7 Things I Search for in D.C.’s Cafés
D.C.’s cafés foster creativity—and make the city feel like home.
By Harshi Hettige Illustrations by Lily Strelich
Written pre-pandemic, this article now feels like a dreamy reminder of everything cafés once provided to communities—and will again someday. Many of the cafés mentioned now have different circumstances, so please check their websites for updated info (and if you visit, tip generously!).
I am always looking for perfect places to read, write and daydream.
I was asked once in school to write about a favorite place, a haven, where I felt safe and relaxed. Or, as I interpreted it: warm and cozy.
I chose the living room of my childhood home. Specifically, the intersection of a bare white wall, hardwood floor, and a metal heating vent. Ignoring the couch, 7-year-old me curled against the vent with a book in hand, so I fit, shoulders to feet, inside the rectangular breath of heat.
Since then, I’ve bumped up my standards and become a café connoisseur (a cafésseur, if you will). Cafés are the perfect environment for a leisurely explorer like me. Where else can you be surrounded by people without any expectations to engage? What better way to get to know a city than by sitting down with a frothy latté to mull it all over? Why just sip when you can savor?
A year into living in D.C., I’m still discovering spaces that match up with my list of criteria. Here are seven things I look for in a café, and what I’ve found in the D.C. café scene so far.
An Array of Tasty Beverages
What is a café without beverages? In a landscape dominated by drip coffee and chai concentrate, I default to basic vanilla lattés. But really, the best drink is one that matches my current mood.
Grey and wet outside? I want an aromatic London Fog. Little Pearl in Capitol Hill makes a great one. If I need a substantial boost to get the day going, a morning date smoothie with nut milk, banana, and cinnamon from Turning Natural in Anacostia, please. I’ll vent over brewed black Ceylon tea with milk and sugar at Calabash Tea & Tonic in Shaw, where the cups, often inscribed with affirmations, are always healing.
I love when cafés get creative–like the family-owned, day-to-night spot, The Royal by LeDroit Park, which lists several “House Creations” on the menu, including the intriguing Open Sesame (black sesame, vanilla, and honey).
2. Ample Seating Options
If a coffee shop has an armchair, you’ll find me curled up and settled in. A Baked Joint near Chinatown offers something for everyone: leather-cushioned stools at the window ledge, long communal benches, standing bars, a stack of tall stadium-style stairs to lounge on. Further from the bright windows, you’ll find poofy white couches and velvet armchairs nestled near glowing lampshades. (Unless you’re there during the brunch/lunch rush. Then, good luck finding a space!)
Colada Shop on 14th Street offers open-air bar seats to people watch, a colorful back room, and a tropical rooftop overlooking the bustling sidewalk. I always underestimate how strong the Cuban coffee is, though.
I am still learning which cafés are accessible to everyone, including patrons with disabilities. Having a range of seating options is one way D.C. can provide café comfort for all.
3. Sustainability
On cold days, I order something warm at Tryst in Adams Morgan, which reliably arrives in one of its oversized mugs (accompanied by a few of its signature animal crackers). I wrap my hands around the brim, soak up the warmth and sip slowly.
I seek out spots that reward intentional over disposable: knocking a few cents off the cost for bringing your own cup, offering compostable to-go options, or providing glasses and ceramics too desirable not to use. Until all cafés catch up, I always keep my 16-ounce reusable tumbler in my bag.
4. Community Ties
A neighborhood coffee shop doesn’t just mean a café that’s nearby—it should also be a good neighbor. I first heard the phrase “community first, café second” at Baltimore’s Dovecote Café and was delighted to find that spirit embodied in historic D.C. spaces such as The Potter’s House, which has called Adams Morgan home since 1960.
The Potter’s House is a self-described “community space” that walks the walk, welcoming all and sparking discussion. I often browse its curated collection of thought-provoking books while waiting to pick up a vanilla latté from the bar. When I plug in my laptop, it’s powered by wind energy and offset by the solar panels on the roof.
The Potter’s House has embraced Latinx immigrants and Black Power activists alike throughout its rich history, and it hosts free lunches every month to connect community members with healthcare, housing, employment placement and support for recovery.Cafés like these ask: What platforms can we use to make the world a better place? How can we provide platforms for others? New cafés are also building legacies. Near Union Market, The Village Cafe’s goal is “to showcase products from local businesses, entrepreneurs and creatives and create opportunities for our communities, from our communities.”
I met co-founder Kevon King, who opened the Village Cafe with high school friends Mahammad Mangum and Ryan Williams right where they grew up. The trio has established a community space and created opportunities for residents of Wards 7 and 8 in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. Since 2018, the café showcases hyperlocal details like bottled water straight from Ward 7 and regularly hosts inspiring events in their formal Community and Event Space. Cafés can be so much more than a cup of coffee, and in a city as diverse as D.C., I want to see that reflected in the places I visit.
5. Natural Light
When logging hours of work at a café, I find that I’m solar-powered. My seat of choice lets me bask in the sunshine. The views are stories in themselves, and when writing, weather is always an inspiration: At dusk, buildings stand out against a bruised sky. On the days everyone else is out and about, big windows allow me to feel like I still know what’s going on outside the walls of my café cocoon.
On a humid afternoon in the height of D.C. summer, a great day means sitting outside with ice rattling in a frosty glass. I’ve enjoyed a few iced cardamom lattes on The Coffee Bar’s patio, watching people stroll by the tree-lined corner in Shaw.
6. Something Delicious
A café-goer cannot subsist on drinks alone. Reading a book or having a conversation is always better with savory and sweet treats to snack on: a jammy tart, a buttery, flaky croissant, a curry puff, a cheesy toastie.
On a recent post-work stop at The Wydown on 14th street, I chided myself for not having a journal or a full phone battery to entertain me. But when the quiche I ordered appeared in front of me, the melt-in-your-mouth fluffiness and bursting cherry tomatoes occupied me completely.
D.C.’s cafés have no shortage of good food: from the sweet and savory scones at Three Fifty Bakery off of U Street to steaming pho at Abe’s Cafe downtown.
“With each café, I meet a new neighborhood and learn more about the people who live there—what they create and what they care about.”
7. Ambiance and Functionality
Few things impact a café’s vibe more than its design. At Emissary near Dupont Circle, I pass an LGBTQ flag and a framed “We Filter Coffee, Not People” poster when heading toward the back room’s clean lines and warm colors. A trio of gold mirrors reflect brick pillars and whitewashed walls.
I can choose whether I want to sit at a simple gold-topped round table or in one of the ochre arm chairs; either way, I make sure to have a view of the rich walnut bar, backed by blue wallpaper and surrounded by fireplaces. The light outside the small window dims, suggesting that a storm might be brewing, but I am cozy inside.
The hours melt by; a friend joins me for coffee, and when she leaves I pull out my laptop to write. A server stops by to light a candle and replace my empty mug with a glass of wine. I have everything I need.
Making a Home in D.C.,
One Café at a Time
I am still getting to know D.C., café by café: places like Big Bear Cafe and Coffy Café where local performers are welcome to shine; Slipstream and Compass Coffee that have found enough homegrown success to blossom in multiple locations; those that have infiltrated the Instagram scene such as Maketto and Colony Club (whose name will soon change), and family-owned businesses such as Amen Coffee and Juice and Sidamo Coffee and Tea.
With each one, I meet a new neighborhood and learn more about the people who live there—what they create and what they care about. It makes D.C. feel more and more like home.
