway.[13]
In 2013, Ghost Alley Espresso participated in the Post Alley Hooley, a "neighborhood party" presented by the business and resident group Post Alley Project.[14] The coffee shop was one of two in Seattle with a Modbar system, as of 2015.[15]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the business accepted orders via the front window.[16]
Reception
Ghost Alley Espresso has been recommended in multiple editions of the Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle.[17] In 2017, Rebecca Mongrain of Seattle Refined said Ghost Alley served the city's best mocha.[18] Reviews in Eater, The Infatuation, and the Seattle Metropolitan have all drawn a contrast between Ghost Alley Espresso and the Original Starbucks.[19][20][16]
See also
References
- ^ "A unique Pike Place Market spot has always been ahead of the curve". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. 2016-09-29. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ Behan, Rosemary (2015-10-01). "The coffee capital: full of beans in Seattle". The National. Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ "A generation of memories steam-cleaned off Seattle's 'gross' but 'beautiful' Gum Wall". Los Angeles Times. 2015-11-11. OCLC 3638237. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ Shearer, Ariel (2022-07-08). "New in Town: A Beginner's Guide to Pike Place". Seattle Magazine. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ "Ghost Tours That Make Me Wanna Scream". Condé Nast Traveler. Condé Nast. 2014-10-17. ISSN 0893-9683. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ "Flowers, Fish—and Phantoms? The Ghost Tour at Pike Place Market". Tacoma, Washington: KNKX. 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ Budewitz, Leslie (2022-07-19). Peppermint Barked: A Spice Shop Mystery. Simon & Schuster. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-64506-070-3.
- ^ "Man assaulted with hammer and woman hit with car in Pike Place Market road rage incident". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ Hyde, David (2018-10-24). "Secrets of the Gum Wall: Drunk People Eat It!". KUOW-FM. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ "The boo-tiful business of ghost tourism". Fortune. ISSN 0015-8259. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ "Postcards From the West: Pike Place Market is a magical lure on Seattle's bustling waterfront". Los Angeles Times. 2014-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ Ausley, Christina (2020-10-02). "Halloween events still happening around Seattle amid COVID-19". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Communications. ISSN 0745-970X. OCLC 3734418. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ Jones, Rachael (2022-10-01). "Pike Place Market Is Haunted: Ghost Stories With Author Mercedes Carrabba". Seattle Refined. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ "Pike Rolls Out the Barrel for the Post Alley Hooley". FSR. July 22, 2013. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ Janovich, Adriana (March 4, 2015). "Roast House to unveil Modbar". The Spokesman-Review. Cowles Company. OCLC 11102529. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ a b "There's Never Been a Better Time for Locals to Support Pike Place". Seattle Metropolitan. ISSN 1931-2792. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle:
- Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle. Simon & Schuster. 2014-05-06. ISBN 978-1-62873-587-1.
- Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle 2016. Simon & Schuster. 2015-11-24. ISBN 978-1-5107-0025-3.
- Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle 2017. Simon & Schuster. 2016-10-18. ISBN 978-1-5107-1063-4.
- ^ "Chocolate & coffee lovers rejoice! We've found the best mocha in town". Seattle Refined. 2017-04-03. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ Balla, Lesley (2019-06-05). "The Culinary Wonders of Seattle's Pike Place Market". Eater. Vox Media. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ Rizzo, Aimee (July 25, 2022). "The Pike Place Market Guide". The Infatuation. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
... get your macchiatos here instead of from the nearby 'first' Starbucks—which isn't even the first one
External links
