This place is pretty darn cool. I love, love, love the atmosphere - there's a ton of natural light, wooden floors, all kinds of gadgets, and books galore. The tables are little shadow boxes of old encyclopedic pages and interesting items. I will say that I don't really like the drinks there very much. I keep trying to give them a second chance, but I just don't like their coffee and haven't had much more luck with the tea. I haven't tried the food, but it all looks fantastic. Seriously a great atmosphere though! read more

Great coffee and fantastic atmosphere! Ada's is one of my favorite places of all time. The employees are kind and helpful, the coffee is delicious and they have a fantastic book collection. read more

Friendly baristas and a quiet place to get some work done and explore the bookshelves when you get restless.

I love Ada's. This store is an example of why physical stores are not yet obsolete in a world transitioning to online shopping. Ada's feels like home -- the owners are charming -- and they work to build a sense of community. I've taken classes and gone to meet-ups there just as often as I've shopped for books. With Metrix Create:Space just down the street it feels like the epicenter of the Maker/DIY community on Capitol Hill. They have a great selection, fun to browse, of both new and used books. They also sell some DIY electronics kits (e.g. Arduino shields and the like). Highly recommended. read more

So fun to go in and hang out; they have great books, games, and other items for sale. Food is also delicious.

Ada's is the cutest little gem. My friends brought me there, promising an intellectual vibe full of scientific books and technical gadget toys. I was not disappointed. It's a small space, but they pack it tight with books about programming, science, theory, and so on. The cafe part of it offers quality dishes that often come out much more fancy than expected. I wish I lived closer because I would come here on the regular! read more

This place is just amazing. They have a delicious vegetarian menu and great drinks. I usually enjoy their cold brew or a mate soda. I also highly recommend their savory scone. The ingredients change day to day, but I have never had one that wasn't amazingly delicious. Their employees are also fantastic people, fun and easy to engage in conversation while your drink is being prepared. Their non-cafe merchandise is also fantastic. Many times I have not known what to buy someone for a gift, gone here and found something perfect for them. Lots of gadgets you can build yourself at home (with a soldering iron), plus cool things like puzzle boxes, sci-fi books, programming manuals, etc. They additionally workspace upstairs you can rent (for $20 a day), which I did on one occasion to have a quite place to study for my finals all day. The workspace is fantastic. For the daily rental you get a large section of a giant table, that comes equipped with a light and a few outlets. The room is quiet, and their tons of natural light. They have a tray of pastries upstairs in which you can buy on your own using an honor system. The rental even came with one free drink from the cafe. There is a fridge upstairs you can use if you want to bring your own food from home, or it's also very easy to go back down to cafe and order food to have brought up to your office space while you are working. Additionally, each month they have a challenging puzzle, which if you can solve correctly you can use to get a free drink. This is by far my favorite cafe on 15th, and probably my favorite cafe on Capitol Hill in general. read more

Ada's is easily the finest cafe/bookstore/hangout spot i've been to in so many dimensions, across many years and regions of hanging out at cafe/bookstore/hangout spots. First, the people are amazing. Easy, no-BS, happy. Second, the food is off the charts. Literally everything is made in-house, down to the bagels and the jam, and nobody does that except people who love great food. It's not just good by cafe standards, it's great by any standard. Way to go, kitchen! Third, the space is beautiful. It's spacious, clean, and bright. Fourth, it's a cultural hub. "Geek Culture" is an easy word to fling around, but it's something else to actually stock transistors, and actually have a huge array of group meet-ups, and actually have vigorously curated books and clubs for young people. Fifth, there is no fifth. Sixth, Did I mention spacious, relaxed and clean. And amaze-balls food. read more

I don't read much Sci-Fi, and I'm not an engineer, so when I walked past this place, I initially skipped over it. It has become my new favorite neighborhood spot. The breakfast scramble is delicious (I constantly crave the house made English muffin that comes with), and the atmosphere is great for a brunch with a friend or a cozy spot to work remotely. One less star because I don't love the coffee they use - the espresso isn't as strong as I prefer. Also, despite my initial judgement, the wide selection of carefully curated books is fantastic! read more

