One could easily spend a full day at Danielle and David Hulton’s café/bookstore, home to an endlessly entertaining collection of STEM-related books for adults and children alike. Grab a fascinating read and enjoy Ada’s wide variety of vegetarian offerings for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Fun fact: The pair also own Fuel Coffee, which has locations in Montlake, Wallingford, and Capitol Hill!

Ada's Technical Books and Café Products

Story
Danielle Hulton had been working as a successful computer engineer for four years before deciding that she needed to make a pivot. “I was really loving being in the tech space,” says Danielle, but she wanted to make a different kind of impact. When her husband, David Hulton, suggested a technical bookstore, the idea immediately clicked – they opened Ada’s Technical Books in 2010, and then reopened with the café component in 2013.
Danielle believes that in today’s world all people are connected to technology no matter their line of work. So, it is more important now than ever that the tech community is welcoming and inclusive. “I think that the tech community can be a little isolating...it can be intimidating,” Danielle expresses, and “I wanted to change that.” The addition of two adjacent spaces, The Office, a co-working space, and The Lab, an event space, have amplified Ada’s strong community presence and increased its approachability for even more community members. This presence is felt by customers, one of whom leaned over and declared, “Ada’s in an icon of the community.”
It is important to Danielle that the welcoming space she has created for customers extends to her employees. “A lot of that comes from my background in the tech space,” Danielle notes, “I want people that work here to feel as cared for as the people in the tech community.” She has developed many robust benefits for her staff, including healthcare and paid family leave. Danielle measures her success by the happiness of her staff and customers, and Ada’s tight-knit community of devoted customers is growing everyday.
Fun Fact
Ada’s is named after Ada Lovelace, considered by many to be the first computer programmer. She published the first algorithm for Charles Babbage’s computer, the Analytical Engine, in 1842.
Business Owner
Danielle and David Hulton

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