Monorail Espresso is a coffeehouse in Seattle. It is notable as having been founded as the first espresso cart in the world. An espresso cart is a food cart from which a barista can make espresso.
History
On December 1, 1980, Seattle proprietor Chuck Beek set up an espresso cart at Westlake Center under the Seattle Center Monorail as an experiment to see whether there was a market for espresso sold on the street rather than in a traditional coffeehouse. The business model proved successful and in 1997, the business moved from a cart to a walkup window. The coffeehouse is located at 510 Pike Street in Seattle and today is owned and operated by former Monorail barista, Aimee Peck.
In 2015, Monorail opened a second location in the lobby of the Columbia Center, located at 701 Fifth Avenue in Seattle. This location is the only commercial establishment in the building's lobby.