Vibe-y, Verdant: Sobar Raises the Bar on Colby
Story and images by: Richard Porter.
Before you enter the building, the smooth, bossa nova-inflected jazz hits you, and you’re immediately at ease. The audio cue evokes the calm of an empty elevator or a quiet airport. Step into the spacious interior and walk past rows of greenery and live-edge tables to order a matcha so velvety you wish you could take a nap on the foam.
Vibe-y. Verdant.
So good. So chill. Sobar.
Located a stone’s throw from the busiest intersection in town—Hewitt and Colby—Sobar Coffee is poised to make a splash in an Everett cafe scene that has its share of heavy hitters (er... sippers?).
Sobar occupies the long, mid-mod building formerly occupied by Renee’s Clothing. There is something about stepping into the cafe that feels like stepping back a few decades. It’s the plants and mirrors. But also, the pace feels different. More intentional. Whereas many coffee shops curate a controlled caffeinated chaos, Sobar truly feels like you could kick back for a while and truly enjoy that rarest of modern luxuries: doing absolutely nothing.
Yes, Sobar can throw down a mean Americano, but it’s not all about the coffee here. There are shelves of gift shop items—baby goods, games, plates, and drinkware—as well as racks of apparel in the “cropped sweatshirt and sling bag” modern style. Indeed, the vintage feeling is tempered by a certain white subway tile, natural color palette, and lowercase sans serif branding that has become shorthand for “Instagram coffee shop.” The place reads like casual third-wave coffee in 2026, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I think that’s actually much needed on this particular block of Colby Avenue, which has its share of restaurants but is mostly dominated by large banks. Undoubtedly, these banks do great business during the workweek, but the micro-neighborhood economy needs a place like Sobar to draw in folks on a Saturday for an espresso and some light gift shopping. Sobar is bringing some “mixed use” to the core of the downtown core, and I’ll put some of my local dollars behind that effort.
So how about the goods? That matcha I mentioned—so tasty. My kids and I split a smoked salmon and cream cheese everything bagel, overflowing with sprigs of arugula. I found it to be a notch above your typical cafe pastry fare. Moreover, their pastries and bagels are from Seattle-based Macrina Bakery, a local favorite.
Sobar brews Colibri Coffee, a small, family-owned specialty coffee roaster based out of Camano Island, Washington. This is the mark of coffee excellence: Nadine’s Coffee also serves Colibri, which specializes in single-origin coffees.
Sobar—so what? Here’s the takeaway. Sobar isn’t trying to out-cool an already rad Everett coffee scene. It seems to be trying to curate a place that exists for people to simply spend time and perhaps buy a spontaneous gift for a loved one or friend. And that’s the real value: not just good drinks or solid pastries, but a shift in pace and purpose in the heart of a banking district.
And that’s what we need more of, in my opinion: a spot that invites people to be downtown, not just pass through it.
Sobar Coffee
2820 Colby Ave. // Everett, WA 98201
Follow: @sobar.coffee
Richard Porter is a marketer for Snohomish County’s Executive Office by day, and a freelance writer. He lives with his wife and daughters in Everett. When he’s not writing or drinking coffee, he’s probably binging podcasts while running or hiking.
