The Blackbird Coffeehouse at 8th and Peabody in Port Angeles

Thomas Garner

Oct 7

11 min read

The Port Angeles Main Library on Peabody Street under a blue sky with evergreens

Photo: Nolslibraries, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Blackbird Coffeehouse sits at 336 E 8th Street in Port Angeles, Washington, and it gives its own corner as 8th and Peabody. It says it was established in 2008, it posts hours of Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the first line on its home page is a promise about the food: quality foods made in house from scratch.

I am Thomas Garner, and I cofounded Hillcane to help independent coffee shops get found by the people who already live near them. Other Hillcane posts map the north Olympic pair of Sequim and Port Angeles, look at what a search for coffee in Sequim shows, and separate drive thru searches from sit down ones. This post does something simpler. It spends its whole length on one Port Angeles cafe, the one at 8th and Peabody, and on the street around it.

A Corner Address on 8th Street

The Blackbird's contact page lists the cafe as the blackbird coffeehouse, 336 E 8th Street, with 8th and Peabody in parentheses, Port Angeles, WA 98362, and a phone number of 360 452 3999. The MyPortAngeles coffee guide lists the same street address with the full ZIP code 98362 6218.

That parenthetical is worth copying. Most people in a small city do not think in house numbers. They think in corners. Saying 8th and Peabody tells a local exactly where to go, and it tells a visitor with a phone map which intersection to type in. It is one of the most useful words a cafe can put on a contact page, and The Blackbird put it right next to the number.

Port Angeles is a city of 20,087 people in the Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey five year estimates. At that size, a named corner coffeehouse becomes part of how people give directions, and a cafe that writes its own cross street next to its address is speaking the same language its neighbors already use.

Established in 2008

The Blackbird's home page carries two short lines under its name: quality foods made in house from scratch, and established in 2008. Those two lines are the whole pitch, and they are a good one. The founding year tells a visitor this is not a new experiment. The scratch kitchen line tells them what to expect when they walk in.

A business established in 2008 has seen the city change around it. Eighth Street itself was rebuilt around that time, as a later section explains. A founding year on a home page quietly carries that kind of history without any need to spell it out.

For anyone writing about coffee in Port Angeles, the founding year is also the fact most worth repeating. It is short, it is verifiable on the shop's own page, and it answers the question a newcomer tends to ask first: how long has this place been here.

The Scratch Kitchen Behind the Counter

The Blackbird's menu page opens with baked goods made in house from scratch, and it lists them plainly: coffeecake, muffin, bread pudding, bacon cheddar biscuit, sweet cream biscuit, salted caramel pecan pie, triple berry pie, a lemon vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting and a shortbread cookie. It also lists gluten free brownie bites and gluten free pumpkin bites.

Breakfast on the menu includes a classic ham breakfast sandwich with black forest ham, cheddar and egg on a panini bun, a veggie frittata sandwich built on a pepper, potato and onion frittata, and a rustic quiche made with ricotta, pecorino Romano, mozzarella, ham and fresh basil. The smoothie list, which the menu says is made with fruits and vegetables, runs from Summer Berry with NW strawberries, blueberries, sweet orange juice and ripe banana, through Sweet Green with organic baby spinach and a Fruit Medley of papaya, mango, blueberries, strawberries and pineapple, to Tropical Bliss with pineapple and coconut milk. It is a longer list than most people expect from a corner coffeehouse, and it makes the room an easy pick for someone who wants breakfast without a hot drink.

Lunch covers sandwiches on a choice of panini bun, sourdough white, multigrain or a gluten free bread the menu says is made in house. The page says all of its soups are made in house from scratch, in a cup or a bowl, with a note to ask what is fresh. Salads include a Tuscan tuna salad with albacore, white beans, capers and basil, a curry chickpea salad with golden raisins, a Greek peasant salad with kalamata olives and artichoke hearts, and a farm salad with ham, cheddar and cucumber, most served on organic baby greens with a house made organic vinaigrette. The sandwich list includes a chipotle turkey, a ham and Swiss with arugula and remoulade, an orchard ham with apple butter and dijon, and a veggie artichoke with havarti and lemon mayo.

Press on the Wall: Best Latte and More

The Blackbird keeps a short press list on its own site. It names Kenmore Air in March 2013, the Seattle Times in December 2012, Peninsula Daily News in July 2012, and an entry that reads Best Latte, page 24, from the July 2012 issue of Sunset.

