Brown’s Coffee

The power of reviews! This place is now closed.

I’ve been meaning to review this place, but now I’m pretty sure it’s closed. But, ah well.
I walk/​drive by here every day, and despite their hours listed they were usually closed for the day. On the rare occasion they were open [they tried being open for dinner a couple of times], we went in but the food prices were outrageous for such an eclectic little coffee shop. Happy hour prices were laughable. This is a tiny neighborhood in Shoreline… whose prices/​food were they competing with? Go to Lena’s for breakfast, that Asian place for lunch, and Suni’s for dinner, then get your drinks from the nice bartenders at that 7UP bar.
Oh, and the first time I ever went in here a woman came out saying «LEAVE NOW! Find somewhere else to get your coffee!» Apparently she’d had a bad experience.

Pretty sure this place is closed for good. We were there ⁷⁄₁ at 8:30am and there is a little noted taped on the door saying ‘Sorry, we are closed’ and I saw lots of boxes inside like they were packing up. This is the second time I’ve seen Browns closed, they used to be down the street in that ‘Thrift Store for Education’ building, they were hardly ever open there. ( Unilocal made me choose a star rating — I’ve never actually eaten there, just letting people know they are Closed.)

I think this place could be better if they:
— Open up the space leading to the counter. It felt like walking through a maze through Grandma’s cluttered kitchen just to get to the counter
— Lower the sign that says «Order here/​Pay here»
— Install more lights (again Grandma’s cluttered house)
— Wait/​counter staff needs to provide a little more direction like which side of the counter to order from. And hire friendlier staff. The girl that took our order was pleasant, but the one I asked for ketchup from didn’t smile very much and handed me the ketchup with a less than helpful expression. I did see her smile once at another (male) staff.
— consider table service to give people more time to decide on what to eat. it was awkward ordering because it felt like we needed to read the menu in ½ second and order.
— add a little more corned beef to the «corned beef hash». It was more like hash with a sprinkling of corned beef.
My husband and I spent our entire breakfast time analyzing how the place could be better (we both managed café’s before). I hope the owner reads this and takes some points into consideration. It’s always sad to me when a place could be doing so much better. Being their made me want to volunteer my time to help with improvements.

I really like Brown’s coffee. They have really good breakfast burrtios and a large selection of vegetarian and vegan food options. Good coffee too. Sometimes it can be a bit slow, but this is not a problem for me, just leave some time having a nice long brunch.
I’ve never had lunch or dinner so this review is based solely on the brunch and coffee.
Rating for coffee: 3 — Stars
Rating for Menu: 5 Stars (Breakfast Burritos and veggie options yay)!
Food Quality: 4 Stars
Service: 3 Stars
Overall rating:
4 — Categories
15 — stars
3.75 total stars!

I really wanted to give Brown’s 1 star for my experience. the other reviews are too forgiving. This place does not merit 4 stars, IMO.
The tale began on a November morning; my mom and I, who normally enjoy our breakfasts at Leena’s across the street, decided we wanted to be «adventurous» and opted for Brown’s. What a mistake. I guess this is why you don’t leave something if it’s good. D’oh.
Anyways, we arrive. Parking is sort-​of-​not-​very ample, but it looked promising from the outside.
Long story short[ish]: We are seated by an unenthusiastic staff. Except not really, because you have to order at the cash register. Weird thing #1. Said staff decides to steal our jelly bowl randomly [there wasn’t even that many people there] No words exchanged, just straight up took it. How charming; Weird thing #2. Plus, the table was dirty. I quote, verbatim from my mom «I was scared to eat there.»
I ordered the corned beef hash; completely misleading as it was more like a large chunk of seasoned hash browns with baby bits of corned beef with eggs [I think? I don’t remember the eggs]. Mind you, the hash browns were quite tasty, but really misleading for $ 10 of no meat and fried potatoes with seasoning that took 30 minutes to put together. Weird thing #3 & #4.
The worst thing was… THERE WAS A HAIR. I shook it off. but then ANOTHER APPEARED, BENEATH THE PILE OF HASH BROWNS. [see photo for details] Weird thing #infinity. Note: there is no specific # for such a grave offense.
I felt bad at this point because my mom’s egg’s benedict was decent, and I was having the worst breakfast ever. To top it off, I tried asking for a box for my mom and the staff gave me the most awkward containers to put my food in. REALLY? They gave me this soup container for the leftover benny, and then when I realized she wanted to keep the hollandaise, they gave me a box [Weird thing #. ehh lost track]. Staff was incompetent to say the least.
I think if you had all the time in the world and you like artsy but homey coffee alternatives, it might be for you. If I came here purely for coffee [and not food], I’m sure my review would be higher. But as far as I know, we’re stickin’ with Leena’s for breakfast.

