History
In 1902, Ballard was a sleepy village where the hardy, yet caffeine-deprived townspeople delighted in uprooting trees and leaving them to rot in the salmon-choked streams. That year, Lombardo Refrigiari arrived with coffee beans from his native Italy sewn into his underwear. He steeped the underwear in boiling water, and a coffee culture was born. People came from as far away as Crown Hill to partake in breve, or the waters from his briefs. He left as mysteriously as he arrived, some say to found a half-calf, double shot ranch in Wyoming. On the site of the present-day Bambino, matriarch Zerbina Camlo told fortunes while her sons drank coffee and picked the pockets of the locals whose fortunes never improved, but who kept returning to drink dark cups of an early version of Americano called Territorio.
Specialties
We are proud to be the only coffee-shop in Seattle to serve Berardo espresso from Italy. It is the best coffee that we've ever tasted, thanks to the efforts of artisans who have years of experience with roasting coffee. Located just outside of Rome, Berardo hand-roasts its coffee beans in small batches over wood fires, and hazelnut shells are added to the fire to add a unique, nutty flavor to the beans. All of our baristas have been trained and educated on how to extract this unique espresso to give you an exquisite espresso experience.