Named after Christina Dordlofva of Sweden, Dordlofva Coffee boasts great local coffee roasted by Conduit Coffee, homemade Swedish pastries made from family recipes, and four generations of Fremont’s Linden family: Andy, Al, and now Eric and Nickolas, a father and son team dedicated to the dream of ice cream and coffee. Christina is Eric’s grandmother, but it’s his dad, Al, who dreamed of having a corner cafe in the heart of Fremont.
Al Linden passed away in 2017, but his legacy in Fremont runs deep. He spent his entire life living and investing his time into the neighborhood. He was born two blocks from the cafe, baptized at the Fremont Baptist Church, and attended the BF Day School. In 1969, he was elected the first president of the Fremont Improvement Committee. This group and a couple of others helped start the Fremont Fair in 1972, of which Al was the first treasurer. The Solstice Parade came later in 1989.
The building itself also has a storied history. The cafe is located in the J.P. Dean Building. Mr. Dean (whose original home still exists in nearby Ballard) had it built in 1905, but he lost ownership during the Depression to Washington Mutual Bank and Al took it over. Eric Linden was also born in Seattle and raised on the 2nd floor of the building. Since the 1930s, the street level retail space has been an ice cream shop/bar owned by a Greek family who babysat Eric and also lived just two blocks away. During those early days, Fremont was a working-class neighborhood with a post office, a pharmacy, two small grocery stores and was surrounded by single-room occupancy housing. Since then the building has been a grocery store, a community service center under the Model Cities program, a woodworking shop, and most recently a rug store for 25 years. Upon their retirement, an opportunity came, and Eric decided it was time to add yet another gem in a long string of community oriented openings.
He hopes Dordlofva’s adds to a sense of neighborliness, to keep the space community-oriented and vibrant. He intends to bring in locally made ice cream and a collection of historic Fremont Fair posters to adorn the walls. Eric and Nickolas live in Fremont, so you’re likely to see them walking to work. A smile and a hearty welcome are guaranteed, though. Stop by for a cup of Dordlofva’s Signature dark and a Swedish pastry! A quintessential combo from a quintessential Fremont family.
Dordlofva Coffee
3500 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
Weekends only
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