I know... There must be a thousand of them but I am visiting the area (daughter and family) for about a week this coming February. I was up in the region for a short while about a 1.5 years ago but never got the chance to really visit anything. One or two special cafes would do me fine!
Are there any events going on the 1st week or two? Just asking if anyone is in the know about the area. No big deal...
When I was up in Montana earlier this year I was amazed to find two exceptional espresso cafes in the small town of Bozeman Montana. Who woulda-thought.

Great suggestions. I'd add Victrola, and Monorail just for the ambience.

java bean - west seattle has a cooler building. cool breakfast next door at the Luna Park Cafe. then you are 1/2 mile from the "beach" if it can be 43 degrees and raining and still be beach-y.

Stumptown Roastery on 12th. Had a dopio there today that was just about perfect. Really picked up the citrus in the cup. About a block from the Ferrari/Maserati dealership if you're in the mood for gawking.

Vivace. It's hard to find parking on Broadway for the Cafe Brix, but the Alley 24 location is right next to REI, and if you go before REI opens it's easier. The original is gone, a victim of eminent domain. Park in the REI garage, shop and finish off with an espresso. $t@rbuck$ may have started the Seattle coffee house craze, but you could argue David Schomer perfected it.

Cafe Vita, a number of locations around town.

Zoka. Artisanal roaster. Haven't been there yet, on my list.

Makeda Coffee in the Greenwood neighborhood.

You could do the Capital Hill area along broadway and come away with quite a caffeine buzz.

Regarding Vivace, you can park in the REI parking garage and walk across to Vivace (directly across the street). REI has free parking for the first hour (I think it is an hour, may be 30 minutes, or maybe 2 hours, but long enough for me to go in, have an espresso, and buy some beans).

Hi Bob! My vote would include the the V's: Vivace, Victrola, and Vita. All are famous (or infamous) Seattle espresso hallmarks. All have different vibes and regularly make in the local "best of" articles. Kudos aplenty also to Zoka. I'd be interested to read your thoughts after you've visited.

If you had to skip any... I'd suggest they be Vita and Zoka.
Not bad, per se, but not special.

Never heard of Java Bean or Makeda.

Cafe D'Ärte and Caffe Umbria have Italian-style roasts.

There's a pizza shop in Fremont with a three-group lever machine, that's very kid-friendly, I'll try to remember the name,

PC

While I won't pretend that I know anything more than a handful of cafes in the Seattle area, I stumbled on Vivace for the first time in 1998 and since then it has been one of my first stops every time I make it to the northwest. Enjoyed my espresso there so much in fact, that I have been ordering their beans bi-monthly for several years....or at least I did until I moved just a little too far east to make it worthwhile....