Mocha Hut

I miss Mocha Hut. Someone walking into the former Mocha Hut site last week said U Street Café would be opening «soon.» Hope it’s as good!

I had a lengthy discussion with one of my peers this morning, as she informed me that due to gentrification, the Mocha Hut ceases to exist and will be aptly named U St.-something-or-other. I had no idea, and was clueless about the recent changes. I used to visit Mocha Hut on lazy Sundays after church or on my days off when I had nothing to do but enjoy a nice egg sandwich and hot chocolate, net-​surfing on my laptop. It seems like it was so long ago, yet the café always held a dear place in my heart. I just wish people would understand that the reason that U St. (H St. or any other street that has been recently ‘discovered’) is so cherished is because of businesses just like these. The location was optimal; but, more importantly, the service was excellent.

Mocha Hut is great for what it is– a local coffee shop. I wouldn’t go far out of my way to come here, but since its right around the corner from my apartment, I frequently stagger here on those hung-​over weekend mornings.
They have a wide selection of sandwiches and, from what I’ve tried, they are pretty good. They also have fairly healthy options with multigrain bread and turkey sausage/​bacon. Breakfast is served all day, which is always a plus if you’ve just had a late night.

Mocha Hut is closed for good.
It is too bad that they closed the place.
As I said, I like to support local business and it is sad to see Mocha Hut closed.
Ciao Mocha Hut…

Me and my friend happened upon this place while exploring random bars in the U street area. We saw a huge crowd of people standing up and some people were outside reading/​singing. So we walk in to see what was goin on, and it turned out to be an open mic. We went there for what we learned is the Thursday night, «Spit Dat», open mic.
Not only was the open mic great but I tried their pecan waffles and I was in heaven. Also any place that has Nantucket Nectars and Honest Tea/​Ade is good with me :)
I’m not a fan of coffee sorry :(. I highly recommend the food and open mic though!

I take back what I said about the breakfasts not being worth it. It’s still true that breakfast almost always falls into the category of I-​can-​make-​it-​for-​myself-​healthier-​and-​less-​expensively, but on New Year’s Day when we were looking for a place to meet friends for brunch, turning despondently from long line to long line, Mocha Hut came through. I got the Florida Avenue, a fairly standard diner breakfast with grits, and was quite happy.
[A few weeks later we had the misfortune to get into Crème, and I can confidently say I’d rather go to Mocha Hut.]

I love having this place down the street from my house. Good coffee, and some awesome belgian waffles! I have had the banana waffle before, and it’s delicious and under $ 5! Nothing is ever under $ 5… especially a large, belgian waffle. The waffle is light, fluffy, and super tasty. It comes with caramel sauce, but I’d stick with the regular syrup.
You can also get lots of other breakfast options. Last time I had the Mocha Hut Breakfast. 2 eggs, a meat side, and a belgian waffle or french toast. Pretty good, though my over-​easy eggs were more like over-​medium. Otherwise, still only $ 6 something — so definitely a steal.
The Coffee is great there and I’ve always found the staff pleasant. Definitely a great little place.

My friends and I were looking for a cozy, worthwhile alternative to Starbucks when we decided to go to Mocha Hut. Don’t let their offering of coffee as well as café seating fool you: neither the ambiance nor the drinks were worth the try.
The plain coffee was so-​so and came in a sticky cup, but what tainted the experience was the lack of milk and sugar options for doctoring up my drink. When I alerted the baristas, they kind of shrugged it off and one mumbled something about forgetting to refill. I also noticed that the place looked a little unkempt.
Zita L. called it «Mocha Butt» — haha. Still wishing for an alternative to Starbucks!

I like U street, and I really wanted to like this place (being local and all). Meh, it wasn’t so great. My cappuccino smelled like old socks and tasted about the same. I think the milk was whole milk and was scalded. Maybe I should have asked for a new one, but oh well. The décor is pretty lame too. From the hard wood benches to the crappy paining on the concrete column, to the ugly ceilings… this place needs a make over. Bathrooms were dirty too. Not planning to go back…

