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Washington DC Coffee House JourneyCoffee-Flavored NightlifeI meet with a couple of friends at Tryst coffeehouse in the Adams Morgan part of D.C, the capital of the District's nightlife and increasingly popular area for the town's younger working minions to live. Somehow, a lounge bar culture coexists side-by-side here with a coffeehouse culture on the perimeter, even on this busy Saturday night. With poor peripheral vision, you could spend a few hours in Tryst without realizing that it is any different from the ubiquitous lounge-theme alcohol bars that have sprung up in Washington in recent years. A bouncer cards you at the door, a busy bartender scurries to accommodate the two-deep crowd surrounding his domain, and occupying the many armchairs are well-dressed twentysomethings slowly working on martinis, cosmopolitans, microbrews, or Manhattans. And oddly enough, on the fringes of the bar activity, a more brightly lit café culture endures undisturbed. Two women play a contemplative game of chess, and a nearby man sits in a comfortable chair, immersed in a book. All of them sip from large coffee cups as time seems to unfold at a different pace for them than it does for the rest of Tryst. There are most certainly quieter options for these three, but they don't even seem aware of the alcohol-based scene a few steps away, let alone bothered by it. Tryst embodies the mixed blessing of the coffee lover seeking nightlife in D.C. On one hand, Tryst and Xando are cafes that are thriving and packed throughout prime-time. They are great places for coffee aficionados to socialize. Be forewarned, though, that they are not what some people have in mind when they think of coffeehouses. The atmospheres are something of a fusion between those of a coffeehouse, a lounge bar, and a dance club. Clarendon/Courthouse Caffeine CrawlWhile coffeehouse chains frequently flex their muscle in the District and the outer suburbs, right across the river in Arlington, Virginia are seven spots to get quality coffee, all within a 10-minute walk of one another, a majority of which are independently owned. It is the perfect setting for a "caffeine crawl." For those interested in logistics of this crawl, the route is simple: begin at the Clarendon Metro station (Orange Line), and begin walking east down Wilson Boulevard. In the interest of consistency, I put in the same order at each café I hit along the crawl: a grande cappuccino. Full disclosure: I do not visit all seven locations on the same day, and INeedCoffee bears no responsibility for any caffeine jitters you may incur from trying this. To avoid pressuring the easily persuaded, I will highlight only my three favorite places.
Proceed down Wilson Boulevard for five blocks and just to your left at the intersection with Franklin Road, you will the Java Shack tucked right where a residential neighborhood meets the commercial strip along the boulevard. This is my favorite of the stops on the Caffeine Crawl. The Shack has seniority over the rest of the competition, now nearly five years old, and enduring a steadily increasing amount of rivals. A sign inside apologizes for succumbing to a slight raise in its prices, but a giant cup of cappuccino sets me back a mere $2.80. I'm not inclined to complain, especially on a perfect fall night like this one. Depending on when you arrive, you may receive table service, or you may order at the counter. Drink at one of the indoor tables, one of the sofas indoors, or take it to the tables outside, which remain populated even on cool November nights. Indoors or outdoors, the atmosphere at Java Shack is homey and friendly, and has a diverse clientele from the neighborhood and beyond. Palladio's Café is just a block further on your left. It is a nice, small, quiet nook to read, study, or maybe meet a new person. Madonna's "Immaculate Collection" and Bob Marley's "Legend" are the soundtracks on the night I'm there. A soccer game is playing on a TV in the corner, volume muted. A grad-school-aged woman studies, a twentysomething man orders a sandwich and a coffee, sits at the table next to her, and asks her about what she's studying. Immediately beyond the Courthouse Metro station, you will find yourself at Xando, a moderate-size chain that once again proves it has a nose for sniffing out prime locations in the D.C. Metro area. If you have actually had a coffee at each of the previous spots, you may actually find yourself thinking about ordering a decaf. Like its sister locations in Dupont Circle, it is nearly too popular for its own good. Looking for a table to call my own at 9 p.m. on a Sunday night, I see there are none available inside, and that a few groups of people endure cold temperatures outside and sit, drink, and converse at the sidewalk tables.
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