Ghost Alley Espresso is a coffee shop located at
Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market is a public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront on Pu ...
in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, United States. The business operates in a former service room for bathroom attendants on
Post Alley
Post Alley is a short street in Seattle. The northern end of the street runs under and through Pike Place Market. The alley is mostly paved with bricks. It was called "Seattle's best-known alley for its pedestrian environment and abutting shops a ...
, close to the
Gum Wall.
[ The current owner Michael Buchwald purchased the business from Mercedes Carrabba, who used the shop as a starting location for ghost tours. The space is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Arthur Goodwin, a former manager of Pike Place Market.
]
Description
Ghost Alley Espresso is a coffee shop located at Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
's Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market is a public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront on Pu ...
. The business is sited on Post Alley
Post Alley is a short street in Seattle. The northern end of the street runs under and through Pike Place Market. The alley is mostly paved with bricks. It was called "Seattle's best-known alley for its pedestrian environment and abutting shops a ...
in the city's Central Waterfront district, in a space that previously served as a bathroom attendants' room. In 2015, Rosemary Behan of '' The National'' described Ghost Alley Espresso as a "gorgeous, almost miniature-sized one-off coffee shop that uses the high-tech Modbar system – allowing it to mimic any espresso machine in the world by changing the settings".
According to ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', the business is a "hole-in-the-wall coffee joint". Leslie Budewitz's 2013 fiction book ''Peppermint Barked: A Spice Shop Mystery'' describes Ghost Alley Espresso as a "hidey-hole carved from a former storage and rest station for Market vendors".
Ghost Alley Espresso serves coffee drinks with an emphasis on unusual flavors such as "salty nut" and turmeric mochas. The shop has a small counter with a few stools, and has served as a starting point for ghost tours.
History
As of 2022, Michael Buchwald is the owner of Ghost Alley Espresso. Previously, Mercedes Carrabba owned both Ghost Alley Espresso and Market Ghost Tours. In 2014, Christopher Reynolds of ''Los Angeles Times'' said Carrabba converted "a 147-square-foot closet into this snug caffeine haven and tour-guide headquarters".
In 2020, Carrabba read excerpts from her book ''Market Ghost Stories'' at Ghost Alley Espresso and other supposedly haunted locations at Pike Place Market. Rachael Jones of ''Seattle Refined'' has said of the haunt:
In 2013, Ghost Alley Espresso participated in the Post Alley Hooley, a "neighborhood party" presented by the business-and-resident group Post Alley Project. The coffee shop was one of two in Seattle with a Modbar system as of 2015. During the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, the business accepted orders via the front window.
Reception
Ghost Alley Espresso has been recommended in multiple editions of the '' Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle''.[''Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle'':
*
*
*] In 2017, Rebecca Mongrain of ''Seattle Refined'' said Ghost Alley served the city's best mocha.The Infatuation
The Infatuation (formerly known as Immaculate Infatuation) is an American New York-based restaurant recommendation website and messaging service, created by former music industry executives Chris Stang and Andrew Steinthal in 2009. They are most ...
, and the ''Seattle Metropolitan
''Seattle Metropolitan'', or ''Seattle Met'', is a monthly city magazine covering Seattle, Washington. Its first issue was published in March 2006, and features reporting and feature articles on Seattle events, politics, people, dining and restaura ...
'' have encouraged readers to visit Ghost Alley Espresso instead of the Original Starbucks.
See also
* List of reportedly haunted locations in the United States
This is a list of locations in the United States which have been reported to be haunted by ghosts or other supernatural beings, including demons.
States with several haunted locations are listed on separate pages, linked from this page. Many of t ...
* List of restaurants in Pike Place Market Following is a list of notable restaurants that have operated in Pike Place Market, in Seattle, Washington:
See also
* List of restaurants in Seattle
{{Restaurants in Seattle
Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market is a public market in Seat ...
References
External links
*
Ghost Alley Espresso
at Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market is a public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront on Pu ...
Ghost Alley Espresso
at Zomato
Zomato () is an Indian multinational restaurant aggregator and food delivery company founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008. Zomato provides information, menus and user-reviews of restaurants as well as food delivery options fro ...
{{Restaurants in Seattle
Central Waterfront, Seattle
Coffee in Seattle
Coffeehouses and cafés in Washington (state)
Pike Place Market
Reportedly haunted locations in Washington (state)
Restaurants in Seattle