My internet connection was down at home one morning, I was working from home with a sick dog. I contacted Brown’s Coffee and they allowed me to work from their location all day long and allowed my dog to sleep on the floor next to me while I worked so I could watch over him as well. The people running the shop were extremely friendly, very sweet to my dog and did not continually prompt me to order things at all (although I did eat breakfast, lunch and had several drinks after I found out how good everything tasted!). I appreciated their kindness and would recommend this place to anyone!

I went there a few weekends ago for breakfast and I LOVED it! My husband had the biscuits and gravy which was great. But what was so amazing was the Bagel with everything on it (forget the name of it) It had bacon, hollandaise sauce, eggs, hash browns and it was all piled inside of the bagel. It is one of the best breakfast sandwiches I have ever had. It is a must have.
Yes, it is busy in the morning on the weekends and parking is almost impossible. But that wouldn’t stop me from getting that bagel!

I had wanted to try Brown’s biscuits and gravy for a while. That is what I ordered with a side of bacon and a 24 oz. cup of joe (bottomless cup is no more). Coffee was fair. The biscuits were very hard and very dry like week old microwaved biscuits. The gravy was flavorless except for a profoundly salty flavor, almost like pure salt. The owner forgot to tell the cook about my side of bacon so after delivering the biscuits he went back to cook up the bacon. However the biscuits and gravy were so gross, I just walked out. Sometimes its best to cut your losses.

I ordered 1 coffee and 2 breakfast burritos to go on Saturday and it took 45mins (mind you there was hardley anyone in there)! Right there I was annoyed. When I got home and opened the containers I was not impressed. The eggs in the burritos were over cooked and the fillings were soggy (Yuck)! I would not recommend eating there for breakfast.
On the up side the coffee was delicious.

They normally close at 5pm. During the summers they close at 3pm. I didn’t think coffee shops closed THIS early until I came across this place. You would think that a place that closes early would compensate by having delicious out-​of-​this-​world coffee.
Honestly? I’d rather go to Starbucks.

My partner and I have been to this coffee shop /​café twice now. The first time we went we just got coffee, and this time we went for a late brunch on our day off. Both times we’ve really had a nice time.
This place is clean, and really has character. The owner works the espresso machine himself and does an excellent job. I love that the beans are roasted right there on site.
I’m a bit of a pain when it comes to my coffee drink (decaf soy mocha please?), but you know what. He has gotten it right both times, and it’s tasted wonderful.
The food was good today. They have vegan and vegetarian options on the menu as well. The kitchen seems willing to make reasonable accommodations for special requests too.
We’ll definitely be back again (and again) to this place. It’s worth the drive from Lynnwood to sit in a nice café with such great food and a great atmosphere.

Love this place, love the food, the coffee, the owner and staff – super nice people. Love supporting other small businesses. Don’t love that out of the 16 visits we have made to this place over the last three months, on fully ¼ or 25% of those visits, one or more items that we have ordered have been forgotten. For example, ordered two coffee drinks (not complicated ones, either). Sitting. Waiting. Finally asked about them, oops, they forgot! This happened multiple times. Ordered items off of the menu (not complicated ones, either). Sitting. Waiting. And waiting some more. Oops, they forgot! This has happened at busy times and slow times. How relaxing/​enjoyable is it to place your order and then have zero confidence that your food or coffee will actually arrive??? Not!
I really, really want to support this business. But the funky, casual vibe of the place shouldn’t extend to the service provided. I really don’t know when or if we will be back. Their loss.

I’ve been to Brown’s several times and have been very happy with the experience. The owner and the staff I have encountered have been nothing but friendly and helpful.
I really like the flavor of the espresso, drip is also good Going into their coffee shop feels like stepping into your best friend’s kitchen from home. At least it does for me because I grew up in the country.
Atmosphere is very family friendly and cozy. Lots of seating is available. They have live music on the weekends! Not sure if they have music every weekend but I think they do at least on Saturdays.
I have also eaten breakfast here. I had the eggs with feta cheese and toast. Food was very good and portions were big but service was slow. I waited for half an hour for my order of eggs and toast and hash browns. Would come back for breakfast only if I had time to spare.
Brown’s seems to be a small local business doing business the right way– by engaging their customers, providing great coffee, and offering a friendly experience. Glad I discovered this place!

I’ve been going to the nail shop next to this place for a while and have always wanted to try the coffee here. I was amazed by the flavor of the coffee, it’s the best I’ve had, and THE AMIGO breakfast was delicious!
I’ll be coming to this place at least every other week. YUM!

