Comments on: Mid City Caffe To Open June 14th (Above Miss Pixie’s on 14th Street)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:49:37 +0000

“Can anyone suggest any other Big Bear

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:40:02 +0000

Hours: I totally agree with the hours. I pass by the locale daily at times ranging from 7am to 9:30am…always lots of people walking, biking, driving to work. (Love the ‘farmers’ comment)

Elevated Location: I don’t think anyone starved for a real friggin coffee shop in this neighborhood cares about walking up a flight of stairs. It sure as heck beats my 2 mile commute to Tryst, or my 1.5 mile commute to Big Bear, or my 1.7 mile commute to Locoalt for real coffee. It is greatly overdue and they got their foot in the neighborhood first, so they will bank. I don’t think they will need to rely on the average starbucks junkie to take notice of people sitting at street level. A sidewalk sign will do them fine.

An interesting take from a friend at work was…do you really want to be on street level given the still lagging remnants of the 14th street corridor anyway? I thought it was a good point as I have been disturbed many times while sitting at street cafes in the area.

By: lol

lol — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:31:03 +0000

Clif,

No espresso machine?, It will have one, state of the art one dumm ass!

By: Prince Of Petworth

Prince Of Petworth — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:05:44 +0000

@HAI – the opening has been delayed:

http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2009/06/14th-street-news-social-hiring-and-mid-city-caffe-opening-delayed/

By: Hai

Hai — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Well, I just tried to go there, but apparently it doesn’t exist. So lame as usual.

By: Hai

Hai — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:06:18 +0000

I’m cautiously excited about Mid City Caffe. I miss Sparky’s and have been skeptical about one that would live up to its atmosphere. They had comfortable booths, traditional (if not worn out) tables and chairs inside and out, artsy/commie decor that may remind you of Frisco or East Berlin, and of course a couple cute baristas who worked there. These are simple but important factors in making a decent indie coffee shop.

As Victoria asked, why aren’t there many cool coffee shops in DC? I attribute that to the drab political culture, as there is also a lack of a local art scene. I’ve had to settle for Steam on 17th Street, but it just doesn’t feel as cozy nor is it as close by. Hopefully, Mid City Caffe will fill the void, at least for as long as I live down 14th Street, and offer something novel to DC: customer service.

By: kristin

kristin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:12:48 +0000

As a resident of the block, I’ll be very excited to have a coffee place near by again. I’ve been making the trek to Java House since Sparky’s closed…

By: Haley

Haley — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:05:10 +0000

All I can say is that the 14th Street/U Street area is desperate for a good coffee shop. And Counter Culture is amazing, especially when brewed in a pour-over style (which includes espresso- no espresso machine required). If someone is pissed off by walking up one flight of stairs, I think he or she may have greater issues to resolve.

By: Clif

Clif — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:00:28 +0000

Wow, a coffee shop without an espresso machine. What an awesomely stupid idea.

By: Victrola

Victrola — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:59:40 +0000

All this cloud-cover is reminding me of my old Seattle home. One thing that certainly doesn’t remind me of Seattle are DC’s coffee shops. Big Bear is close to those great Seattle coffee houses. Tryst kills me with its sit-down service, which leads to its state of constant near-capacity seating. I’m not sure why DC is hurting so badly for cool cofee shops. We have beautiful old spaces and plenty of people needing caffine. I’m really pulling for this spot.
Can anyone suggest any other Big Bear’ish spots?