Le Caprice DC

I think this is my new fav café in Columbia Heights :)
The main reasons: the green tea chai and the croissants (I guess their effective marketing worked on my susceptible little brain: P)

This is the kind of place I need to try again, especially because I’ve heard rave reviews from a couple of friends (one of whom is a connoisseur of croissants and says these are the best she’s had — but sadly those sell out, fast). Buuuuuut both my hubs and I were kind of «ho hum» about the pastries/​cookies we ordered. Another day!

I have not been here for about 2 years due to relocation and travel schedules. The place have gotten a little crowded due to more equipment, though the table capacity is the same; I guess business really is doing well. The plants at the curbside look fabulous. I saw my fave people, Mr. Erfani and Amerika, other staff that are all so familiar, and they recognized me the moment I walked in. I ordered the same pan au chocolat and the almond croissant and they fab. One minute thing is that these pastries are not as flaky as I was used to last time, but it is still good. The latte was well done by Amerika. It’s nice this business is doing well.

I went here last year. It was alright; nothing to write to home about. The environment was quaint and comfy. You can sit here and type away on your laptop.
I ordered their croissant; it was flaky and buttery.
I have to admit the customer service was on point. I did notice the cashiers memorized the orders of their regulars. Every time, someone they recognize comes up, the barista would start making their coffee after asking «the usual?» :)

The inside and patio is very pretty, and the restaurant looks clean. HOWEVER… this place is ridiculously over priced. I paid $ 8.79 for a bacon egg & cheese on a croissant. It was about the size of a Panera Bread breakfast sandwich… and tatsed about the same.
I want to revist and try some of their lunch meals, which come with sides in the $ 7 – 9 range. That seems more reasonable. Service was average.

Great baguette. So so good. Better than Paul. I’m giving it a 5 instead of a 4 because they don’t have fresh bread in the morning. They bake it in the afternoons.

I suppose living relatively close to this diamond in the rough, my review may appear swayed however this place offers the best, fast casual (breakfast & bakery) option in all of DC.
I typically order the #5 Breakfast Sampler. It comes with eggs w/​melted cheddar, tater tots, sliced tomatoes and b-​b-​b-​BACON! They even throw in a small, freshly-​baked roll.
Pro Tip: Cut the roll in half and start with the cutest little breakfast sandwich you’ll ever meet…(eat).
During the morning, you can find the staff rolling and forming dough from scratch. And that smell? Yeah.
The price is reasonable for the quality and quantity. They offer so many high quality, French options.
I gave this place 4 out of 5 because I tend to arrive when it gets very busy and the wait could be longer than expected (depending on what you order).
All in all, this is the place to start your day!

Service: Injebe (I’m sure I’m butchering the spelling here) is a thoughtful, pleasant, and hardworking employee who made me feel like I was being served at a lovely café in the streets of a small French town rather than over the counter in the middle of a bustling city.
Food: I ordered a chicken salad on a croissant and it was delicious — not too rich but full of flavor, light and refreshing, and accompanied by potato chips and slices of tomato and cucumber. The perfect summer lunch for under $ 10!
Vibes: The patio is spacious and was never too full or loud for the few hours I was here and the flora so exquisitely surrounding the tables gave me the perfect space to enjoy my lunch. This was exactly what I was looking for!

I popped into Le Caprice this evening on my way to a work event. Full disclosure – it’s right next door to my building, making it super convenient for me. I ordered an ACT (avocado, cucumber, & tomato) sandwich and an iced coffee. The sandwich wasn’t anything special, and wasn’t particularly worth the $ 7 it cost, in my opinion. The avocado was brown, bordering on black, even though I watched the girl slice it open herself and the cucumbers were nearly as thick as the bread itself. I will note that the bread, which I believe was a focaccia, was decent, although bland. The coffee was coffee, and definitely wasn’t a cold brew, but rather normal coffee that had been cooled down in a refrigerator. Perhaps their pastries are the redeeming quality of this place; I sampled a croissant that it was flaky and quite delicious. Overall, it was alright, but nothing to write home about. I feel like it subsits on customers from nearby apartment buildings, who need their quick caffeine fix. To be quite honest, I’ll likely visit again out of sheer convenience sake.
Update: Went in the other morning for an egg and cheese bagel, which was supposedly $ 4.99 (~ $ 5.50 after DC restaurant tax). The cashier then tells me that my bagel will cost over $ 6.00 ?! I know it wasn’t a huge difference or anything, but it still makes me feel like something odd is going on at this place. And honestly, $ 5 for a bagel with an egg is ridiculously overpriced to begin with, but I digress…

Portobello sandwich is still good. But the salads are wayyyyyy overpriced for nothing.

One plain croissant, amazing. One loaf of wheat bread, delicious. One almond croissant tasted old, hard and flavorless. Hope it was a fluke.
Update: I was contacted by the owner who expressed his apologies for my experience, offered me a $ 4 credit, assured me that it would have been baked fresh that day. He also provided a recomendation to warm the almond croissant — that this may have been the issue with mine. I don’t know whether warming would fix it or not, but I do appreciate the attention to customer service and the willingness to try and resolve the situation. That’s why I added two stars to their rating. I’ll also check back in again the next time I get an almond croissant.

