There is something oddly rewarding about a cafe so intimate that walking in the door automatically makes you part of “The In Crowd.” Such is the case with Beacon Hill’s fledgling cafe The Station. With seating room for only about a dozen people indoors, all conversations must be resolved to accept commentary from all patrons. If you’ve spent much time in coffee shops, you know that you regularly overhear interesting dialogue and have to bite your tongue and pretend you’re deaf. This can be frustrating when you are having a witty comeback kind of day, so it’s refreshing to know that places exist in this world where you can make open observations about the conversations of complete strangers without being considered rude or freakish. Situated less than a block from the Beacon Hill Light Rail link, the two-month-old Station cafe is doing its part to fill the district’s coffee shop void. Sure, you can find coffee other places in Beacon Hill, but with few exceptions (Victrola, Baja Bistro) I’m not sure you’d actually want to go looking for it. Nor would you want to hang out and chat with the staff about the artwork or dishes. But catch manager Luis Rodreguiz spending an afternoon either serving or drinking coffee at The Station and you’ll get a wealth of animated stories about the collection of Mexican Pottery mugs, the history of the neighborhood, the design and vision of the cafe, their passion for local coffee, and the reasons he loves their current artwork. The Station serves espresso from Herkimer Coffee, pastries from Makari Catering, offers free WiFi, and is open from 6 a.m. – 7 p.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. on weekends. Outside the store’s early 19th-century saloon-style facade, you’ll find a matching “hitching post” for your dog, an excellent indicator of the owners’ quirky sense of humor. If communal conversation, great art, and the novelty of finding a whole district in Seattle with only a couple of dedicated coffee shops aren’t enough to entice you to make the drive out to Beacon Hill, this should be: I wish that I could retroactively create a Best of Seattle category for Mexican Mochas, in order to nominate The Station to win some kind of award. I’ve had my fair share of Mexican Mochas, and I will tell you that this particular combination of hand-grated dark chocolate, nutmeg and cinnamon is outstanding. As a matter of fact, on a scale of 1-5, it ranks an easy 4.5 in my book, with the only thing holding it back from perfection being the store-bought whipped cream. The Station is located at 2533 16th Ave South, just off of Beacon Hill Avenue. Check their Facebook page for directions by bus, Light Rail, and car. ….And while there, please note that I shamelessly stole the photo of the dogs, and all credit for it goes to them.