Java Joints of Jet City: Joe Bar

Rachel Hynes is a former barista and yet still enjoys spending time in espresso places. She will review them. This is her first such review.

We've got a morning to kill and Broadway is hot and dirty. We spurn the main drag and stroll up shady, tree-lined Harvard to Joe Bar, right across the street from the Harvard Exit.

The shop's unusual layout--there are two separate balconies that overlook the rest of the store--charms us, and we search for an empty table. Two cheeky young men, who had been discussing the latest Manchester United match, stop mid-sentence and ask us to join them. Why not?

The line is long. Once I get to the counter, I understand why. A doe-eyed brunette is pulling shots and chatting with each customer, while the adorably quirky crepe-maker artfully tosses herbs in-between wisecracks. By the time we make our way back to our soccer-playing companions, we're getting the idea that "this ain't no Starbucks." Joe Bar is busy filling the niche of being expressly civilized.

The espresso is excellent. The Americanos have a deep-roasted bite underneath the layer of sweet crema on top. The doe-eyed barista was particularly artful, creating hearts and other designs in customers' lattes, almost too pretty to drink. The pastry selection was somewhat lacking - we found ourselves chewing heartlessly through a dry muffin but feeling satisfied with a flaky-yet-soft plain croissant. Joe Bar protests: "Why worry about pastries, when we have the crepe?" We can't vouch for the Parisian authenticity of the Joe Bar crepe but we'll tell you that they're damn delicious. They offer a variety of sweet and savory crepes from ham and red pepper to Nutella with fruit. Considering they only have one crepe-maker, the crepes come up pretty quickly, and in true European fashion, they'll package them to go.

Joe Bar feels like Seattle's better self: laid-back and casual but also friendly, welcoming and stylishly quirky. It's not just the tasty coffee that keeps customers coming back, it's the feeling that this scene is our scene. It's got to be, since we promised Messrs. Man United that we'd be back next weekend.

"Joebar Interior" by Jennifer C. Kogut