Ghost Alley Espresso

Ghost Alley Espresso is a coffee shop at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.[1] The business operates on Post Alley in a former service room for bathroom attendants, a few steps away from the Gum Wall.[2]: 2014 ed.  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 reportedly haunted by the ghost of Arthur Goodwin, a former manager of Pike Place Market.

Ghost Alley Espresso
Logo with the text "Ghost Alley Espresso", "Pike Place Market", and "Seattle"
Photograph of the exterior of a building with a front entryway and window
The coffee shop in 2022
Restaurant information
Owner(s)Michael Buchwald
Previous owner(s)Mercedes Carrabba
Food typeCoffee
Street address1499 Post Alley
CitySeattle
CountyKing
StateWashington
Postal/ZIP Code98101
CountryUnited States
Coordinates47.6086°N 122.3406°W / 47.6086; -122.3406
Websiteghostalleyespresso.com

Description
Photograph of a paper cup of coffee
Coffee in a branded paper cup, 2022

Located at Pike Place Market in Seattle's Central Waterfront, Ghost Alley Espresso operates under an arch on Post Alley. The space 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".[3]

The Los Angeles Times has called the business a "hole-in-the-wall coffee joint".[4] In Leslie Budewitz's 2013 fiction book Peppermint Barked: A Spice Shop Mystery, the shop is described as a "hidey-hole carved from a former storage and rest station for Market vendors".[5]

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,[6] and has served as a starting point for ghost tours.[7][8]

History

Michael Buchwald is the owner of Ghost Alley Espresso.[9] Previously, Mercedes Carrabba owned both Ghost Alley Espresso and Market Ghost Tours.[10][11] In 2014, Christopher Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times credited Carrabba for converting "a 147-square-foot closet into this snug caffeine haven and tour-guide headquarters".[12]

Photograph of a menu display
Menu display

In 2020, Carrabba read excerpts from her book Market Ghost Stories at Ghost Alley Espresso and other reportedly haunted locations at Pike Place Market.[13] Rachael Jones of Seattle Refined has said of the haunt:

According to Ghost Alley Espresso's website, Arthur Goodwin, one of the Market's first managers and a designer of the buildings, kept his office closest to Ghost Alley Espresso. And he's known as their resident ghost. Goodwin is the spirit that makes himself the most known, with baristas at the shop claiming to have felt the presence of a man in the shop. With one barista stating they saw the apparition of a tall man wearing a hat and standing in the doorway.[14]

In 2013, Ghost Alley Espresso participated in the Post Alley Hooley, a "neighborhood party" presented by the business and resident group Post Alley Project.[15] The coffee shop was one of two in Seattle with a Modbar system as of 2015.[16] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the business accepted orders via the front window.[17]

Reception

Ghost Alley Espresso has been recommended in multiple editions of the Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle.[2] In 2017, Rebecca Mongrain of Seattle Refined said Ghost Alley served the city's best mocha.[18] Reviews in Eater, The Infatuation, and the Seattle Metropolitan have all encouraged readers to visit Ghost Alley Espresso instead of the Original Starbucks.[19][20][17]

See also

References
  1. "A unique Pike Place Market spot has always been ahead of the curve". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. 2016-09-29. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  2. Not for Tourists Guide to Seattle:
  3. Behan, Rosemary (2015-10-01). "The coffee capital: full of beans in Seattle". The National. Abu Dhabi. Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  4. "A generation of memories steam-cleaned off Seattle's 'gross' but 'beautiful' Gum Wall". Los Angeles Times. 2015-11-11. OCLC 3638237. Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  5. Budewitz, Leslie (2022-07-19). Peppermint Barked: A Spice Shop Mystery. Simon & Schuster. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-64506-070-3. Archived from the original on 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  6. Shearer, Ariel (2022-07-08). "New in Town: A Beginner's Guide to Pike Place". Seattle Magazine. Archived from the original on 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  7. "Ghost Tours That Make Me Wanna Scream". Condé Nast Traveler. Condé Nast. 2014-10-17. ISSN 0893-9683. Archived from the original on 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  8. "Flowers, Fish—and Phantoms? The Ghost Tour at Pike Place Market". Tacoma, Washington: KNKX. 2013-08-08. Archived from the original on 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  9. "Man assaulted with hammer and woman hit with car in Pike Place Market road rage incident". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  10. Hyde, David (2018-10-24). "Secrets of the Gum Wall: Drunk People Eat It!". KUOW-FM. Archived from the original on 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  11. "The boo-tiful business of ghost tourism". Fortune. ISSN 0015-8259. Archived from the original on 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  12. "Postcards From the West: Pike Place Market is a magical lure on Seattle's bustling waterfront". Los Angeles Times. 2014-10-11. Archived from the original on 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  13. Ausley, Christina (2020-10-02). "Halloween events still happening around Seattle amid COVID-19". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Communications. ISSN 0745-970X. OCLC 3734418. Archived from the original on 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  14. Jones, Rachael (2022-10-01). "Pike Place Market Is Haunted: Ghost Stories With Author Mercedes Carrabba". Seattle Refined. Archived from the original on 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  15. "Pike Rolls Out the Barrel for the Post Alley Hooley". FSR. July 22, 2013. Archived from the original on 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  16. Janovich, Adriana (March 4, 2015). "Roast House to unveil Modbar". The Spokesman-Review. Cowles Company. OCLC 11102529. Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  17. "There's Never Been a Better Time for Locals to Support Pike Place". Seattle Metropolitan. ISSN 1931-2792. Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  18. "Chocolate & coffee lovers rejoice! We've found the best mocha in town". Seattle Refined. 2017-04-03. Archived from the original on 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  19. Balla, Lesley (2019-06-05). "The Culinary Wonders of Seattle's Pike Place Market". Eater. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  20. Rizzo, Aimee (July 25, 2022). "The Pike Place Market Guide". The Infatuation. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022. ... get your macchiatos here instead of from the nearby 'first' Starbucks—which isn't even the first one
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