People have been anxious for Ballard Coffee Works to open ever since Tully's closed last fall and Seattle Coffee Works owner Sebastian Simsch announced he'd be expanding his business to Ballard's prime corner location on 22nd Avenue NW and NW Market Street.

Last Friday, people got their wish as Ballard Coffee Works (BCW) opened a week ahead of schedule.

"We had to open. People were pounding the doors. It was a zoo in here," said Simsch. "People have been waiting for this corner to reopen for a long time."

BCW is an expansion of Simsch's Seattle Coffee Works on Pike Street, which opened six years ago.

"I've wanted this spot for years so when I heard Tully's was leaving, I jumped on it right away," said Simsch, a Phinney Ridge resident. "Ballard is arguably the most exciting neighborhood in Seattle right now. It's bustling, there's lots of building going on, and yet you still have the old guard maritime industry. What a fascinating spot."

Simsch said it's been a whirlwind of activity ever since he got the building, as they stripped the interior and exterior, giving the old bank location a new look.

Simsch explained that when Tully's moved in after a bank left in 1997, Tully's had the smallest of budgets and wasted no money on interior. So when Simsch signed the lease, he stripped everything and his wife, who has an eye for interior design, and a team of craftsmen redesigned the space.

The building's original high ceiling and even some 100-year-old brick wall is now showing, and the colors are bright but warm. Locally-made lampshades hang from the ceiling, and counters and cabinets are made by a Seattle woodworker. There's a corner with toys and games for families with children and plenty of space for wheelchairs and strollers.

Simsch calls it a very casual yet stylish environment.

Simsch speaks passionately about his business, saying that it owns him rather than the other way around.

"If I could, I would be behind the bar serving coffee all day long instead of doing the books and managerial stuff," he said.

Yet coffee was not what the German native had come to Seattle for originally.

"I moved to Seattle for a job at Amazon," he explained. "But I'd always been an avid coffee consumer and the first weekend I was here I started searching for good coffee. Starbucks tasted the same here as everywhere else and initially I was fooled by the Seattle's Best name but there was really nothing that stood out. As my contract with Amazon was coming to a close I decided life is too short and I've got to do what I want to do. I wanted to do good coffee."

Simsch said Seattle has a higher density of coffee roasters per capita than anywhere else he has been, but often these roasters don't do a very good job of marketing themselves.

"The sad thing is that 'the coffee capital of the world' is represented by Starbucks and Seattle's Best," Simsch said. "I wanted to show the tourists that we can do coffee here.”

Simsch opened up his first store in tiny old t-shirt shop on Pike. His plan was to have multiple grinders featuring a signature roast by these small Seattle roasters.

"We'd be bringing the coffee to the customer. It was a brilliant idea but it didn't work," Simsch said. “There was no widespread demand for this kind of experience. Considering the omnipresence that coffee plays in people's lives, it is one of the most misunderstood foods."

So Simsch started roasting his own coffee. First he operated out of his basement and after his neighbors got upset with him, he moved his roaster to Everett. He later acquired his current Pike Place location, where all SCW coffee is roasted.

When asked if his coffee is the best in Seattle, Simsch quickly shook his head.

"I'm European and I would never say that," he said. "My philosophy is that second or third place is great because first place always rotates."

He also won't name a favorite among his variety of roasts, but in the store's tasting room, customers can do tastings to find their own personal favorite. Customers can not only choose between a range of coffees from all over the world, they can also choose from a wide selection of brewing equipment to determine how their coffee is made.

New at the Ballard cafe is the Brew Bar, where customers get a choice of three outstanding (seasonally and weekly rotating) single-origin coffees which are made by the cup in less than 60 seconds.

"It's like an Americano but it's not an espresso drink," Simsch said.

The Brew Bar also features two local beers on tap, rotating frequently. Currently on tap are Ballard microbreweries Hilliard's and NW Peaks Brewery.

And since people like to have something to eat with their drink, BCW offers
salads and sandwiches from Michou, Fresh Juice Works juices, Skydottir Gluten Free cookies, and Italian pastries with a French twist by La Toscanella.
On the weekend BCW will offer waffles.

As Simsch is enjoying an exciting albeit hectic opening, staring him down on the other side of the intersection is the Starbucks mermaid and a "coming soon" sign where Starbucks is moving into the former Lombardi's space.

"I don't see Starbucks as a competitor. We're a different business," Simsch said. "But this really is the prime location of Ballard so perhaps right here, on this intersection, it's the first time that Starbucks took second. In terms of real estate anyway."'

BCW hours are 6 a.m. till 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. till 11 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. on Sunday.