Stunned at the sincere friendliness of the staff and patrons here! There are Seattle coffee shops where cynicism — and what one of my grown kids calls «tragic hipness» reign. Yuk. Keep your posturing, and I’ll go to Brown’s, when I’m anywhere nearby.
My everything bagel was huge, and the cream cheese on it almost too much, the serving was so generous!
Three choices of drip for your pleasure, and (unheard of!) organic half and half. Now that’s pleasure!
I originally tried a smoky blend to try something new, but it wasn’t really to my liking. When the barista asked me how I liked it, she offered to pour it out and let me choose another. 5 star service.
I noticed that they have several interesting vegetarian lunch options, too. Curries and the like. Wow. Cool. (Much better than hip.)

Now that I have a little red dot next to my name I guess I have to make these funny for once. That’s a lot of pressure.
There are roughly 1.72 billion coffee shops in the city of Seattle. All but maybe 3 of them serve coffee that is «good enough» that it is hard to give them anything less than 4 stars, because if I am in need of a serious fix I’m going to go inside, regardless of how their drink was the last time i visited. I don’t like hypocrisy.
Still, I’m going to give this place 5 stars for the following reasons:
— They were playing indie music in the background. I don’t particularly like Indie music but I like coffee shops that like indie music.
— They are new. I like new things. New places bring new experiences. Since they are new and did everything well, they get a bonus for their newness. Bonus is a funny word. Bonus. Bonus.
— They did not come in with a clear game plan. Their Unilocal thing says they are open until 2. I showed up at 4. I talked to the guy that worked there and asked him how late they are open. He said «I don’t know yet. If business is good we try to stay open til 5. It’ll all change when we decide what we’re going to do about a dinner menu.» It’s a new place that’s developing strategies and changing. That’s neat too.
— The server was in a great mood. There are a lot of good servers — a lot of people that act happy, but this guy was clearly having a good time.
— Something else something. I had a 5^th thing but then I forgot it. This is a placeholder that I will never, ever, ever fill with anything other than these last few sentences, ever.
I am a coffee addict. I need coffee early every day or I get a tremendous headache. You would think I can tell the difference between what is great and bad coffee, but I can’t, because before I drink coffee all of my senses are dulled. I don’t see, hear, smell, touch or taste well, and I didn’t get coffee today until 4, so that lack of feeling was on high.
I think this place had above average coffee, but I am not sure, because without coffee I don’t have a sense of taste. Still, I think it’s safe to recommend it.

If you haven’t stopped into Browns in the last month, you should hurry on over. Neil has brought on the famous «King of Sandwiches» Terry Houser former owner of The Brooklyn Grinder that was located in the U-​District.
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If you are craving that Muffaletta, Rueben, or Italian Grinder that made the Brooklyn Grinder so famous, take a trip a few miles North to Shoreline.
Terry is now running the kitchen of Browns Coffee and Café where you can find those oh so delicious sammy’s that made him the King! Check him out he’s there 7am-​2pm Mon-​Friday and even whipping up some delicious breakfast items.
The online menu has not be updated yet, so you’ll just have to stop in to see what they have for now.
Yum Yum, Rueben is calling my name right now!!!

Neal Brown roasts the best coffee in Washington state. No doubt about it.
I can’t think of why anyone would buy coffee anywhere else unless Brown’s Coffee is too far away or they have something against a man who is passionate about what he does.
Whenever I come in here, the coffee I buy seems to have been roasted that morning. Sometimes the coffee roaster, right there in the middle of the tiny shop when you walk in, is rotating with roasting beans. If you ask Neal what’s fresh, he’ll tell you everything.
He keeps his coffee in large aluminum bins that you can gladly get whiffs of if you’re so inclined. His selection changes. Sometimes I get the Rwanda. Lately I’ve been getting the Peru 5900. Whatever I get, though, I know it’s organic, fair trade, and full of flavor. I buy the Sumatra beans for my parents who are pretty content with their Kraft Yuban. If you like a real kick in the ass, go for Lieutenant Brown’s Dark Roast — a 12 oz. of that makes me laugh crazily to myself and confirm loudly how much I love coffee. Neal has compared it to crack.
At $ 13 a pound, this coffee is cheaper than a lot of other organic, fair trade coffee that is old, travels from far-​away roasters, and is roasted in huge batches.
Plus, if you’re lucky, you might get a free concert when you go in. I don’t know how many times I’ve come in and seen someone on a banjor or gee-​tar.

Seriously, I kid you not, the BEST drip coffee I have ever had.
They had been pretty busy, so they only had the medium roast drip left which was find by me. The owner was kind enough to make a pot of french press of the dark roast for Matt. For two coffees, one being a big one and one a medium, it was like $ 2.60 or something like that! The cute son of the owner rang us up and his dad stood proudly and watched.
They roast beans there and have an awesome roasting machine!
Seriously people, if you want good coffee… GO THERE. It’s cheaper than Charbucks and soooo much better.