That Sunset line is the kind of praise a small cafe can carry for years. Sunset is the western lifestyle magazine, and a Best Latte mention in a summer issue is exactly the kind of line a traveler remembers when planning a trip to the peninsula. The Kenmore Air mention comes from the regional airline, another name travelers in the Northwest know.

Four press mentions from 2012 and 2013 might sound modest. For a coffeehouse on a residential stretch of 8th Street in a city of about twenty thousand, it is a real record, and it all sits on the shop's own site where anyone can read it.

How to Visit: Hours and Phone Orders

The Blackbird posts its hours of operation as Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The MyPortAngeles coffee guide lists the same Monday to Saturday schedule. That makes it a breakfast and lunch room, open early enough for a commute and late enough for an afternoon cup.

The menu page also carries a line that is easy to miss: phone your order in, followed by 360 452 3999. For a lunch crowd with a short break, calling ahead turns a sandwich and a latte into a quick stop. The menu adds a reminder to check out the seasonal sandwich and salad, which changes through the year.

If you are planning a visit, the simple version is this. Aim for the morning if you want a pastry with your first cup, aim for midday if you want soup and a sandwich, and call ahead if you are short on time.

Eighth Street and Its Two Bridges

Eighth Street is one of the main east to west roads through Port Angeles, and it has a notable piece of history. The Peninsula Daily News reported on November 26, 2008, in a story by Tom Callis, that the city was replacing the Eighth Street bridges over Tumwater Creek and Valley Creek, two ravines on the west side of town, with new concrete spans.

The same story said the old bridges were timber trestle bridges built in 1936, that construction began on June 25, 2007, and that the project carried a 24.6 million budget in state and city money. It described the new bridges as 47 feet wide with two 12 foot lanes, two 5 foot bicycle lanes, two 6.5 foot sidewalks and two pedestrian viewpoints, with an estimated lifespan of 75 years. The city expected them to open to traffic and pedestrians on about February 2, 2009.

The paper noted that traffic had been rerouted through town to avoid the major arterial that crosses the two ravines. That is the road The Blackbird sits on. When the bridges reopened, 8th Street became once again the through route it was meant to be, with sidewalks and bike lanes that make a walk or ride along it more pleasant.

Peabody Street: From the Corner to the Library

Peabody Street runs south from The Blackbird's corner. The Port Angeles Main Library of the North Olympic Library System sits at 2210 South Peabody Street, according to its public listings. The library's own page says it was built in 1998 and includes nearly 25,000 square feet, a collection of more than 151,000 volumes, reading areas, spaces for teens and youth, quiet study rooms, the Raymond Carver Community Meeting Room and 32 public computers, along with an extensive local history collection.

For a coffee drinker, the practical point is that Peabody Street connects a cafe corner on 8th to a major public building farther south, with reading rooms, study rooms and meeting spaces that residents use through the week.

Farther up the hill on the same side of town, the Olympic National Park Visitor Center sits at 3002 Mount Angeles Road. MyPortAngeles describes it as open every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas, on a 38 acre campus with two nature trails, and notes that Hurricane Ridge is seventeen miles south along the road.

Port Angeles, Not Sequim and Not Port Townsend

The Blackbird belongs to Port Angeles, and it helps to keep the peninsula's towns separate. Sequim is a different city of 8,130 people in the same Census estimates, with its own downtown coffee along Washington Street and Cedar Street. Port Townsend is a third city, with its own coffee story along Water Street. The two sets of numbers are never added together in Hillcane's posts, because a visitor in one town is not standing in the other.

Within Port Angeles, the MyPortAngeles coffee guide shows how the city's coffee spreads out: several stops downtown on Front Street, 1st Street and Lincoln Street near the harbor, and The Blackbird up on 8th Street. That spread is a reminder that 8th and Peabody is a neighborhood corner rather than a waterfront stop. People reach it because they live, work or run errands nearby, or because someone told them where the Best Latte was.

That is a strong position for a coffeehouse. A corner away from the harbor blocks lives on regulars, and a coffeehouse established in 2008 with a scratch kitchen and a press list of its own has plenty to offer them.

What Other Cafes Can Learn From 8th and Peabody

The Blackbird's own pages hold four facts that any independent cafe could copy: a street address with the cross street written out, a founding year, posted hours in plain words, and a short list of the press it has earned. None of those requires a marketing budget. Each of them answers a question a visitor or a search engine will ask.

The cross street is the one most cafes forget. Writing 336 E 8th Street is correct. Writing 336 E 8th Street, 8th and Peabody, is correct and useful, because it matches how people in Port Angeles actually talk about where things are. A founding year does the same work for trust, and a press list does it for reputation.

