The Wydown Coffee Bar

Stylish coffee bar in the U street district that’s worth a visit. Gets crowded and for good reason. It’s the only upscale artisan espresso pull in the area and has a nice selection of morning pastries. Great modern vintage décor which makes everything look like it’s been Instagram-​filtered.

The alluring aroma of fresh coffee and inviting modern interior made this place an easy choice to stop in for a quick Saturday afternoon treat. They offer quality coffee and serve up a great latte. I only wish they had more seating options for customers to sip and savor. Service could have been a little friendlier and quicker, but the wait wasn’t too bad given the crowd. If you’re in the area looking for a nice quality cup of joe and don’t mind paying a price premium of an extra buck or two, I’d recommend.

Love their Masala tea! Great cookies as well!

Love everything about this place! The scones, biscuits, and muffins are freshly baked and delicious. The café au lait is so delicious! The service is always super nice. Great after a morning workout!

I stumbled upon this place after a sub par Amsterdam Falafel experience. This is a gem. I wish I would have discovered it earlier in my trip. It has a great selection of pastries and coffee. I had a vegan muffin and it was scrumptious. I’m not a vegan, but wanted a lighter pastry. The staff is friendly and the pour over was flavorful. The ambiance of the space is light, bright and welcoming with lots of wood, recycles industrial furnishings and white subway tile. Only drawback if you need to do work is no Wi-​Fi. However, that’s not a criticism as sometimes it’s nice to just read a magazine.

Solid food options, strong and flavorful coffee, and like the modern artsy furniture and all.
However, this place is just simply way too crowded given the space and the wait is a bit too much for me.
Go here when the town is slow (i.e. when everyone is out of town). Otherwise… you might be stuck in line forever.

I love this place-​the coffee is great and high quality, they have really cute tiny cups for cortaditos. I had a cookie here, and it was better than any cookie I’ve ever made, I definitely recommend it. The baristas are fun, personable, and helpful. The art was really fun and there was plenty of outlets to charge my phone, which is key.

Excellent local, family-​owned coffee bar. They have wonderful treats for all times of the day, and the coffee is outstanding. They clearly see coffee making as a craft, and not just a job. There isn’t a ton of seating, but it’s perfect for popping in and getting a drink before/​after hitting Trader Joe’s! Staff has also been really sweet and helpful when I was there with my kiddos and my toddler was in full-​out tantrum mode. I just wish it was closer to me, it would definitely be my go-​to spot.

Love the ambiance of The Wydown Coffee Bar. After popping by Soul Cycle (right across the street), this place was the perfect spot to spend my Saturday afternoon… you know, to reflect on life and such. Oh, and people watching. It’s a fun spot for that too.
Great coffee and the lattes are perfectly frothy as well. It’s not a huge space, and it’s definitely not really a place to bring a laptop and do some full-​on/​hard-​core studying (because it does tend to get quite noisy and busy). Also, no free wifi. But if you’re just meeting up with a friend, or grabbing coffee to go, this place is perfect.
Great service. Minimalist décor. Cool vibes.

During my brief living experience in DC, I was often on the hunt for area cafes that offered good coffee/​tea without too long of a wait (a good space for reading or working was a bonus!). Near the U Street corridor, there are several good options if you need your daily dose of caffeine, but this place was a great find!
What made this place stand out was the excellent ambience and great service I receiver during the times I visited. There are great tables if you need to pull up and work for a while, and the one weekend morning that I stopped by, I didn’t get that «hurry up» sense you can sometimes get from café staff looking to turnover limited space. I also appreciated how friendly and non-​pretentious the baristas were-​sometimes, buying coffee can feel like impressing the baristas is half of the battle! There were no eye rolls or heavy sighs and I asked about the different coffee beans before making my order, which was a nice surprise.
I will definitely make sure to visit this place the next time I’m in DC!

Phenomenal shop with a staff that knows the true meaning of customer service. I have been living in DC for 2 months, and the staff knows me by name and makes me feel like I’m part of their family. I always get their almond milk lattes with some honey and it’s AMAZING. I love that it is family owned and even the pastries are made in-​house. I do wish they had wifi, but there is something endearing about the shop not looking for day-​long squatters.

Despite the reviews being awesome and it being packed on a Sunday afternoon, my chai was immediately very, very watery. Perhaps it was bad luck– I’ll stick to a hot drink next time.

Great coffee and a great atmosphere, if only a little pretentious (but admit it, that’s a good thing). The space itself is beautiful and minimal, although it’s crowded and seating is limited on weekend mornings. I love the coffee-​drip art, which adds to the unique and hip vibes.
Service is quick, and pastries are made fresh in-​house. The coffee at The Wydown is unparalleled — best I’ve had in DC. I recommend the vanilla latte or the chai (which has a sweeter, more subdued spice profile than many other chai drinks). Overall a great experience!