The most frustrating aspect of this is that the place has so much potential…
The place always has a crowd, whether it’s students like me studying at crunch time or a meeting to go over work related things or a family eating breakfast together, all types of crowds meet here. In a city as divided as DC, this is one of the truly few places where I have been that’s actually diverse and I feel at ease there. It’s also a rarety in a neighborhood that would have more coffeeshops (r.i.p. 14U but, hey, starbucks is still thriving) but for some reason doesn’t.
When I lived two blocks away, this was my go-​to study place and even though I no longer live in the area, I made the thirty minute trip now that finals time has rolled around again.
The first thing I was greeted with was a painting of the September 11^th World Trade Center attacks on the back wall, which was about three times the size of any other artwork in Mocha Hut. And the painting was all these cheery shades of blue. I was not feeling it and wonder what the hell they were thinking when hanging it up. On another wall is a painting of the Obama campaign logo. I understand this is DC’s black broadway and this is a time to celebrate, but painting a campaign logo onto a canvas isn’t art.
As for the wireless, I understand the reason why they limit it on the weekends as a lot of times, would be customers come in and see no place to sit and the customers leave, thereby Mocha Hut losing business. (Hey, Tryst turns off the internet on the weekends altogether). The thing is — I don’t understand why this is even an issue since the last several times I’ve been there, the wireless doesn’t even work, the employees are incompetent at fixing the problem, and I end up spending the time looking for other local networks. Ridiculous.
Generally, this place seems just poorly managed. Simple things, like not having your customers have to pump their own coffee, would make a big increase in the experience. In particular, on a recent visit I asked if they had a menu I could read since I didn’t have my contacts in and couldn’t read the one above the counter, and I got in return a weird look and no explanation why those disappeared from my last visit. There’s markings on the walls, presumably where other weird artwork once hung. Overall, there doesn’t seem to be much maintenance here. Today when the only free table was all the way in the back, I couldn’t read since it was so dark and when I asked whether the lights above my table could be turned on, I was told the lightbulbs were all blown out. There’s a Rite Aid right across the street, why no one picks up new light bulbs and screw them in is beyond me. ((«How many Mocha Hut employees does it take to screw in a light bulb?» Sigh.))
These things might sound trivial but they really had a negative impact on my visit. In the end, I’m still able to concentrate and get my work done but that just might be because my mind does a better job of zoning things out when they are that bad.

Awesome local place that serves pastries, breakfast, and sandwiches all day? Grinds coffee for me on the spot? Free wi-​fi and funky décor?
I love it. Give this place a shot; it is better than all the options in the area (namely, Starbucks) and deserves to keep going.
Plus, yesterday the special of the day was chicken and waffles, oh yes!

Mocha Butt. That’s going to be my name for this place. haha. I know that’s the most immature review I’ve ever written and will be dredged up the day I (never) become a world-​famous restaurant critic, but it just popped into my head and wouldn’t leave, and in the interest of transparency, I couldn’t suppress it.
I walked in here on a weekday afternoon to open the laptop and have a cup of coffee – probably what 90 percent of people who enter here plan on doing.
First impression: The whole place smelled like grease. I suppose because, unlike most other cheap coffee houses, they serve breakfast. Either they had a burn situation, or the place is just too small to absorb those smells.
Second impression: My latte was the worst I’d had in DC to date. And I’ve lived here 11 years.
Third impression: The snitty sign by the register that says you are limited to FORTY FIVE minutes on your laptop on weekends. I didn’t want to be contrary (sometimes I like using old timey words like that) but I had to ask – REALLY? how do you guys get away with that? The guy behind the counter, in a friendly but righteous tone, said that waaaaay too many people were just taking advantage of them by coming in in the morning, ordering a tiny cup of coffee and then staying there all day. Really, I said, people can be just horrible (!). I later realized that most likely the reason people did not order another coffee was that the first one tasted like somebody’s butt.
I can understand their point, but as 99.9% of the places that offer free wi-​fi will tell you – this goes with the territory. It’s policies like this that would keep me far away from a place.
Since I had already ordered my coffee, I did fire up my wi-​fi and it was very slow to get started.
Plus side: There ‘s a big window with a couple of cozy chairs there if you’re lucky to grab them. Otherwise its a counter or table. The atmosphere is mellow. It’s cozy with warm colors on the wall. It just doesn’t make up for the butt-​tasting, greasy-​smelling, snitty attitude of the place.
Methinks not.

Pluses:
–It’s local
–It has some a funky ambiance
–They have a $ 6 breakfast with eggs, french toast or waffle & meat or grits
–I don’t think they get big crowds
Minuses:
–The food is only okay
–The coffee wasn’t bad like everyone said but it wasn’t anything to write home about either
–They only have disposable coffee cups despite the fact that it is a restaurant
–They gave me disposable cutlery also but they have actual plates– it’s strange
They also rang up my order wrong and when I questioned it, they gave me a weird reason and told me the amount was correct. I asked for my receipt, which they couldn’t give me. I had to talk to someone else b/​c I was overcharged and it turned into a big thing. I finally gave up… this place is okay but I probably will never go back.
I think 14U or Polly’s are better for coffee/​breakfast. Or Ben’s Chili Bowl.

This is one of my go-​to brunch spots mostly because of the location and the comfy atmosphere. It’s a little bit overpriced, but the food is really very good — exactly what you’re looking for at brunch time. I love that some of the dishes have locally-​flavored names — and the coffee holds its own. Sadly, it is sometimes tough to get a table, which is a big downer when you’re jonesing for that egg sandwich!

