Original Starbucks

The Original Starbucks is a coffee shop in Seattle's Pike Place Market, housed in a small space with an old wooden counter from Italy and brown wood paneling. The facade shows the historic signage and window with hand-painted lettering, while inside, old brass coffee bins line the walls.

Three partners opened the shop in 1971 on Western Avenue as a roastery and spice retailer, before moving to Pike Place in 1976. Later, an employee named Howard Schultz bought the chain and transformed it into a sit-down café concept, while this location kept its old roastery format.

The shop still displays the original brown logo with the classic siren, which looks different from the green emblem found at outlets worldwide. Visitors come here to drink coffee where a new way of roasting and selling beans started, later spreading across entire continents.

Those wanting to avoid queues should come early in the morning or late in the evening when fewer tourists are around. The shop sits right on Pike Place Market, so you can combine the visit with a walk through the market stalls.

The storefront still carries the hand-painted lettering from the seventies, and the brass labels on the coffee bins date back to the shop's early years. Inside, an old photo of the founders hangs by the register, recalling the time when you could only buy roasted beans here and not finished drinks.