Joelle’s Espresso Cafe

The folks that work here are very nice. The latte was not good. Too much milk not enough espresso for the price. Likewise on the soups. Mediocre at best and way overpriced.

Average corporate building coffee shop. Service isn’t great and coffee drinks leave much to be desired. I work in the building so I come here occasionally out of convenience. not my favorite.

Five stars for the staff. They make your coffee well and they make it right. I love their trivia question of the day. :)
They offer food from Mel’s, such as premade salads and sandwiches, as well as their own soups.
For breakfast you can grab a pastry or bagel.
Standard fare, I guess… but excellent service and very clean!

Thank you for offering to sterilise everything to accommodate my severe dairy allergy, the chai latte was delicious.

Not the place you want to start your morning. Barista’s aren’t friendly and only stop to make your coffee after they are down with their conversations. This morning the cashier couldn’t get her words straight and looked directly at me and said, «F» Tuesdays. Then while waiting for my coffee the barista saw two drinks and said «F**k». Its a coffee shop, not a bard. On top of that, my drink was burnt and unsweetened. As a former barista you are not only responsible for making great coffee — especially at $ 4.00 a latte but exercising great customer service and getting your customers day off to a great start. I work in the building and kept trying to come back but this will be my last time.

The service here is terrible. I work nearby and occasionally come down for a quick snack or drink.
A specific recent instance of poor customer service occurred last week when I was trying to buy a maple bar. The manager and a worker were at the register chatting. I stood in front of them at the register and stared them down for a good 30 seconds before one looked at me, said hello, and then they proceeded to continue chatting.
I stand and stare for another 30 seconds and then blurt out I wanted to buy a maple bar. The worker rings me up, chatting to the manager the entire time, in fact I had to hold my card out for a long time before she finally swiped my card.
The one and only reason they get my business is utter convenience. If I have any spare time, I try to go anywhere else.
Also, the lattes and espressos here are terrible. I hope they close down and are replaced with a better establishment in the near future.

Charmless. Not sure about this friendly barista claim, I’m having none of it.
They have coffee. But so do the hundred or so Starbucks within spitting distance.
A couple times, I’ve been hungry and meandered past their food case, and nothing appealed to me. It all look old, prepackaged or unappetizing. That’s a shame, since this lobby sees a lot of traffic and there is some real untapped potential here.

First time visiting Seattle. Walked past Joelle’s and I thought I would give it a try. I had the Mediterranean chicken and rice soup. It was delicious! Homemade soups at fair prices. Outside patio with a tranquil city view.

Good soup, and they had a wide variety of choices. I had the tomato bisque, and my friend had the corn chowder. I liked the fact that the bisque wasn’t quite smooth and there were little pieces of fresh tomato in there to chew on. There was a flutist playing in the adjacent lobby when we went there, and it made for pleasant, soothing background music. All in all, a decent lunchtime stop downtown, not too crowded. I would probably visit again to try another soup.

My cappuccino was smooth with no burnt after taste which is a plus in my book. I even asked for lightly sweetened hazelnut and it was just that.
Expensive soups, but the one I got was pretty good. I had Thai chicken curry and rice. Everything is slightly more expensive due to the location. They also sell pre-​made sandwiches and salads from Mel’s downstairs.
Plenty of tables and seating and it’s left clean.

Prices are what they are some are high and some are decent. At least for me soup always seems to be a bit a pricey on its own. Still, if you are bargain hunter and do what I did opting for the large vegetarian lentil the price seemed very reasonable at $ 4.99 and for an extra $ 0.70ish cents I got two wheat bruschetta with cheese (delish). I gotta say I have found a contender for my default lunch soup establishment… whoo-​hoo!

Thankfully Joelles has returned to the building. Fantastic coffee and great baristas. Love the Torrefazionne. The lobster bisque and coconut chicken curry soups are the best. The daily trivia is fun too.

Charmless office-​building coffee shop, for those too lazy or too tight for time to walk a block further. On my only visit the baristas were friendly and my Americano tasted to me like an Americano (I’m no expert) but the ambience was airport-​terminal sterile and the music was intrusive and very irritating. There are many, many better options within a few hundred yards.

Change the «Seattle’s Friendliest Baristas» sign to «Seattle’s Flakiest Baristas».
I was walking around on my lunch break and decided to try this place. Most of the tables and chairs were empty. That should have been my first hint. I got in line and waited for a man to finish up his transaction at the register. A different customer grabbed a sandwich and got in line behind me. Instead of helping me first, a different gal behind the counter asked the man behind me if he wanted his sandwich heated up. The man was confused because he looked at me. Yes, why didn’t the girl try to take my order first? I looked at the man and I gave him the «It’s okay, go ahead» look. After the gal heated up his sandwich she asked me what I wanted to order. I ordered the chicken noodle soup with French bread. The French bread was hard as a rock. I only took one bite to realize that it could chip a tooth. I threw it away. The chicken noodle soup was salty and no chicken. It wasn’t worth $ 5.26. It wasn’t worth the experience.

I haven’t «done lunch» in Seattle for a couple of years, not working there anymore really bites. But this place doesn’t bite. I was pleasantly surprised at the selection of soups, and even after noon they still had plenty. The lobster bisque was good, lacked a certain zing, could have had a bit more flavor, but it was ok. The parmesan crusted bread I ordered hit the spot. The girls who work there were friendly and helpful.

Great lobster bisque soup and sandwiches.
Friendliest baristas? Nope. Great coffee? Nope.

So this is the third time I’ve tried Joelle’s, and it will be the last.
The space is clean and bright but doesn’t quite manage to make you forget that you are in an office building lobby.
The milk in my cappuccino was perfectly foamy, but the coffee was bitter (like really bad), which is a cardinal sin for a café, and no amount of foamy milk can atone for it.
The service was underwhelming. The signs say «Seattle’s friendliest baristas.» Neither the cashier nor the barista went out of their way to smile or act friendly, though they weren’t unfriendly, either. They were just sort of indifferent.
The music was annoying, retro rockabilly with R-​rated lyrics. Glad I didn’t bring my daughter. Fine for a late-​night hipster café on Capital Hill, but this place is in the middle of the business district in the middle of the day. I’m guessing management has ceded a bit too much control over atmosphere to the help.
Café Migliore, two blocks north, beats this place handily in every category, and they have World Cup soccer in HD, too.

**Back in business!** O to Go is long gone.
I think they just reopened this morning. I got my grande chai and tried a H&C croissant. Yum. The froth on the chai was thicker than i’ve had before elsewhere (except maybe Vita). It was really good.
Awesome.

Joelle’s is closed. It was bound to happen, I suppose. While I can’t comment on their breakfast/​coffee business, they were always fairly empty at lunch. I’m not convinced that the business that’s moved in to their old space will fare much better.

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