Maybe it’s the jazz music that sneaks every now and then out of the doorway and into the thoroughfare. Maybe it’s the comfy couches and the industrial-chic vibe inside. Maybe it’s the allure of the friendly ghost that’s rumored to wander the building. Whatever draws you to it, there’s something bewitching about B Sharp Coffee House.

Located in Tacoma’s Opera Alley, this coffee house is a gathering place for people of all ages that really captures the essence of Tacoma’s Antique District. Exposed brick and beams betray the shop’s first life as a warehouse for the Tacoma News Tribune. Today, instead of stacks of bundled newsprint and the whir of machines, visitors can expect to hear the buzz, hiss and grind of artisan coffee brewing or being poured.

Because the brightly colored buildings in the Opera District sit squarely, shoulder to shoulder with one another, it would be easy to mistake the space for a small coffee shop from the outside. Once visitors cross the threshold, however, they’re often surprised to find that the cafe is very spacious inside. The venue can accommodate roughly 90 people, as fans of B Sharp’s live music scene can personally attest. Exposed brick and beams create an atmosphere of gritty ambiance that’s softened by couches, wide tables and benches and plush pillows made from the upcycled burlap of coffee bean bags.

Music is a big part of the what makes B Sharp such a special spot. Owners Dennis and Maryann Ellis have a lifelong affinity for jazz and blues; Dennis in particular. He’s played a venerable part in the South Sound jazz scene, and has been the saxophonist in the band the T-Town Aces for ages. If Ellis’s favorite songs aren’t playing over the stereo, it’s likely that it is just on hold to accommodate one of the many musical acts that have performed live at the shop since it’s opening in 2013.