Restaurant

This handsome, brick-and-hardwood establishment is more than the International District's most distinguished tea and coffeehouse — it is, in its way, living history. Located in a hotel that's nearly a century old, the Panama Tea & Coffee House pays modest tribute to every Japanese immigrant and Alaskan fisherman that's spent the night in this workingman's hotel, with photos of the International District in its infancy and artifacts from the time of World War II. (A basement storage room where many Japanese families stored their valuables before being shipped off to interment camps is visible through a glass window placed in the floor.)

But the Panama Tea & Coffee House lives in its present, not its past. With its wireless Internet access, friendly staff, brightly-lit rooms and a solid menu that includes Asian and Indian teas, panini sandwiches and Lavazza espresso, the Panama is the very definition of a 21st century teahouse. Just set up your laptop, order a latte or white tea and drink in the Panama's history and atmosphere.

By Geoff Carter
NWsource staff