Sam’s Espresso, which has been located just inside the front door of the Greenwood Fred Meyer since 1988, is looking for a new spot when Fred Meyer closes next month for extensive remodeling.

Salam Ballout, who started Sam’s Espresso in 1988 and gave it to his brother Sam to run, told me today that when Fred Meyer reopens in the late fall, it will be with a Starbucks, not Sam’s. So Sam and Salam are looking for a new spot in Greenwood where they can serve up their low-priced espresso and famous hot dogs.

Salam also owned a Sam’s Espresso inside the Fred Meyer at Aurora Avenue North and North 185th Street from 1993-2000, before it was replaced by a Starbucks. Another Sam’s Espresso is currently located inside the Lake City Way Fred Meyer.

Salam said the brothers will miss their regular clientele, so they hope to find a new location quickly. They’re working with real estate agents to find something, but so far they haven’t found a spot with parking or reasonable rent.

Sam’s is well-known for its $2 mocha and the scent of hot dogs as you walk through Fred Meyer’s front door. Salam said the business has some customers who’ve been with them since the beginning, including a woman whose mother was a customer when she was pregnant with her, and who now brings her own 3-year-old to the cart for hot dogs and treats.

Salam Ballout and his brother Sam serve up low-priced coffee, hot dogs, cookies, bagels, granitas and other treats just inside Fred Meyer’s front door.

“We have people come from Redmond, Kirkland, Snoqualmie,” Salam said. “They used to live here and they come back once a month just to have our hot dogs.”

Caffe Vita opened its doors at 7402 Greenwood Ave. N. last Friday for its “soft” opening. Now, its grand opening is set for tomorrow, and the coffee shop plans to donate all proceeds from the day to the Phinney Neighborhood Association.

From the press release:

One-hundred percent of proceeds from all purchases made Friday will be donated to the Phinney Neighborhood Association and Center. Come have a Vita coffee, meet new neighbors, and help us support your local community.

Caffe Vita is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Caffe Vita opened at 7402 Greenwood Ave. N. on Friday.

At 4 p.m. Monday, a steady stream of customers came and went. The coffee shop also sells doughnuts, croissants, pizza, granola, cookies, Theo chocolate bars, juices, Dry Soda, loose leaf tea, travel mugs, and French press coffee makers.

It also serves coffee made with the Japanese cold brew system called ”Oji.” Water very slowly drips from the top containers onto the grounds in the center, at about 43 drips per minute. It takes six to eight hours to brew one full batch. It is then served over ice. The resulting coffee is supposed to be less acidic and more dessertlike. Ross, seen in the photo below, described it as “almost like whiskey.”

Caffe Vita is also planning to open a cafe next door, but it is still under construction.

The new Caffe Vita at 7402 Greenwood Ave. N. hopes to open by the end of this month.

The original plan to have a pizza oven has changed; the cafe will now sell individual pizzas made at the Via Tribunali commissary in Georgetown. Caffe Vita also recently applied for a liquor license to sell beer and wine.

Update: A Caffe Vita representative sent us this note on Jan. 10:

“First and foremost we are very excited to become a part of the Phinney Ridge neighborhood. We look forward to serving excellent coffee to, and supporting, this vibrant community. As you might imagine, opening a new business can be a logistical adventure. We’re striving to be open by the end of the month.”

Thanks to Eric for the photo!

When the Couth Buzzard book store closed in September of 2008 after 20 years as a Phinney Ridge fixture, no one could have foreseen its comeback the following year. Couth Buzzard Books Espresso Buono Café re-opened at 8310 Greenwood Ave. N. just before Christmas last year, and last Saturday, it celebrated its one-year anniversary.

“We survived and thrived in a bad economy with a used book store and a café,” co-owner Theo Dzielak, 59, said from the back of the store on Saturday. As blue grass duo Pickled Okra performed “pickled” Christmas songs in the front, he added, “It’s our first-year anniversary, and we’re celebrating.”

