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Review : Seattle WiFi Cafes The Zeitgeist and Auriface
Today I biked and sailed over to Seattle like I do most Sundays. I played some video games with BBQ and had a good second breakfast at the Crocodile Cafe. I need to remember that some times it is just not possible to beat BBQ at Super Puzzle Fighter || Turbo.
I visited two of growing number of WiFi enabled cafes, tried out their connections and had a cup of joe at each. They are both totally free to use and give Starbucks and their six bucks for WiFi charge a flaming middle finger.
The first stop of the day off the ferry was the Zeitgeist Cafe. Located close to the north side of Paul Allen's Damn Football Stadium that is on the former burial ground of the Kingdome. It is at the nexus of Seattle where Pioneer Square meets the International and Sodo districts.
Despite is closeness to about a dozen sports centered bars the cafe is aimed at the intellectual art patron and it is a perfect place to stop and get an espresso on the Seattle Art Walk. The cafe is right next to a gallery space and the pretentious intellectualism bleeds over and saturates the atmosphere It is brilliantly lit and has a warm wooden interior and creates a comfortable place to study, read or surf. The coffee barista tending the bar was really hot in her thrift store attire, tattoos, piercings and unshaven armpits ( I am not being sarcastic, she really was hot but in a European way ).
There are no visible computers but there is a strong fast 11 Megabit signal covering all the cafe and combined with the multiple power outlets on the wall this is a perfect location for the mobile computing nerd in Seattle. I had a cappuccino and a donut and shared a fascinating conversation with a Japanese girl who was attending a local school studying multimedia and web development. They just opened up a second location up on Capital hill and I will have to investigate next time I am up there.
If you are a WiFi loving nerd and in the Pioneer / International / Sodo districts of Seattle you really have to go check this place out.
Then later that night after a long day of talking smack and playing video games I invited BBQ to join me up to Capital Hill. After a good dinner of cheap Chinese food we found ourselves at the Aurafice Cafe.
This place is one of the most goth hangouts in Seattle and ranks right up there next to the Vogue and the Catwalk. This is a traditional cybercafe straight out of a mid 90s Seattle at the start of the DotCom/DotBomb rush. It is decorated with blood red paint, bad emotional art, shiny metal tables and some fake skulls for flavor. It reminds me of how a 80s satanic hair metal band would decorate a cafe if they were so inclined to do so.
I keep telling BBQ that he needs to become a Goth so he can score with hot Goth girls. He has the long hair and a pale skinny body, that with his almost uncanny ability to recite of horror movie trivia and his sexy ass would be impossible for all the goth girls of Seattle to resist. If only he would don an all black outfit, black eyeliner and some metal skulls on a necklace.
They have a row of desktop PC towards the back and really is a prime example of a mid 90s cybercafe. The WiFi is easy to log on and is very fast. Also there are available power outlets for those who want to charge their battery. The patrons of this place either have long dark hair in a ponytail or sport a bald tattooed head with no hair at all except a funky beard.
Both these places are fascinating in their own right. They further the notion that WiFi is more than just about connecting computers but networking the people who use them in ways that static computer networks do not.
I really miss the Speakeasy Cafe.
Jake at May 26, 2003 
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Comments
The last time I was in Victrola (on 15th Ave. in Capitol Hill across from QFC) they said wireless access was coming soon. Victrola rocks...
Posted by: Lee at May 26, 2003 6:52 PM
I like the name of that joint....heh.
Posted by: pete at May 26, 2003 8:45 PM
Bauhaus apparently has wifi, too.
Posted by: Tara at May 26, 2003 9:28 PM
sounds faboo...
Posted by: Lilly at May 28, 2003 8:54 AM
The guys that own Zeitgeist also own Top Pot Donuts & Coffee on Summit in Capitol Hill. Free WiFi there as well, plus donuts! Mmmm... donuts.
Posted by: Rob at May 29, 2003 12:15 AM
PLEASE: I NEED TO KNOW STARBROOK COFFE COMPANY EN SEATTLE E-MAIL
THANKS
ISABELLA GODOY
Posted by: ISABELLA GODOY at July 30, 2003 5:48 AM
I do not know their email. They do have a website and I suggest you contact them from there ( http://www.starbucks.com/customer/contact.asp ) They probably have an email address there.
Posted by: Jake at July 30, 2003 7:38 AM
What a great expirance that you described. I look forward to biking to these places. I am new to this wifi culture, it is really fun. I was introduces to do this by the same facinating Japanese girl that you met at Zeitgeist.
Posted by: "Robocco" at August 23, 2003 12:04 PM
Teahouse Kuan Yin now offers free WiFi.. get your tea on!
Posted by: Kate at September 4, 2003 7:37 AM
Hi Jake,
I don't know if it will take off, but I put together a wiki of the wireless coffee shops in Seattle because I was getting tired of going through MT to edit my list.
Posted by: kellan at October 7, 2003 9:04 AM
Hey I will have to link to that on my portal page and let you know if I find out any other ones. So what are you doing about pay places like Starbucks?
Posted by: Jake at October 7, 2003 9:13 AM
Just down the street from Aurifice is Bauhaus. Two levels of fantastic coffee, cool people, hardcore chess players and FREEEEE Wi-Fi!!
Posted by: Carlos at April 29, 2004 2:04 PM
