Anchorhead Coffee plans fourth Seattle cafe in West Seattle
Anchorhead Coffee is taking over the former Starbucks at 4233 SW Alaska St., a move that would give the roaster its fourth Seattle cafe and a built-in West Seattle debut.
Anchorhead Coffee is moving into the former Starbucks at 4233 SW Alaska St. in West Seattle, a corner storefront at California Avenue SW and SW Alaska Street that gives the roaster a prominent spot in the Junction. The new cafe would be Anchorhead’s fourth Seattle location, adding to its Downtown, Capitol Hill and Pike Place Market shops.
Founder Jake Paulson said the opening was expected in late August or early September, though Anchorhead is now aiming for a fall debut. The company also plans to show up early in the neighborhood, with the West Seattle Summer Fest team saying Anchorhead is expected to run a coffee pop-up during the festival at its future corner.
That matters in West Seattle because this is not a brand-new coffee name landing cold in the neighborhood. Anchorhead already has the kind of local resume that travels well: Paulson founded the company in 2013 after leaving a career as a touring audio engineer for specialty coffee, and StarChefs says Anchorhead took first place in the America’s Best Espresso competition in 2015 before opening its first brick-and-mortar shop in downtown Seattle in 2016. Two more locations followed in 2018, in Bellevue and Issaquah.
Anchorhead’s own locations page currently lists three open Seattle cafes, and its branding still centers the company as a Seattle-based specialty coffee roaster with a roastery in Duvall, Washington. Visit Seattle also lists Anchorhead as a Duvall-based roaster with cafes in Pike Place Market, Downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill and Bellevue, which puts the West Seattle opening in line with a steady local footprint rather than a one-off splash.
The West Seattle site gives Anchorhead something different from its downtown and market shops: a high-visibility neighborhood corner with daily foot traffic and a former Starbucks shell that locals already know. Replacing a vacant chain space with an independent roaster is not a minor cosmetic change in West Seattle. It adds another serious coffee stop to a part of the city that values neighborhood identity, and it gives Anchorhead a chance to make its case before the permanent doors even open at the Summer Fest pop-up.
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