“Our music — well, we throw songs into the pickle jar for a while, and they come out a little different,” performer Todd Gray said in between sets with wife and band mate Paisley Gray. With a laugh, the Greenwood couple added, “It’s an acquired taste.”

Performances from children’s music to blue grass went all day during the anniversary celebration. For the evening, Spanish wine tasting and a free concert were scheduled with performers Stew Hendrickson, Pint and Dale and headliner Jim Page.

Dzielak, a former store manager at the original Couth Buzzard, re-opened with original owner Gerry Lovchik, 73, and café owner Penny Wight, 59, on Dec. 15, 2009.

“We wanted to re-open, but not without a café person,” he said in reference to a conversation he had with Lovchik when the two were looking for a new location. “This was a no-go unless we could find a coffee person.”

He gestured to Wight and then explained her expertise as one of the main components to the store’s recent success.

“We couldn’t have made it as just a used book store,” he admitted. Wight, already a coffee shop owner in Lynnwood, had the “perfect” background to help the new store survive.

“Between the three of us, we have decades and decades of experience,” Wight said as she typed on her laptop next to Dzielak. “We were able to survive by becoming part of the community.”

She said the new store has “added events where people can show off their talents in a comfortable way — the kind of place where everyone is welcome.”

Aside from the café, which serves local beer and wine, the new store is still centered on using trade as a way to build value in their product and help customers feel a sense of ownership.

Dzielak said customers bring in used books for trade, are assigned store credit, and then use it towards the purchase of other books in the future. Customers can only use store credit to pay for 50 percent of the price of each item; the rest is out of pocket.

Customer records are kept in an old notebook — in a “trade log like the old days,” Dzielak said. “We’re kind of like a recycling center that way,” he added. “This system was started in the late 1960s and early 70’s in San Francisco.”

“But we’re a cleaned-up and amped-up version of the old one,” Wight explained. “I think it’s a stroke of genius.”

Long-time customer Rich Levinski, 42, said, “They give you more value than other local book stores, and a better deal in the long run.”

“And our baristas are so kind and considerate,” Wight said as she got up to relocate moveable book shelves to make room for the evening concert. “They make homemade baked goods and soups — the whole nine yards.”

“Our café is just fun, and we have the freedom to experiment and make things,” barista and cook Jason Studstill, 26, said as he took a tray of brownies out of the oven. “We are surrounded by eccentric artists, and that carries over into our work.”

“The reason this place is becoming a draw is because it has a nostalgic twinge,” artist Brian Prosser said as he sketched the ongoing blue grass performance. “People come in here every day and are excited that their old book store is back.”

“Opening up a business is almost like having a child all over again,” Dzielak said. “All these crises and decisions come up every day, and you’re counting the days until it goes off to kindergarten and you can finally take a breather.”

“Now that we have a system going,” Wight said, “we won’t have to work 80 hours a week to keep it going.”

Tyler Steele is PhinneyWood’s intern. He is a journalism student at the University of Washington.

Wayward Coffeehouse at 8570 Greenwood Ave. N. is still closed after the accidental Nov. 22 fire at neighboring Rite Zone discount store caused water and smoke damage. Wayward staff members are still assessing the damage and don’t have a reopening date. They have set up the online “Wayward Phoenix Fund,” with the help of Seattle Browncoats Charities.

From their latest email update to supporters:

We are doing everything we can to get Wayward Coffeehouse reopened as soon as possible but there are still many challenges to overcome. Some of those things are beyond our control and we are anxiously waiting for those issues to be resolved. Your donations will help us during the closure and with all we have to do to reopen.

One of the hardest parts of being shut down by the fire is not being able to see all of you each day. We miss you all!

We are very grateful for the support and assistance of Seattle Browncoats Charities for making donations to the Wayward Phoenix Fund possible. Wayward has been the coffee haven of the Seattle Browncoats since we opened our doors over 5 years ago (a “Browncoat” is a fan of the sci-fi show Firefly and its follow-up film Serenity). As Browncoats ourselves, we are especially heartened by their ongoing support of Wayward Coffeehouse. There’s a reason we’re proud to be the geek coffeehouse and home to all the fandom, social, gaming, writing, charity, etc. groups that share our love of sci-fi/fantasy and all things geeky! Your support makes us mighty!

