What’s too much for some might not be over the top for others.
When longtime Bothell resident Connie Lawson-Tidd cruised up to the drive-thru window at The Paradise Espresso on Bothell-Everett Highway Monday morning, she didn’t approve of the female barista’s apparel.
The Canyon Park Junior High and Bothell High PTA member said the barista was wearing lingerie in a stand that’s near family-friendly Country Village.
“Sex and coffee don’t mix. Their focus should be on brewing a good cup of coffee and hiring friendly, outgoing employees,” said Lawson-Tidd, one of two Bothell residents who called the Reporter with complaints about the stand, which opened less than two weeks ago.
The Paradise Espresso owner Alan Tagle also contacted the Reporter and noted that his new business forbids baristas from sporting lingerie or bikinis — the uniform that’s accepted at his four Beehive Espresso stands, one of which is located on Northeast Bothell Way in Bothell.
Instead, he said, in the “costume-themed stand,” baristas don club wear, modern wear and glitzy, sparkly dresses. This week, they’re wearing Santa outfits.
“Everyone has a different perspective, and everyone can express their opinion — there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Tagle, 29, who lives in Edmonds with his wife and two young children. He has a bachelor of arts degree in business from the University of Washington, Bothell.
“We are conscientious of where we are (Country Village) — this is not Everett,” he said, referring to the string of bikini-barista stands in that city.
Tagle said he’s received a few complaints since The Paradise Espresso opened. On Tuesday morning, employee Mo Calhoun said everything was running smoothly as customers rolled in and grabbed their coffees.
Tagle added that he has built relationships with the cities, counties and police departments where his stands are located, is a hard worker in putting his businesses on the map and has stayed out of trouble, unlike other stands whose baristas have taken their jobs to extremes. Case in point was the Best Friend stand on Northeast Bothell Way in Kenmore where an employee allegedly exposed and briefly fondled herself while a customer waited for his hot chocolate about a year ago. Best Friend has since ditched the lingerie and bikinis and gone family friendly.
The Paradise Espresso is located outside of Country Village and is housed in the former R and R Espresso, which Lawson-Tidd called a family place. She enjoyed getting her coffee at R and R, but feels that Tagle’s Paradise is pushing the envelope too far and should have a sign warning customers of what’s inside or have tinted windows.
What is inside, Tagle said, is a friendly, comfortable atmosphere with a lounge and a TV set for customers to enjoy their coffee and have a conversation with others.
He doesn’t feel there’s anything wrong with baristas wearing a T-shirt that exposes their belly button, a skirt that shows their legs or an off-the-shoulder sweatshirt.
Even if The Paradise Espresso is near Country Village, he feels it’s OK. Tagle is fond of Country Village and takes his 4-year-old daughter there to get a haircut, so he’s aware of what the area means to the community.
On moving from Montana to Bothell, Lawson-Tidd noted that “one thing that drew me here was that it is family friendly: you’ve got football on Friday nights and themed events at Country Village.”
“Change is part of the evolution of the community,” she added. “But we’re in America, there’s hometown values — sex doesn’t need to tarnish that.”
“Every time we open one, a handful of people complain. And we always address everybody’s concerns,” said Tagle, who added that the complaints disappear after a while.
“As long as the primary purpose of the business is to sell coffee, the business most likely will not qualify as adult entertainment; and every investigation the city has done in regard to these businesses has found that these coffee stands do not qualify as adult entertainment,” Bothell City Attorney Joe Beck wrote in a report to City Councilmembers. “Under the Constitution, it is unlikely that Bothell can ban adult entertainment — only regulate it as has been done in Bothell’s adult entertainment ordinance.”
Beck added that anyone who believes there is a violation of law, such as indecent exposure, should report it to the police.
Photo: Mo Calhoun of The Paradise Espresso. Andy Nystrom/Reporter