This place was good, but it wasn’t fantastic — I was a little disappointed by my time here to be honest because I expected a little more from the food. When we got here, it seemed very inviting — the menu looked great, and this café looked like a quiet, hip place, great for morning brunch. When I first got in, the pictures of the food quickly drew my attention to the breakfast platter and the breakfast pizza, both which looked amazing. Not being able to decide, my friend and I ordered both and decided to share.
The breakfast platter was a bit plain, but I can’t really complain about that — what else do you really expect from a breakfast platter. Eggs, tater tots, a few strips of bacon, a piece of bread, and some tomatoes. The food tasted good, and the tomatoes were a really nice touch.
The pizza was extremely underwhelming — when I finally got my order, it looked nothing like the picture had made it out to be. Wasn’t the biggest fan of how it tasted either — I felt like the tomato was way too strong, and there wasn’t enough meat in it to be filling. After splitting the both the breakfast platter and the breakfast pizza, having about half of each, I didn’t really feel full, and I don’t think either by itself was enough to satisfy what I was looking for that Sunday morning.
My other friend ordered a chicken pesto sandwich — although it wasn’t plated very well, apparently she said that it was really good, and pesto is great anyways so it’s probably a safe choice. The sandwiches are a lot cheaper than the platter/​pizza, so it might be better to just have those instead.
Finally, we ended by splitting a slice of tres leches cake. It looked delicious, but overall, the cake felt very soggy when we pressed into it, and almost had a wet feel to it. It was still very good, but the texture just wasn’t what I was expecting.
Overall, I’m giving this place 3 stars mainly because of the food — although it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t amazing either, and the plating of the food itself didn’t do the best job appetizing.

Amazing croissants!!! No doubt the best in DC. I am only dropping my rating to 4 because I feel more care could be taken with their sandwiches. They don’t use shell eggs and the presentation could be better.

I have been looking all over DC for fresh croissants. Fresh croissants like the ones they sell in Paris. Search over! Freshly baked all day, never stale, never chewy, always light and fluffy.

The bakery product is good but the bread is pricey. Just noticed that it actually serves hot breakfast platter, will have to try next time. Great expresso but not straight up coffee, but the croissant is the best in Columbia Heights.
The outdoor patio is great if you have a dog.

4 stars = quality of food
4 stars = atmosphere
4 stars = location
2.5 stars = value
This place is built up as «The French» pastry shop in NW. I beg to differ. I did enjoy my times at Le Caprice — the pastries were extremely fresh and the coffee of higher quality then I’d expect from such a shop.
However, the ultimate downfall for me is the value for your money. As with some other reviews, I understand we are in DC and the dollar goes slightly less here. However, the sandwhiches typically contain little meat on them and hit you for $ 9+.
I do love the atmosphere though. Super chill, staff is awesome, and if you live in the Allegro … you can come downstairs in your pajamas.

I blame my brother. He built Le Caprice up as a place with «the best» croissants.
Maybe he meant «really good in DC» or «the best in a 5 mile radius». The chocolate croissant was decent and the people seemed nice (the owner said goodbye to us on our way out), but they can’t really compete with Tartine. Still, a decent croissant/​pastry/​breakfast spot for DC! Watch out though, because they do get busy and seating is limited!

Stopped by to try a croissant and ended up leaving with a bag of 4 to go. Oops! As good as everyone says – my croissant was flaky, soft and cloud-​like on the inside, and perfectly buttery on the outside. It ended up being $ 11 for 4 – a bit of a splurge, but worth it!
Like other reviews have mentioned, the service was top notch. The guy at the counter was super friendly, but didn’t bother me when I told him I wanted to browse a bit. He re-​wrapped my to-​go order when I asked for special packaging and even suggested a better option.
Even during the middle of a Thursday the place was maybe a quarter full, especially the patio area. They have ample seating and a relaxed environment – would love to come here for lunch one day!

Impressed with the bacon cheddar quiche!
This place is bustling with beautiful locals who bring their dogs and kids to socialize and enjoy tasty eats.
Upon entry the sweet aroma of fresh baked goodness hits you like a sack of bricks! The line is always out the door and you can literally feel the chaos. Operations aren’t so smooth though, they seem flustered behind the counter. I’ve seen better looking croissants at Giant so I decided to skip that. I asked for my quiche to be heated up but to my surprise (on two occasions), it was ice cold in the middle. If you love quiche, this is a spot for you but take it home and re-​heat it yourself.

Chocolate croissant — YES. We got one late at night and they didn’t toast it (we didn’t ask for it to be toasted either) and it was really good! Flakey, light, and a great amount of chocolate.
Cute place, owners were there, everything seems freshly made. Would go back every day to get a chocolate croissant
Can be a good study/​work place too