Favorite Places: Metro Coffee

Metro Coffee is like the famed Cheers bar. It’s that place where everybody knows your name — and your drink. “The service is always personal, and when you walk in the door, the barista knows what you want before you say it,” says Library head of instruction services and frequent customer Erica Coe.

With its interior brick walls, arched windows and hardwood floors, Metro is a coffeehouse from an earlier time, when neither laptop nor wi-fi existed. Recorded music playing over the sound system will not drown out conversations. The slow-paced café in the middle of campus lures coffee drinkers who trek up and down the grand staircase. The relative quiet makes Metro a prime spot for gathering. Some faculty members have been known to hold office hours here.

A vintage Parisian transit sign made of cut-out metal forms the name “METRO” above the door. Other vintage treasures add to Metro’s patina: pendant fixtures that once hung in a turn-of-the-century mercantile provide light. A wood counter formerly used by early 20th century bank tellers is the coffee bar. A mix of antique tables and chairs form friendly clusters on the floor.

Owner and barista Stefani McCullough has a perpetual smile on her face and usually greets customers by name. And it’s not only the UW Tacoma community that frequents Metro, she points out. Artists who live and work downtown, people who work at the museums and other urban dwellers seek out the cafe.

“Because it’s the owners that work the place, you know there is a level of quality and care that goes into the product,” notes Coe, sipping the soy latte she didn’t need to ask for.

Favorite Places documents campus locations that hold a special place in the hearts of students, faculty and staff.