I love this place so much! I actually moved apartments just to be closer to Ada's. Couple things I like: - The monthly Aenigma puzzles are great, one of my favourite things about this place. The puzzlemaker, Pavel, has held many events at Ada's to show off other puzzles and how he makes them. It's really cool how Ada's has such a close relationship with the local puzzling community. - They've got everything a technical geek could dream of. I needed LED lights for a costume for example and dropped by on a whim. They had an entire wall of them, as well as a class on how to sew with conductive thread. - It has so much character. They have tables filled with different objects (the compass table is my favourite), their table order things have different scientists on them, etc. - Their book clubs and even just the booklists make it more fun to read and engage with people with similar interests. I'm a sci-fi fan and I get all my book recommendations from Ada's now (they pick new ones every month). This place is so much more than just a bookstore. They really work to build community in so many different ways and for so many different technical interests. My only problem is that it's always crowded because it's so popular :) read more

Programming books, science fiction, kids' books on science (heavy on the female scientists), makers' supplies, handcrafted puzzles, quirky decor (a table full of jittering compasses, a dividing wall made of the house's original doors edge-lit by LEDs, a mobile of vintage scientific illustrations), great food including macaroni & cheese and mushroom pot pie, tea/coffee/beer/wine, several monthly book clubs. My oldest child had her 18th birthday party here; my younger kids happily curl up for hours in the kids' book corner. Even the bulletin board in the back is exceptionally high-quality in its content, often promoting cool arts events I haven't heard about elsewhere. If you're of a geeky bent, you absolutely must go to Ada's. read more

Ada's probably boasts the friendliest baristas on the hill, maybe even Seattle. Bright beautiful space, yummy food and fun things to look at. Ada's is the best. read more

This place is awesome. The menu is amazing, and the coffee is excellent. They try all kinds of inventive ways of brewing it, and are one of the few places left that both pull espresso manually and manage not to burn it. The book selection is great too. Some of the actual technical books are a little dated, but you can always find at least something of interest. The baristas and booksellers are one and the same, and passionate about both coffee and books equally. read more

One of my favorite cafe's in Cap Hill (and as most of you know, there are SO many to choose from!!) If you're a nerd like me, you'll fully appreciate your experience here all the way down to the most minor details. Truly. This place is fantastic. Grab a game or a piece of literary gold, a pastry or two to share, and one of the best cups of coffee you'll ever enjoy. read more

Soooo in love with this place!! Where to begin? Super cute, great books, great staff, and the best black bean burger EVER!!!

Ada's! God, I love this place. Such an outstanding array of books and delicious assortment of desserts. Eclectic, delightful combination of the two. Perfect. read more

Such a cute place with great food, smooth and bold espresso, and a unique selection of books. Love this place and so does our toddler.

Great location, coffee, and light menu of breakfast and lunch. I love browsing their books! Nice rather quiet atmosphere to read or work in.

I love Ada's. I've actually never had the food here, but the coffee is great and the selection of books and technical toys always fascinates me. read more

Love, love, looooove this place! The staff are super friendly and helpful when you're trying to decide what you would like to try. I appreciated the number of different drinks they had (alcohol too I think). I typically like coffee, but I had been walking around the arboretum and was super parched so I chose an Italian soda (so great that they had this!). They had so many flavors. I ordered the peach, which was pretty good and refreshing. The best part of this place though is definitely the ambiance. The librarian ambiance is so very cool and wonderfully geeky with books everywhere and shadowbox-like tables. I haven't ever been in a cafe like this before and can't wait to come back! My college days are over but this cafe seems like the ideal place to get some work done (which was evident from all of the people on their laptops when I visited). Oh how I wish I would have had a place like this to work during my undergrad days! read more

Superb cappuccino and the best pastries. Their "not tarts" are amazing, and inventive rosemary chocolate chip cookie was interesting and scrumptious. Also liked the savory scone. Lots of fun games and books and gifts. I always enjoy Ada's as a very bright, fresh, and inventive space, which sometimes contrasts against the dark and grubby atmosphere of other places to study/partake in coffee. read more

The place has a lot of light, the tables are spacious, the scones are fluffy, coffee is good and wi-fi is not as slow as sometimes in the nearby coffeshops. Oh, did mention shelves and shelves of book awesomeness? read more

Delicious coffee with wonderful service. The selection of books is thoughtfully curated. I love all the various gadgets, paper goods, coffee paraphernalia, and shirts. This place is a treasure - support it often! read more