After three years of preparation and a lot of elbow grease, the remodel of the Chocolati Café in Greenwood is complete with additional floor space, later business hours and “Movie Nights” every Monday at 7 p.m.

“We really just wanted to make it the neighborhood place,” said owner and entrepreneur Christian Wong, 34, as he ran around taking care of the day’s business in the new addition at 8319 Greenwood Ave. N. “The Greenwood area is lacking a larger café like this one.”

On top of those recent additions, Wong said that in the next few months he will be tripling his chocolate line, serving beer, pairing wine with his handmade chocolates, and organizing live music events for the Greenwood café.

Wong, who owns and operates all five Chocolati locations, said, “The Greenwood community is awesome – it’s like the cheers of coffee houses.”

Thomas Vanroosendaal, barista and Movie Nights coordinator, noted that “we have a lot of regulars – 50 percent of them I know by their first name. It’s just a great neighborhood with a small-town feel about it.”

Wong, whose plans for future Chocolati locations include “smaller stores with 12 seats or less,” said he will keep the Greenwood and Wallingford cafes large and “focused on community.”

In the middle of a caffeinated, late-night chat with Vanroosendaal, frequent customer Gale Kennedy said, “I like the employees – they really get to know you.”

Regular customer Gale Kennedy chats with Thomas Vanroosendaal, barista and “Movie Nights” coordinator.

Wong said he decided to expand the café because of the unique Greenwood culture, “different than all the others – so artsy and eclectic.”

He said he was creative during the expansion, which increased floor space to a total of 2,100 square feet, by enlisting the help of his baristas during “a lot of cleaning, painting and dumping.

“Yeah, we did most of this work ourselves,” he said, looking around the new meeting room once used for storage. The expanded rooms can be reserved for meetings, private parties or catered events.

“It’s an old building, and we’ve been patching it up a lot,” Wong explained. “But we tried to leave a lot of the integrity of the building – keep it fun.”

Wong even cleaned up and put an old, broken heater on display because of its “antique quality,” enhancing the vintage look of the place.

“They expanded but kept the intimacy and flavor of it,” Kennedy said as she eyed the light fixtures.

Vanroosendaal said customers can now get the “best of both worlds” – private rooms in the newly remodeled back wings and fast-paced service in the original coffee house up front.

But, in particular, he is “really proud of the colors, different rooms and the furniture.”

To cater more to students and the night crowd, Wong said he decided to increase the café’s hours to 11 p.m. every night of the week and introduce more entertainment options like “Movie Nights.”

“I’m happy about it,” said Vanroosendaal, who picks the movie based on seasonal themes. “First and foremost, we wanted to get people in here that wouldn’t normally enjoy the space.”

Next week’s “Movie Nights” will be on Monday, Nov. 1, and will feature “Night of the Living Dead” in honor of the passing holiday.

“We should have cracked this open a long time ago,” Wong said. “Business has already picked up with the added space.”

Tyler Steele is a journalism student at the University of Washington, and PhinneyWood’s new intern. All photos by Tyler Steele, except the panorama photo of the cafe is by Mike Veitenhans.

According to applications filed with the Department of Planning and Development, Caffé Vita Coffee Roasting Co. is opening a coffee shop and pizza place at 7402-7404 Greenwood Ave. N., between Zak & Zoe dog mercantile and Assemble Gallery & Studio.

The DPD permits state that Caffé Vita will be at 7402 Greenwood Ave. N., and Pizza Vita will be at 7404 Greenwood Ave. N. Peering through the open hole where a door handle would be, the two addresses are currently one big open space.

We don’t have any more information, because Caffe Vita has not yet responded to three requests for more information.

Caffe Vita has five other locations in Seattle and one in Olympia.

Thanks to popular demand and our mad weak PHP coding skills, we’ve finally figured out how to organize the Food & Drink section into categories to make browsing easier.

