Ada’s Technical Books and Cafe

This coffee shop/​café is very unique, but not without some problems.
Pros:
+ Lots of space and conveniently located outlets next to every table
+ Beautiful interior, from the tables to the library, I could spend my entire day in here (more on that later)
+ Coffee (slow drip) was good, disappointed they do not offer cold brew
+ Friendly baristas! In Seattle?! Yes! They work here
+ Love that it is named after Ada Lovelace
+ Food coming out looked good, and they have quite a few veggie options
Con:
+ Stingy, stingy, STINGY wifi policy. You have to buy a drink to get a password, then that password runs out after 3 HOURS?! Say what?! I am all about working at coffee shops, and of course you have to buy a drink to justify using their wifi, but I have never heard of a time limit. It really rubbed me the wrong way, and for this reason, given all the other positives I will not come back here to work, only to look at the literature, not buy a coffee, and leave. I feel like they are turning away future customers by being so withholding of the wifi. Not cute.
Overall, I wanted to love this place, and in a lot of ways I do, but they need to get their wifi situation sorted out.

This place was a quaint surprise and I absolutely love it and want to go back more often. It has the creaky, beach house, old bookstore feel that’s just really homey. And even though they’re advertised as a technical book shop, they’re so much more.
As a bookstore, they offer a small variety of select genres. The best part, at least for me, is that they have several book clubs based on those genres.
Then there is the café – the other half of this place. Offering a variety of teas, coffees, pastries and a small menu of hot foods, I was pretty mesmerized by their checkout system that’s pretty systemic with barcode/​scanner system for each item.
The first time I went, I had the shakshuka. Flavor: it was very tasty. Portion: enough to satisfy a single person. My only disappointment was that the eggs were overcooked.
The music playlist was spot on to my likes. From Muse, to Legend of Zelda instrumentals, to Game of Thrones opening – it was nerd heaven and I absolutely loved it. And it was the perfect in volume to not distract from my reading.
Staff was super nice and helpful, and I could tell they were happy working there which gives an even better atmosphere. I’d recommend going early in the day to avoid the crowds as it can get loud and compact like a can of sardines.

Ada’s is a personal favorite of mine
and for so many obvious reasons.
(how have I not reviewed yet?)
I’ve been coming to Ada’s for a long time now and it is consistently wonderful. Their espresso is quality and service is very friendly. The atmosphere is simply beautiful, all the way down to the tiny details. I’ve been here many-​a-​nights, studying and reading!
I love to get people gifts while I am here. Everything is so easy to find and you’ll be stuck in curiosity as you read through book titles and see the interesting selection they have!
See you soon, Ada!

Truly an enjoyable crafted cup of coffee. Smooth and full flavored. Definitely recommend for coffee and working environment.

This is such a cool spot to drink coffee or peruse unique books. Their lattes are one of my favorites in Seattle and the café tables have interesting items to look at under the glass tabletop. I’m looking forward to sitting on the patio once it’s nice enough.

I like this place where has a nice interior design and very interesting selection of books!
They also sell some puzzles and games which I want to buy for myself and as a gift.
You can take a look books while drinking tea or coffee at café area. Each table has unique material that you can see through the glass top.
It’s good place to study or to spend some quality time for yourself!

Have discovered this place today! I fell in love. Elegant design, tasty food, awesome books on science, math, fiction, programming and more. Friendly staff, wifi, high ceiling. Great place to study!

I LOVE ADA’S! The best most comprehensive and well-​organized nerdy bookstore you could ask for! I just was to live there and own that book collection! Combined with a café of great coffee and a menu full of vegan options, I don’t know why I would ever need to leave.
I can’t wait to attend the User Experience book club they run! So excited I stumbled upon this gem!

Ada’s is a real novelty. It is a technical bookstore with café and techie/​engineering oriented children’s toys and games. Ada’s is clean and neat on the inside, with very cool tables in the café area. The coffee is good, but they also have interesting alcoholic drinks that include shrubs and other delicious flavors. I have a programmer/​tech junkie friend who enjoys coming here each time he visits for himself and gifts for his kids. Every time I’m in the neighborhood I have to come here.

This is the coolest book store ever. Granted I’m a software engineer, so I’m a little biased towards a bookstore named after Ada Lovelace. But the coffee is good, and it’s awesome to just walk around and look at the books and the games that this store sells.

This bookstore is very aesthetically pleasing to the eye, very fun i guess i would say, lots of cool books and toys, the space is really big, plenty of places to study and they have outlets almost everywhere, the food is good too :)
love the dressing on the salad, the baked goods look great too. the savory items are really good, love the scramble and the grilled cheese…

Ada’s combines two of my favorite things — techy wares and coffee. I completely geeked out as soon as I saw all of the puzzles, gadgets, and an entire back room filled with programming books. There’s lots of seating in the café too, mostly occupied with people working or studying.
Tip #1: The street parking around Ada’s is fairly accessible.
Tip #2: Plenty of seating inside the coffee shop.
Overall: I wish I could come back, hole up in a corner with some books, and read the whole day. Unfortunately, I don’t live in Seattle… Until next time, Ada’s.

