Big Bear Cafe in Bloomingdale.
As part of the Coffee Adventure, on Sunday Mr. Moggie and I visited Big Bear Cafe in Bloomingdale. I felt instantly comfortable when I walked in the door. In fact, this is from my Twitter: checking out big bear cafe...it's only been 2 minutes, but i kind of love it here.
Here's a rundown of some of the shop's features:
Location: 1st and R Streets, NW in the Bloomingdale neighborhood, east of Shaw. We hadn't really ventured out there much before. There's not a whole lot out there except for lots of cute townhouses. We took Metro to Shaw and it was a 6-block walk. Apparently there's a farmers market on the same corner every Sunday morning. The neighborhood boasts lots of community spirit, but there weren't a whole lot of people out and about for a nice Sunday afternoon. We did see a few folks out walking their dogs on our way back to Metro later in the evening.
Decor and seating: We chose the large table in the middle of the exposed-brick-walled shop that felt like a living room. Several smaller tables lined the perimeter of the room along with a couple of vintage chairs and a comfy-looking couch. Big Bear also has outdoor seating and stools along the counter. There were tons of windows and the doors were wide open. I love ceiling fans and there were several sending a cool breeze throughout the shop. It was easy to spread out and work at the table, which is always great for a Sunday afternoon at a coffee shop. Almost everyone there had a laptop; there was free wifi. Did I mention the ceiling fans? Bliss.
Food and Drink: I had a vanilla latte, my standard coffee drink. I got it iced. It was delicious. Big Bear serves counter culture coffee. The espresso was incredibly tasty and there was no evidence of burnt beans. The vanilla flavor was subtle and not overly sweet. I'm pretty picky about my dairy products, and the milk held up to my standards. All the milk at Big Bear comes from Trickling Springs. We didn't try any of the food, but I'll certainly be back to taste the sandwiches and salads. I have high expectations since the coffee was so good and the owner seems to take similar care with choosing ingredients and preparing food, sourcing the kitchen from the Big Bear Garden, local bakeries, and local farms.
A blurry photo of my delicious iced vanilla latte.
Music: The music was loud. I can't say if it's always like that, but I can say that for the most part the selection was good. They played some new takes on the oldies while we were there, as well as some really enjoyable tunes. I wish I could say more about the music, but I didn't recognize a lot of it; I just liked it. I see this as valuable since if I spend enough time there, I might discover some new bands. If you're looking for a place to study and need absolute quiet, this is not the place for you; I like loud music to drown out other distractions so I was pretty content to study while tapping my foot to the music at Big Bear.
Closing time: This is the only factor I saw as a downside. The shop closes at 6pm every night. I'm pretty productive in the evening to nighttime hours so I like it when coffee shops are open until 9 or 10. However, I think the neighborhood borders on the unsafe after dark, so perhaps the early closing time is for the best.
I am definitely going back. In fact, I think I'd be content to stop my search for the perfect coffee shop here. However, that would be unfair to the other contenders. And how amazing would it be if shop after shop kept blowing my mind?
I leave you with this from the Big Bear website:
Regarding not stocking Splenda [I only noticed honey and raw sugar as sweeteners] - our milk is sweet, and our coffee isn't bitter, so give it a try without the sugar!
Mr. Moggie reading at Big Bear, researching for our trip to Provence in August.