If you run a coffee shop anywhere on the peninsula and want your own corner, year and press to read as clearly as this, those are the first four lines to put on your page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is The Blackbird Coffeehouse?

The Blackbird Coffeehouse is at 336 E 8th Street in Port Angeles, Washington, and its contact page describes the corner as 8th and Peabody. The MyPortAngeles coffee guide gives the full address as 336 E 8th St, Port Angeles, WA 98362 6218. The phone number on the shop's own pages is 360 452 3999, the same number its menu gives for phoning in orders ahead of a visit.

When was The Blackbird Coffeehouse established?

The Blackbird says on its own home page that it was established in 2008. Around the same time, the city was rebuilding the Eighth Street bridges over Tumwater Creek and Valley Creek, a project the Peninsula Daily News said began June 25, 2007 and was expected to open around February 2, 2009. The home page pairs the founding year with a line about quality foods made in house.

What hours does The Blackbird post?

The Blackbird posts hours of operation of Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., on its own home page, and the MyPortAngeles coffee guide lists the same Monday to Saturday schedule. That makes it a breakfast and lunch room, open early for commuters and through the afternoon. Its menu page also invites guests to phone orders in at 360 452 3999 to save time at the counter.

What food does The Blackbird serve?

Its menu lists baked goods made in house from scratch, including coffeecake, muffins, bread pudding, bacon cheddar and sweet cream biscuits, salted caramel pecan pie, triple berry pie and gluten free brownie bites. Breakfast includes a ham, cheddar and egg sandwich, a veggie frittata sandwich and a rustic quiche. Lunch covers sandwiches, soups made in house from scratch and salads such as a Tuscan tuna and a curry chickpea.

Does The Blackbird offer gluten free options?

Yes. The menu lists gluten free brownie bites, gluten free pumpkin bites and a gluten free lemon vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting among its baked goods. For lunch, sandwiches can be ordered on a gluten free bread that the menu says is made in house, alongside panini bun, sourdough white and multigrain. Salads such as the Greek peasant and farm salads come on organic baby greens with a house vinaigrette.

What press has The Blackbird received?

The press page on The Blackbird's own site lists a Best Latte mention on page 24 of Sunset's July 2012 issue, along with Peninsula Daily News in July 2012, the Seattle Times in December 2012 and Kenmore Air in March 2013. A Best Latte line in a regional magazine is praise a corner cafe on 8th Street can carry for years, and the shop has kept all four on its own page.

What is on Eighth Street near The Blackbird?

Eighth Street is a major Port Angeles arterial that crosses two ravines on the west side of town. The Peninsula Daily News reported in November 2008 that the 1936 timber trestle bridges over Tumwater Creek and Valley Creek were being replaced with concrete spans 47 feet wide, carrying two lanes, two bicycle lanes, two sidewalks and two pedestrian viewpoints, on a 24.6 million budget in state and city money.

How far is The Blackbird from the Port Angeles library?

Peabody Street runs south from the cafe's corner to the Port Angeles Main Library at 2210 South Peabody Street. The library's own page says it was built in 1998 with nearly 25,000 square feet, more than 151,000 volumes, quiet study rooms, 32 public computers and the Raymond Carver Community Meeting Room. The library sits on the same street that names the cafe's corner.

Is The Blackbird near Olympic National Park?

Port Angeles is the main gateway town for the park. The Olympic National Park Visitor Center is at 3002 Mount Angeles Road, which MyPortAngeles says is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, on a 38 acre campus with two nature trails and a Wilderness Information Center. The same guide says Hurricane Ridge lies seventeen miles south along the road, making a morning coffee in town a natural first stop.

Is Port Angeles grouped with Sequim or Port Townsend here?

No. Hillcane's posts treat Port Angeles, with 20,087 residents in the Census Bureau's 2023 five year estimates, and Sequim, with 8,130, as separate cities and never adds the two together. Port Townsend is a third city with its own Water Street coffee. The Blackbird at 336 E 8th Street belongs to Port Angeles, on the 8th Street and Peabody side of town rather than the downtown harbor blocks.

Work with Hillcane

The Blackbird Coffeehouse at 8th and Peabody in Port Angeles was established in 2008 and comes with a scratch kitchen, Monday to Saturday hours and a Best Latte mention from Sunset.

If you run a coffee shop on the Olympic Peninsula and want your corner, founding year and press to read as clearly as they do at 8th and Peabody, reach Hillcane at hillcane.co/contact or call (256) 384-2449.