Bean there: Starbucks at Pike Place Market

It’s been about a year since I visited the first ever Starbucks shop. Opened in 1971, it’s a small, almost nondescript place in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Hounded by the usual two or three Japanese tourists with SLR cameras, one could easily spot the trivial coffee attraction down the busy public market. The shop maintains the original logo with a bare-breasted siren, her two tails flung up.

There is no seating area, you just order and go. The neat thing is that they actually ask you for your name instead of giving you a number. The order taker scribbles it on the cup, which is then tossed over to the barista.

“Ready! One short skinny extra hot latte for Hisham!”

• coffee
• travel