THE BLOCK offers free samples from Seattle drink-and-food pop-ups

The energy at Fairview Market Hall in South Lake Union earlier this spring seemed reminiscent of an early 2000s shopping mall on a Sunday: Packs of visitors perused vendors' tables and carts and sampled a vibrant selection of food and drinks, from baked goods to coffee and matcha.

Hundreds of attendees flocked in March to THE BLOCK, a free event that gathers local pop-up cafes and businesses at one central location. The second iteration on Sunday will host more than 20 pop-ups, and guests who RSVP before the event can try free samples in addition to shopping vendors' menus, said Michelle Dean, the event's organizer and co-owner of Bonhomie Coffee Bar.

"Because of the volume of pop-ups that are showing up in the city, it's hard to keep up," said Dean, who added she wants to make the gathering happen quarterly during the year. "And so by bringing everybody together for folks in Seattle, (THE BLOCK) is a one-stop shop in some ways, but also a way to really lean in and support the people that you might have been following on Instagram for the last six months."

While conceptualizing THE BLOCK, Dean said the main goal was to reduce the barriers to entry as much as possible for vendors and guests. This includes keeping vendor fees low at $25, allowing businesses to maintain 100% of their revenue from the event and making free samples and admission available. The upcoming event on Sunday will also have volunteers helping with event logistics, photography and videography, Dean said.

"We want to have a range of vendors, whether it's people who are brand-new to popping up in Seattle or people who are a little bit more established," Dean said. "We surveyed our March vendor participants to see what their willingness to pay was for an event like this and just anchored to the lowest entry to make sure we can keep it accessible."

Running a mobile coffee bar can be expensive and isolating, Dean said. Over the past year, Dean connected with other mobile cafe operators on Instagram and TikTok. Inspired by conversations with other business owners, Dean said THE BLOCK grew as a way to showcase the prolific pop-up community in Seattle, which rarely gets opportunities to meet each other in person. The idea for the event started out as a meetup for mobile coffee and matcha bars but has since expanded to include more small-bite and beverage makers with no brick-and-mortar locations, Dean said.

"It became super evident that a lot of creativity and culture was coming from these mobile setups," Dean said.

Vince Vu, owner of Anh Ơi Bake Shop, will bring his cookies based on Southeast Asian flavors - such as fried banana, Vietnamese coffee and white chocolate, Thai tea persimmon and coconut mung bean - to THE BLOCK this month.

Having previously sold out at the event in March, Vu said there's no trace of competition, and vendors constantly help each other out around the venue. To encourage visitors to support other businesses there, Vu offered freebies for those purchasing from another beverage vendor and his shop.

"Who would have thought that (by) getting the same category of vendors all together, people were so excited by that?" Vu said.

For Jonathan Liang, who will be selling his Hawaiian-inspired drinks from Yoks Cafe that use ingredients ranging from Okinawan purple sweet potato to guava and sweet rice flour, THE BLOCK has made him feel more supported as a pop-up owner. A week before Sunday's event, there will be a meet-and-greet day for vendors to introduce themselves, try each other's products and familiarize themselves with the venue setup, Liang said.

"Having an event like this where we all are in one space allows us to really openly meet each other and gives us the opportunity to have people to back us up," Liang added.

When Malik Phipps walked through Fairview Market Hall's doors in March, he was immediately greeted with wide smiles from vendors, volunteers and fellow guests. Having moved to Seattle from Nashville, Tenn., two years ago, Phipps said THE BLOCK has helped foster community, allowing him to experience the warm, sociable side of the city.

"Good food and good drink is obviously really easy to get people to come out, but I think it goes even deeper than that," Phipps said. "It's to build on a true community and culture that thrives off of working with each other and supporting each other."

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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 5:01 PM.