Came here with my boyfriend after getting a recommendation from a bartender that everything here is homemade in their tiny kitchen. We ordered the Mac and cheese, Biscuits with shroom gravy, the not tart and banana tea cake. Everything was delicious and you cousin tell they really place emphasis on quality over quantity here. The portions are perfect. We walked away with two more banana tea cake. Yum! read more

Like the other person said: overpriced food, good coffee, good atmosphere...unfortunately not a reader of science and math book topics...So only enjoyed content from my device whilst having coffee in cramped tight small eating area with small tables and metal patio chairs...Place is clean, which is good. read more

This place is so good that I actually bring out of town guests just to see and experience it. Truly one of a kind and a gift to Capitol Hill and to the region. read more

Awesome spot. Interesting/delicious coffee, tasty/healthy food, and a cool modern-yet-cozy vibe, with great service. I'll be coming back again soon. read more

Coals to Newcastle notwithstanding, yet another fervid fan. Didn't even like my latte, but the look and feel and calm and quiet of the place was such a feast for the senses that it trumps the petty consideration of the taste of the drug. This was like having a little vacation in the middle of the city. But keep it on the down low, don't want it overrun. Capito? read more

What a fun discovery. I thought it was just a bookstore but it has a yummy breakfast/lunch menu. We have enjoyed eggs, black bean burgers, drinks, etc. They also rent office space if you work from home - you can chill there for $20/day. read more

Coolest coffee shop ever!! We were looking for coffee and were actually heading to another place when we happened to notice this one. I am so glad we did! It has so many puzzles, books, yummy snacks and of course good coffee :-) read more

This is probably my favorite bookstore of all time. The storefront is gorgeous, they have a cafe and ample seating, and their entire collection is dedicated to science (which has a special place in my heart). Ada's has it all, from essays to textbooks to hobby electronics how-tos. read more

Im not much for words but this is my favorite place in Seattle. I can spend hours playing with puzzles, reading books, and having delicious snacks. read more

This place is pretty amazing! My husband wanted to go in on our way back form volunteer park so we peaked inside. This place has a lot of really neat things for sale- electronic kits, puzzles, books (not just technical books), and of course coffee. I ordered a drink called 'The Big Bang' which is a coffee, cream soda type thing. This drink alone is reason enough to go here. The atmosphere is really cool and there were lots of people on laptops, reading technical books, etc. They seem to have several book clubs and author events as well. read more

Place seems cool but I'm still waiting on a pour over that I ordered 15 minutes ago. Not the staffs fault (there's only two of them). That blame can be placed on the management. May adjust the review if the coffee actually tastes great. read more

This place couldn't be more perfect. Good food / coffee, thoughtful service, and a wonderful science/tech/math theme. It's also a great place for gifts. read more

I was pulled in by the sign on the sidewalk, something with a ridiculous name with Orange Juice, Juniper syrup & Soda. Sounded great but the drink itself was unbalanced, too sweet to be refreshing. Also it took five minutes for me to get the drink, that drink should really only take 45 seconds to be made. people who ordered after me got their coffee drinks before me...that just shouldn't be happening. It didn't seem particularly busy in there to me, but it was in the afternoon on Sunday so maybe they never recovered from an earlier rush. I read some of the other reviews and I didn't realize there was only one register for drinks/food AND books, yikes that's rough. It seemed like the workers there were pretty stressed out, seems like the system they haven isn't working that well. it's clear that lots of people enjoy this place & aren't bothered by the wait but if you're in a hurry I would not recommend going here. read more

I've never seen as well curated a bookstore as this one. If you need a technical book there's a good chance they'll have just the one you were looking for. Topics range from biology to maker faire and Perl to Azure with the same care given to the science fiction shelf and they do it all in a tiny shoebox of a room. read more

I had the mushroom pot pie and it was incredible. I've been a vegetarian for over 10 years, but I'll admit that especially when it's a cold and rainy day, those chicken pot pies from my childhood sound pretty comforting. This pie had easily had those beat. It had a perfectly seasoned and creamy gravy with peas, carrots, and mushrooms topped with a big, fluffy, and delicious biscuit. I will be back to try Ada's other concoctions. read more

I love the geeky atmosphere there, and their coffee & foods are amazing. The only reason I take a star off is because their wi-fi is not fast as it used to be.. read more

This review pertains to the cafe. I used to love the atmosphere at Ada's but they've switched to a user-unfriendly policy of an hour limit on free wifi, even when there are loads of free tables. Sorry, in this day and age that's a sure way to lose formerly loyal customers. read more