Citizen Coffee

I lucked into the most fabulous find today: Citizen Coffee. I pass this building on lower Queen Anne nearly every day and I’ve been watching it transform from an auto repair shop into… something. I just wasn’t sure quite what.

As I drove by today I did my usual slow down to see what I could see, and this time I saw bottles on the shelves and a new funky sign on the outside of the building. All very encouraging! So I screeched to a stop and, stepping around the guy on a ladder putting finishing paint touches on the outside, poked my head in. I was greeted by co-owner Justin Taft, who was more than happy to give me a quick tour. It turns out that today was their very soft opening, maybe more of a pre-opening -- pastries in the case, but the upstairs not quite finished and of course the aforementioned exterior painter. Give them a day or so, though, and I bet that they will be totally spiffed up and ready for business.

Citizen will be open from 6am to 9pm, catching both the morning coffee and pastry crowd and the evening beer/wine and dinner crowd. Justin promises that the selection of wine is a very good one, and moderately priced to boot. I can already envision spending way too much time here, either at one of the window-side stools on the double-height first floor or in the second floor loft space that’s shaping up to be wood-floor warm. While there I also discovered that Justin’s other restaurant is one of my new favorites, the Hangar Cafe in Georgetown. The menu will be similar in that Citizen will also offer crepes of the savory and sweet variety as well as sandwiches, but with a slightly more upscale twist.

Ah, the joy of what I know will be the perfect neighborhood coffee shop/restaurant/bar, opening just down the street. Lucky me, and welcome to my ‘hood, Citizen!