At the suggestion of a coworker, I decided to try a new place to get some writing done and came here. U street is of course constantly busy, so for someone who has to drive here like me, parking can be rough. I got lucky and found a spot that wasn’t a caravan’s journey away. The front of the store is so small and unassuming I’d easily have walked past it. The tables are share style, which is good or bad depending on your preferences (I didn’t care).
I had an iced mint tea for the hot weather, and a mocha chip muffin to bring home to the hubby. The tea was excellent for the season. My coworker ordered a chai latte, and it was a mild comforting tasting latte. My current favorite chai is at Baked and Wired, so he asked what I thought in comparison. I still like Baked & Wired’s chai more, but I see the merit in this one too. Prices are what you’d expect for the area.
According to my husband, the mocha chip muffin was an excellent breakfast item the next day.

Really great coffee and lattes. I really like the iced coffee particularly. Strong, tasty and they don’t fill up the cup with ice like some places do. What really sets this place apart from other coffee shops I’ve been to is they have self-​pour soy milk. Most places allow you to add your own milk and half & half and then charge you extra for soy, so that was a pleasant surprise.
Staff was also friendly and accommodating, even when my tipsy friend was asking a million questions. The only con is that the seating is a little strange and doesn’t seem very inviting, especially since there were a bunch of jerks who acted like they would shank you if you sat down at their table.

Needed coffee after therapy. My cashier was also my barista, his name is Brian. This place is beautiful, and clean. The entire staff put forward an effort to greet me and as it turns out they bake a lot of their own stuff.
Bonus points: the go to manual for bakery troubleshooting, «On food and cooking» was sitting visible on the shelf. It’s a sign that a place cares about what they do if that little gem sits present to fix things. Five stars!

Can’t believe I haven’t written a review for this place? I’ve been going here for as long as they have been open on the 14^th St location next to Tico and Trader Joes. The baristas and staff are all lovely and courteous, always nice and helpful. They remember their regulars and always wonder if you’ve been gone a while: P I love smaller places that recognize you. I know some people complain about the coffee… I’m not sure what they’re on, but I’ve been drinking coffee since my baby bottle days and I like it here just fine. Whether its their iced coffee (much better than Starbucks), cortados, cappucinos, mochas, or lattes (and yes, I have had all of these), I’ve always liked my beverage. They are also, if somehow not to your liking, always willing to fix it! I also order my special, chocolate cortados (mocha sauce on bottom) and they always oblige :)
I can’t even talk about the pastries b/​c I’m just going to want one. If you come early enough in the mornings, you can see the pastry chef (there are 3, I believe, but the older lady is hilarious!) whipping up baked goods from scratch, real butter, yogurt, and all. I love all of their bakery items! You can see by all of the pics I post here!

Your local baristas live around you, so support their efforts at this local fabulous coffee bar. I think it might be the only coffee bar in the District, but what is the difference between a bar vs. shop vs. house? Who knows. What I do know is that this coffee bar delivers some mighty fine brew of the caffeinated kind.
When you walk into this narrow space, you can see it stretches to the back, allowing for your eyes to take note of a few things. First point you may notice: the seating is chic and varying from the front regular height tables to the higher ones in the back — maybe justifying the «bar» name? Second point you may notice is the large area to the left in the middle allowing you to dress up your beverage and/​or find a lid or napkin — you know, the essentials of coffee bar life. Third point you may then notice is the menu board that greets you, denoting where you should head towards to order your beverage: by the cash register with the Belly rewards program awaiting.
However, what I noticed in particular as I turned to the right was not the beautiful cold case of other offerings or the baked goods display, but there was an oven along the wall behind the baked goods. That just seals the deal — a coffee bar that bakes, awesome. That’s beauteous. Also, along the counter, they showcase lovely drip coffee equipment/​paraphernalia, which look as aesthetically pleasing as they are certain to be gastronomically pleasing. They also have several electronic coffee grinders lined up just under the menu board — awesome.
The baristas are patient with your order and meticulous with their craft. Seems like the final touch for latte art here favors the loving kind: a heart motif!
In addition to the décor that others have highlighted as tasteful though simple, what else is a pleasant breath of fresh air here? The juices and tonics they have in the cold case. Raw juices and tonics, squeezed juices, natural-​style beverages other than coffee, from other local businesses — great touch. They also have a superb selection of tea for a coffee bar! For those avoiding dairy, they have soy and almond milk. The pastries look pretty tasty, one of which on a given day may be vegan, though I am unsure if there is gluten-​free vegan choices.
Great local business that I am happy to support over the large chains. This may be my new favorite coffee bar!

They only have one type of hot chocolate — but it’s a damn good dark hot chocolate! There was a lot of rich frothy foam at the top (with a beautiful heart drawn with the pour). But back to that froth: it was like a warm milkshake!
The space was cute and the first time I’ve gone bc there wasn’t the usual line out the door that I’ve seen most Saturday and Sunday mornings when I’ve passed by. Can’t wait to go back and try the other coffees — drip, espresso…

Caffeine! Caffeine! Time to get amped up!
It’s a wonderful place with potency. Nice décor and staff. Nice selection to choose from.
Had the chai latte. Good. Not like other chais. Had a different spice profile. In a good way. Still like my traditional better, but this is good to. However this one had more caffiene in it than in other chais I’ve had… not that I’m complaining. Tasty.
Pretty quick service too. Limited seating and will probably be busy…
The baked goods looked great… will have to try them next time!