Capitol Hill Café/Internet Lounge Sets Its Sites High
By Russell C. Smith
Enter the front door of the 3,000 square foot Capitol Hill Café/Internet Lounge and Eatery and if you’re an Internet-nut, -naut, (or not), you’ll feel like you’re living large. Suddenly you’re inside the digital matrix on Cap Hill having found Seattle’s Zion. Around you, there are folks who are tapped into the cybership using laptops (invisibly tethered through the café’s wireless connection) while sipping lattes or cappuccinos. Other Netizens are deep in conversation or foraging into one of the Café’s popular and gargantuan salads.
Visit on a Monday or Tuesday night and you’ll be greeted by waves of raucous laughter emanating from the crowd gathered to view one of the cult films being screened. The Seattle Weekly has even gone so far as to call the Café something close to the best thing since sliced bread, actually the best meal between sliced bread, or in their words, servers of “the best sandwich ever.” This may all sound like a lot to live up to, but, hey, we’re talking about the largest Internet Café in the Pacific Northwest.
The Café/I-Lounge and Eatery celebrated its one-year anniversary in April (2003). Our correspondent Russell C. Smith spoke with Mike Petrone (who shares co-ownership with Tracy Boice and Casey Haakenson.)
Q: Great food, Internet access, movie nights, a gallery space, The Capitol Hill Café has a lot going on. Was this your idea from the beginning?
MP: Once we moved from our location across the street, we wanted to make everything happen (Formerly CapitolHill.Net, the café was located in the Broadway Alley Mall across the street for seven years). We had the opportunity to expand and create a real meeting place here on Capitol Hill. As you can see, we have a lot of wall space, so putting up new art work on a rotating schedule was a natural fit. And we noticed there were not many events happening on Mondays and Tuesdays, so a movie series starts off the week. On weekends we have Open Mic Nights for local musicians.
Q: The Internet Café is becoming the modern equivalent of a Village Square—a meeting place for the whole community. Judging from how full the place can be, word has gotten out.
MP: Yes, absolutely. Word of mouth is the best way to get your presence out there. It also helps that we’ve been written about. In Seattle Magazine our sandwiches were voted 3rd best sandwich in Seattle. Which is great. But word of mouth works every time. It has definitely given us the attention we wanted.
Q: How did you get into cooking and running an Internet café?
MP: I grew up in Boston, and I started learning how to be a pastry chef at the age of fourteen. All of The Café’s baked goods [pies, cookies, and muffins] are baked on the premises. I’ve been involved for the past 5 years—soon after the CapitolHill.Net opened in the Broadway Alley in 1995. It opened six months after The Speakeasy opened. So, we were the second Internet Café to open in Seattle.
Q: You’re involved in several business organizations here on Capitol Hill.
MP: I’m on the board of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. And I’m involved with the Broadway Business Improvement Association, and I volunteer at the Capitol Hill Safety Coalition. The Capitol Hill Times meets here at the Café. We host breakfast meetings for these organizations. Our space is a good fit for large groups, since there’s definitely enough elbow room. At the end of May we’re hosting a fundraiser for the Live Girls! theatre group.
Q: What are your future plans for the Capitol Hill Café?
MP: We’ve just added two new high-speed computers. Currently, we’re expanding the menu, and we’ve just applied for a license to serve beer and wine.
Q: Anything else?
MP: The Internet isn’t going away. Internet café’s are a part of daily life now. People enjoy the convenience and the social buzz they provide.
The Capitol Hill Café/Internet Lounge and Eatery is located at: 216 Broadway Avenue East, Seattle, Washington 98102 Phone: (206) 860-6858 / email: café@capitolhill.net
Russell C. Smith is a freelance writer living and working in Seattle, WA.
He can be reached at (206) 329-2469 [email protected]
