Best coffee shop in Ballard. Hands down. As a virtual worker I have tried nearly every coffee shop in Seattle, this is the only place I will work from. If you are visiting Seattle its the perfect capsule of Seattle coffee culture. Unlike most coffee shops they make their own syrups and you can tell. Their brown sugar vanilla latte turned me into a coffee drinker. Their baristas are always nice and the perfect amount of chatty. The coffee shop is filled with regulars, dog's making guest appearances, and outlets. Alex, the manager could not be more of a warm presence.
We stumbled upon this place as we were walking with our dog. To be honest, our goal was to get a coffee and pastry from the nearby store that was closed that day. Ventura coffee has great ambience, and modern looking decoration which makes it a great spot to work and grind out some productivity. They had really interesting pastries, this mouth watering wet orange cake that i had never seen anywhere before, and the other seedy long fluffy croissant bread. All that aside, the entire coffee shop had this amazing garlic scent, reminding my wife of her childhood memories and grandma’s cooking. Naturally, she went inside again and ordered their avocado toast with garlic aioli. It was ok, i wish they had actually toasted the bread. Regardless, they’re still getting a five star.
This is not a bad shop by any means, but I have pretty much always had a negative experience when coming here. I don't know if I'm just hitting this place on the wrong days, but I get the worst reception from the baristas. The last time I came in I felt like I was a huge inconvenience to the barista. She may have been having a bad day, but I must say it feels awful to try so hard to be cheery and get a stone cold response back from the barista.But really the three star review is more for the quality of the coffee unfortunately. There is a lot of potential here, but the espresso itself is always rather burnt tasting (which is totally a common thing for a shop in any city), and their drip is always rather acidic.Again, I definitely don't think this is a BAD shop, but I would never recommend it as a standout in Seattle nor show this place off to any of my friends.
Their brown sugar and rosemary Iced coffee is fantastic!!!! I’m so excited to have this spot right next to where I live! They are also so friendly!
Delicious breakfast sandos and lattes! The perfect way to start your day. Staff was all very friendly and we really enjoyed our orders.
Cute place with well make breakfast dishes. Very nice modern but cozy vibe and friendly staff. The breakfast food was all made to order, and made with care and good attention to detail. The egg and cheese bun was great and flavorful. Their avocado and toast says that they use various different bread companies, which I applaud, however today's bread with the avocado was not great... A bit dry and very seedy - but the other breakfast items were top notch!
The counter girl shot me a dirty look the moment I walked in, as if I wasn't young and cool enough to go in there. She got downright snotty when I tried to pay with cash, because cash is for old people now I guess. Then after all that uppity, sorority girl-type sass, their overpriced coffee was lousy. It had a sour, under-roasted flavor and I ended up throwing it out. I won't go back in there, ever.
Their breakfast sandwiches are amazing! Especially with avocado and Mama Lil's pickled peppers added on. The coffee is great too. Despite being pretty busy a lot of the time they get your food and drinks out remarkably fast and the staff is always very very nice. It's definitely one of my favorite coffee shops in Ballard, if not Seattle as a whole!
I passed Venture Coffee a few times before finally coming in to grab a breakfast. Then I realized they are actually under the same owner of Cafe Hagen, that's why they have Hagen's beans and bakeries (which I like a lot). I had a Copenhagen Latte and a breakfast sandwich, the coffee was ok, the breakfast sandwich was fresh and tasty. Service was friendly, overall it's an ok experience.
Honestly, I tried to be nice because I liked the cardamom latte I had there once upon a time but I can never see myself giving business to this establishment again. It just goes against my morals. Whoever is in charge of this absolute dump should be ashamed of themselves for the disrespectful way they treat their baristas in the open and in private. It's one thing for a working environment to be uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing, but it's another thing entirely to see a manager belittle and degrade the very people working to keep the place in business. Unacceptable.