Well, I’ve only had lattes there once or twice, and never a coffee. So, I can’t speak to is as a coffee shop. But as a sandwich shop and brunch spot, I really enjoy this place.
When I want to sit down and have a tasty sandwich and enjoy reading a book or newspaper, this is a destination spot for me. Sunday brunch is really tasty as well, and open earlier than most restaurants in the area. It can be pretty crowded, but I find if I’m willing to stand and wait after ordering, a table always opens up before my food is ready.
It’s really worth checking into and seeing if it might be your next neighborhood hangout. Or maybe just your locally-​owned coffee shop.

I really, really want to love this place. It’s charmingly decorated, and it’s across the street from a Starbucks. I want it to kick Starbucks’ ass.
But sadly, it doesn’t. Last time I was there, they were out of drip coffee, and I had to wait about 10 minutes. And that would be fine, except that their coffee is normally found in a series of self-​serve thermoses… so basically, the coffee sits there all day until somebody notices that it’s almost out. If you’re unlucky, you’ll drink some nasty lukewarm old brew in this place… and that’s happened to me a few times.
The espresso was just as bad when I ordered it. It had clearly been made by somebody who hadn’t been trained… it was watery, bitter, and had bits of coffee grinds in it. Mmmm, crunchy.
It’s in my neighborhood, so I’ll be back. But if you’re a big coffee snob, you might want to stay away.

This place is one of the most ‘exotic’ coffee shop I have ever been to, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I was here on a regular Sunday afternoon to meet up with a friend who lived nearby, and to get lunch. It’s located pretty close to the U Street Metro station.
Well, to put it bluntly, I had never seen so many Apple laptops in one location before I went to this place. Everyone was working on a Mac! One girl had a pink Macbook, even. I think I spotted one person with a non-​Apple laptop, and he was definitely feeling out of place! haha
The sandwiches are pretty good. The lady behind the counter suggested I try their curry mayo, so that’s on my list next time I go there. She was pretty nice, and I felt welcomed.
I would definitely recommend this place to anyone. Just make sure you take your Mac there. It would be very cool!

3.5 stars
I have been coming to Mocha Hut since it opened a couple of years ago and I have to say it has been a sold place for me. I am in love with the fact they carry the OJ I love which is Naked. I also love the hot chocolate as well as a good latte here.
Let’s talk breakfast food when I don’t want to cook this is where I come for something quick, cheap and good. Despite other who don’t like the chicken and waffles I love it along with the eggs and toast and the Fritatta! Those are my standard when I order.
I have had several of the sandwiches and they are just as good as breakfast btw and I love the names of them. My faves are Ellington, Decatur and the Metro club.
My only issue is that they used to keep the OJ I drink in stock regularly but over the last 6 months or so it has been hard to get. Most of the girls and guys who work there know me, so when they see me walk in and if they know they don’t have my OJ they will tell me so I don’t have to stand in line if I don’t want too.
I always try to start my days off with a bottle of Naked OJ. It just makes my morning. I love a good OJ in the morning and if I had time I would squeeze my own but I usually only do that when I am cooking breakfast or brunch for my friends.
I was going to give them 4 stars because they are always consistent, good and I really enjoy everything about this place but the lack of my OJ recently makes me remove a ½ star.

I’m not big on coffee shops since many of them in the district are just too noisy and trendy. Mocha hut has gotten noisy and trendy since they moved to U Street but they keep me coming back. First I love they are local and that the breakfast menu items are named after local locations.
I used to go in only occasionally until someone told me they had breakfast all day. I tried the breakfast and so far everything is pretty good. Nothing spectacular but above the fare of most coffee shops. They do have one stand out thing, French Toast. This is some of the best french toast I’ve ever had. The texture is divine and really it doesn’t need any syrup. Also skip the chicken and waffles because it’s not what you expect it to be.
It can get noisy and crowded at times but that is just a testament to the cool atmosphere and good food. What I like most is that it doesn’t a have scene like many of the places in the area. It’s just regular people in need of food and coffee.
On the weekends I go for food because I’m lazy. After work I might pop in to read a book or finish up a project when the place is a little less hectic. It is a little expensive but what isn’t on U Street these days?

I should print my own bumper sticker that says «Will Stop for Local Coffee Shops.» I had heard the buzz about this place, but hadn’t had a chance to stop in until recently.
This space is inviting and warm. The staff is super nice and friendly. You can either get a freshly made sandwich (unlike Starbucks where they have been sitting out for who knows how long).
My fave treat to have here? The chocolate chip cookies that come in a pack, but are still warm. This is a great spot to cop squat in one of the corners and just chill.