Ada’s is a bookstore that makes me wish I were smarter! Or at least more STEM-​inclined. Most of the stuff they sell is, well, just too technical for this English major, but I love the fact that this place exists and seems to be thriving.
The front room is divided into two halves — on the left is the café and seating area, and on the right are the more general-​interest books. The popular-​science nonfiction and the sci-​fi/​fantasy shelves are my jam, so that’s where I end up spending most of my browsing time. Unfortunately, since most of the books are over my head and/​or I’m not the target audience, it’s hard for me to spend much time browsing the shelves and I often don’t find anything to buy.
There are a few shelves of science toys, wooden puzzles, and electronic kits, and a small selection of notecards, jewelry, and gifts (including some fun logo T-​shirts and merchandise). Most of the puzzles and kits have testers out that you can play with. There’s also a free monthly puzzle printed out on paper, so you can grab one and work on it later. In the back room is the REALLY technical stuff: programming manuals, scientific texts and so forth.
They have several really good book clubs, which I like to follow along with even when I don’t actually end up attending the discussions. You can sign up to receive notifications about what they’re reading, and the books are available at the store throughout the month. Book clubs include Classics of Sci-​fi, Human Experience, Dune Book Club, and more.
The store is light, spacious, and welcoming, and there are always seats available in the cute little café, so I guess what I should really do is bring my embarrassing YA novels here to read and support Ada’s by buying coffee and snacks at the café. If you see me sitting there with a book that has a princess on the cover, don’t judge me!

Yumm! Mushroom pot pie with biscuit top. Nothing’s more perfect for a rainy winter brunch. Great cappuccino and they do Gibraltars too. The book space is beautiful, well designed and comfortable. I can spend all my day here!

I love the quirkiness of this shop! It’s a café, bookstore, mini tech shop, library, and barista’s quarter. I found them via Unilocal’s new business section and felt my fiancé would love the techy, astronomical, and mathematical theme they had. They have all sorts of trinkets for all types of nerds (and I mean this in the most passionate way ever). You can buy the books, or you can sit there and read an entire book about (insert subject). It’s pretty amazing.
The pastries and drinks weren’t all too bad and there is a ton of seating in the library, café, and back room for those who are studying. There is a patio table too for those who enjoy outdoor seating. I could have sat there and read a several books if I wanted. What’s even better is it’s down the street in upper Capitol Hill close to Remedy Teas and Coastal Kitchen. This is just a cute unique shop befitting for it’s area.

There are three coffee shops I love in the city, and this is one of them. Right off the bat: this place has air conditioning (awesome in the summer) and huge windows that permit lots of natural sunlight (awesome in the winter). Now, moving on!
The theme is definitely «for engineers and developers and the otherwise science or mathematics-​oriented,» but it’s inviting even for someone with only a hobbyist inclination towards those fields.
The books are, as the name suggests, technical books. The entire back section of the store is full of computer programming titles. But there’s also a good selection of science history and science fiction as well. If they don’t carry a book, they’ll order it for you and call you when it arrives (I did this once).
They carry Kuma Coffee beans (buy a bag and you get a free cup of coffee from the counter). The café portion has a lot of espresso-​based drinks, and even though they have fancy names, they seem to be your standard lattes, cappuccinos, etc. The food is delicious too — get the breakfast scramble!

Fantastic bookstore — feels homely for all the right reasons. It’s not too uppity, the baristas aren’t snobby or elitist, the coffee is good, and they serve brunch.
While the tables and chairs are limited, there’s also an outdoor (back and front) patio.

I really love this place!
sort of a hybrid café, book store, coffee shop and other knick knacks. The café portion is right up front has some surprisingly tasty options. Single source coffee that you can have multiple ways (espresso, pour over etc., small selection of decent teas. the baked goods and food are phenomenal! I’ve had the quiche ($ 8.75) and the mushroom pie ($ 9.25). Also recently tried the breakfast scramble which eggs scrambled with caramelized onions, cheese and kale with toasty English muffin and side salad. Scrambled eggs are deceptively difficult to get right and are always too runny or too rubbery. They got it just right! Portions are small but very good and you can tell made with care. All savory things come with nice side salad. The space has nice studious vibe and they do sport some seating in the café area and some more in the back. Decent amount of outlets for the lap top folks too.
check them out!

*Special highlights for the workerbees in us:
Free wifi: yes (with a 2 hour passcode)
Work friendly: yes!
Comfy seats: ⁴⁄₅
Noise level: quiet (light music in the bg)
Lighting: bright natural lighting with cute decorative lights
Interior style: Unique modern book store with dope tables that are built with a casing that houses cool scientific gadgets! They also have Outdoor seating in the front and side of the building.
Outlets access: Great! Tons and easy to access from almost anywhere you choose to sit.

A neat, fun, well-​executed combination of two things I love: a bookstore and café. Not nearly as dry and sterile as the name would suggest; in fact, I would heartily suggest that the proprietors rename this cool, inviting boutique store. Not only does the bookstore offer much more than just technical books, but the café offers amazing specialty coffee varietals and beautiful house-​made pastries. That, and the name causes the store to not even appear in a «Coffee & Tea» Unilocal query…
Interesting window tables offer tech and science-​themed collections for your amusement. Browsing the books, there is indeed a variety of informational, technical and scientific non-​fiction works, but also a focused, quality selection of science fiction, speculative historical fiction, children’s books and even young adult literature, sans the usual «sparkly vampire» and most «awkward pathetic romance» varietals.
They offer short and long-​term offices, meeting spaces, workstations and conference rooms for rent as well.
Worth a look, even if you’re not a scientist!