Last Exit On Brooklyn

The Last Exit on Brooklyn was a Seattle University District coffeehouse established in 1967 by Irv Cisski. It is known for its part in the history of Seattle's counterculture, for its pioneering role in establishing Seattle's coffee culture, and as a former chess venue frequented by several master players.

History

The Last Exit on Brooklyn opened on June 30, 1967 at 3930 Brooklyn Avenue NE near the University of Washington campus in a small light-industrial building leased from the University.Peterson, David (December 21, 2009). "The development of coffeehouses in Seattle" in
1605 E. Olive Way: Seattle Historic Landmark Nomination
''. Retrieved January 6, 2012. It was one of the pioneer espresso bars in Seattle, adding an espresso machine shortly after Café Allegro opened the first in 1975. The Last Exit was known for its original espresso concoction named the Caffè Medici – "a doppio poured over chocolate syrup and orange peel with whipped cream on top". Described in 1985 as "America's second oldest, continuously running coffeehouse", it was also known for its inexpensive food and as a venue for folk music and bohemian conversation.

The Last Exit was also notable as a popular destination for Seattle's amateur and professional Go and chess players including Peter Biyiasas, Viktors Pupols, and Yasser Seirawan, who wrote of the venue, "Those first chess lessons soon led me to the legendary Last Exit on Brooklyn coffee house, a chess haven where an unlikely bunch of unusual people congregates to do battle." Interviewed by ''Sports Illustrated'' in 1981, Seirawan described the Last Exit as "Scrabble players, backgammon players, chess and game hustling ... This became my home. This was to become my family."

When interviewed by Mary Lasher of ''Chess Life'' in 1985, owner Irv Cisski said, "So what if games-people turn away business. They add flavor. Chess and Go are assets to a coffeehouse." The Last Exit was the subject of a 1987 retrospective in ''The Seattle Times'' in which Cisski described his intent to "create a haven where students and the benign crazies" were welcome and where "everyone felt equal and there were no sacred cows". It was later described by Seattle writer and journalist Knute Berger as

Cisski died on August 25, 1992. In 1993 the University repossessed the building occupied by the coffeehouse, and the Last Exit's new owners moved it to upper University Way. The Last Exit on Brooklyn closed in 2000. The space the original Last Exit once occupied now houses staff members from the University of Washington's Human Resources Department.

In popular culture

The Last Exit was included in Clark Humphrey's 2006 book of historical photographs ''Vanishing Seattle''.

Descriptions of the interior and atmosphere of the Last Exit appear in Kristin Hannah's 2008 novel ''Firefly Lane'', in David Guterson's 2008 novel ''The Other'', and in Marjorie Kowalski Cole's 2012 ''The City Beneath the Snow: Stories''.

See also

* List of defunct restaurants of the United States

References

Further reading

*
* Essay 9334.

External links

Last Exiteers
a gallery of portraits of Last Exit regulars by Seattle artist Eddie Ray Walker.
Remember these Seattle restaurants?
(12 of 41), ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (2014)

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1967 establishments in Washington (state)
2000 disestablishments in Washington (state)
Chess in the United States
Chess places
Coffeehouses and cafés in Washington (state)
Coffee in Seattle
Counterculture
Culture of Seattle
Defunct restaurants in Seattle
History of Seattle
Restaurants established in 1967
Restaurants disestablished in 2000
University District, Seattle