Ghost Alley Espresso
| Ghost Alley Espresso | |
|---|---|
 | |
 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 located at Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, United States.[1] The business operates in a former service room for bathroom attendants on Post Alley, close to the Gum Wall.[2]: 2014 ed. The current owner Michael Buchwald purchased the business from Mercedes Carrabba, who used the shop as a starting location for ghost tours. The space is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Arthur Goodwin, a former manager of Pike Place Market.
Description
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Ghost Alley Espresso is a coffee shop located at Seattle's Pike Place Market. The business is sited on Post Alley in the city's Central Waterfront district, in a space that 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".[3]
According to Los Angeles Times, the business is a "hole-in-the-wall coffee joint".[4] Leslie Budewitz's 2013 fiction book Peppermint Barked: A Spice Shop Mystery describes Ghost Alley Espresso as a "hidey-hole carved from a former storage and rest station for Market vendors".[5]
Ghost Alley Espresso serves coffee drinks with an emphasis on unusual flavors such as "salty nut" and turmeric mochas. The shop has a small counter with a few stools,[6] and has served as a starting point for ghost tours.[7][8]
History
[edit]As of 2022, Michael Buchwald is the owner of Ghost Alley Espresso.[9] Previously, Mercedes Carrabba owned both Ghost Alley Espresso and Market Ghost Tours.[10][11] In 2014, Christopher Reynolds of Los Angeles Times said Carrabba converted "a 147-square-foot closet into this snug caffeine haven and tour-guide headquarters".[12]
In 2020, Carrabba read excerpts from her book Market Ghost Stories at Ghost Alley Espresso and other supposedly haunted locations at Pike Place Market.[13] 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.[14]
In 2013, Ghost Alley Espresso participated in the Post Alley Hooley, a "neighborhood party" presented by the business-and-resident group Post Alley Project.[15] The coffee shop was one of two in Seattle with a Modbar system as of 2015.[16] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the business accepted orders via the front window.[17]
Reception
[edit]Ghost Alley Espresso has been recommended in multiple editions of the Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle.[2] 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 encouraged readers to visit Ghost Alley Espresso instead of the Original Starbucks.[19][20][17]
See also
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References
[edit]- ^ "A unique Pike Place Market spot has always been ahead of the curve". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. September 29, 2016. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ a b Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle:
- Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle. Simon & Schuster. May 6, 2014. ISBN 978-1-62873-587-1. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle 2016. Simon & Schuster. November 24, 2015. ISBN 978-1-5107-0025-3. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle 2017. Simon & Schuster. October 18, 2016. ISBN 978-1-5107-1063-4. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Behan, Rosemary (October 1, 2015). "The coffee capital: full of beans in Seattle". The National. Abu Dhabi. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ "A generation of memories steam-cleaned off Seattle's 'gross' but 'beautiful' Gum Wall". Los Angeles Times. November 11, 2015. OCLC 3638237. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ Budewitz, Leslie (July 19, 2022). Peppermint Barked: A Spice Shop Mystery. Simon & Schuster. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-64506-070-3. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Shearer, Ariel (July 8, 2022). "New in Town: A Beginner's Guide to Pike Place". Seattle Magazine. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ "Ghost Tours That Make Me Wanna Scream". Condé Nast Traveler. Condé Nast. October 17, 2014. ISSN 0893-9683. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ "Flowers, Fish—and Phantoms? The Ghost Tour at Pike Place Market". Tacoma, Washington: KNKX. August 8, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ "Man assaulted with hammer and woman hit with car in Pike Place Market road rage incident". Yahoo! News. April 18, 2022. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ Hyde, David (October 24, 2018). "Secrets of the Gum Wall: Drunk People Eat It!". KUOW-FM. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ "The boo-tiful business of ghost tourism". Fortune. ISSN 0015-8259. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ "Postcards From the West: Pike Place Market is a magical lure on Seattle's bustling waterfront". Los Angeles Times. October 11, 2014. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ Ausley, Christina (October 2, 2020). "Halloween events still happening around Seattle amid COVID-19". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Communications. ISSN 0745-970X. OCLC 3734418. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ Jones, Rachael (October 1, 2022). "Pike Place Market Is Haunted: Ghost Stories With Author Mercedes Carrabba". Seattle Refined. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ "Pike Rolls Out the Barrel for the Post Alley Hooley". FSR. July 22, 2013. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ Janovich, Adriana (March 4, 2015). "Roast House to unveil Modbar". The Spokesman-Review. Cowles Company. OCLC 11102529. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ a b "There's Never Been a Better Time for Locals to Support Pike Place". Seattle Metropolitan. ISSN 1931-2792. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ "Chocolate & coffee lovers rejoice! We've found the best mocha in town". Seattle Refined. April 3, 2017. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ Balla, Lesley (June 5, 2019). "The Culinary Wonders of Seattle's Pike Place Market". Eater. Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ Rizzo, Aimee (July 25, 2022). "The Pike Place Market Guide". The Infatuation. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
... get your macchiatos here instead of from the nearby 'first' Starbucks—which isn't even the first one
External links
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