McDonald's in Renton adds espresso bar

You want cappuccino with that?

A McDonald's franchise in Renton unveiled what its owners say is the fast-food chain's first full-service espresso cafe in the Northwest.

The remodeled restaurant, on Northeast 44th Street just off I-405 in the Kennydale neighborhood, has the same lineup of burgers, fries and salads you'll find at any McDonald's. But as of yesterday, an extended counter wrapping around to the side of the building serves as a coffee bar.

While Seattle-area McDonald's restaurants have served espresso for years, the Kennydale store has the first coffee bar with trained baristas. It sells Seattle's Best Coffee, pastries and desserts and will be staffed by at least two employees all the time.

A half-dozen employees went through Seattle's Best barista training to learn how to operate espresso machines that automatically grind and tamp coffee. Employees manually steam the milk and pour the drinks.

The restaurant has upgraded its décor with upholstered and wood furniture, track lighting and Italian tile designed to convey the ambience of a coffeehouse.

"There's a misperception that McDonald's can't be a little more upscale," said co-owner John Newbury, who runs the restaurant with his father, Pat. "We wanted a place that was going to be the equal or better than any Starbucks, any Tully's, anything that you might find."

The part-restaurant, part-coffee bar is aimed largely at commuters, although drive-thru service won't be available for a couple of weeks while managers train order-takers.

"This has been a McDonalds that's primarily populated by grown-ups, and we sort of wanted to stay with that," Pat Newbury said. "That's who our customer base is."

The Newburys say the espresso cafe is the first of its kind in the region and is not part of the chain's McCafe coffee-bar concept. McDonald's operates McCafes in Australia, Asia, Canada and Europe.

Last month, Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's announced plans to test 10 McCafes in the U.S. later this fall. McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa Howard said none will be in the Northwest; the closest will be in Northern California.

This isn't the first experiment launched by the Newburys, longtime McDonald's franchisees who run four stores in Renton.

In the early 1990s, they began paying high-school students to do their homework before or after their work shifts as an incentive to earn good grades. They kept a small piano in the Kennydale restaurant for 15 years.

Jake Batsell: 206-464-2718 or jbatsell@seattletimes.com