See: All | Bars/pubs | Coffee shops | Delicatessens | Restaurants

We could use your help figuring out how to improve this further. We’ve had other suggestions, including highlighting places that are kid-friendly and have outdoor seating. What do you think? Do those categories work for you and are there any others you’d like to see? What would you consider “kid/family-friendly?” And would a place that has a few chairs outside qualify as having outdoor seating, or should we set a certain threshold?

Also, with the addition of a delicatessen category, we’ve added Ken’s Market and the Safeway deli to the section. And an oversight on our part has been corrected with the addition of Espresso Buono Cafe (located inside Couth Buzzard).

Let us know what you think!

Its grand re-opening has been pushed back several times, but the Green Bean Coffeehouse promises that they will definitely open at 7 a.m. Friday in their new location at 8533 Greenwood Ave. N.

In November, when the Green Bean opened its temporary location inside the Sip & Ship, they hosted a HUGELY successful ‘Green Bean Mugging’ where customers were invited to donate a mug to help rebuild their collection of quirky, mismatched mugs. The community response was unbelievable, with nearly 800 mugs donated. This time, the Green Bean will host a ‘Green Bean Canning’ in support of the Greenwood Food Bank. Donations of canned goods will help stock the shelves of the food bank’s new larger location at 9041 Greenwood Ave. North.

The Green Bean Coffeehouse, known not only as a great coffeehouse but also as a community center in the neighborhood, will have significantly more space in the new location including a separate meeting room available for private gatherings, community meetings, and classes. They plan to continue kids’ story time, open mic, live music, and anticipate a wide variety of volunteer-run classes and activities to take place in the new, expanded location. A schedule of events can be found at www.greenbeancoffee.org.

The Green Bean was one of four businesses destroyed in the Oct. 23, 2009, arson. They set up shop temporarily inside the Greenwood Sip & Ship, then signed a long-term lease for the old McDonald’s building. Delays in permitting and construction delayed their re-opening several times.

The Green Bean will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The Green Bean will have a grand re-opening celebration on Friday, Aug. 13, in conjunction with the monthly Artwalk.

Today’s Seattle Times has an in-depth article on the preparations to reopen the Green Bean Coffeehouse. The Green Bean was one of four businesses destroyed in the Oct. 23 arson. Shortly after that, the Green Bean temporarily took over coffee operations at the Greenwood Sip & Ship. Green Bean is now renovating the former McDonald’s building at 8533 Greenwood Ave. N.

The opening has been pushed back because of construction permitting delays. When I stopped in to check on construction last week, Green Bean staff said they were now aiming for a July 10 opening.

The Green Bean Coffee House had hoped to reopen inside the old McDonald’s building at 8533 Greenwood Ave. N. on Saturday, to coincide with the Greenwood Car Show. But Green Bean staff told me this morning that permitting delays mean they now plan to have their grand opening on July 10.

The building was painted green outside.

In the meantime, on Saturday the Green Bean will set up tables and chairs in the little plaza area next to what used to be the drive-thru. They’ll serve coffee and pastries to car show visitors, and a face painter will be there.

The inside of the building is still under construction, with new turquoise paint on the side wall.

The new wooden front counter is designed to look like the counter in the original location.

Local artist Nicole Stremlow-Monahan, who owns the newly opened Art on the Ridge at 8005 Greenwood Ave. N., will be painting a mural outside.

After having its original location destroyed by an arsonist last October, the Green Bean set up temporary shop inside the Greenwood Sip & Ship. Two weeks ago, they were dealt another blow when their contractor had his truck and all his tools stolen while he was working inside the coffee shop.

Then this morning, another theft. They had placed their huge three-compartment metal sink just outside the back door for cleaning. Moments later, it was gone. They put the word out to neighboring businesses, and someone soon found it behind the Baranof Restaurant, just a few doors down.

They don’t know who stole it, but Green Bean Operations Manager Emily Davis said it took four people to lift the sink to bring it back.