Emma’s Espresso and Wine Bar

unique and relaxed atmosphere. delicious drip coffee and espresso. grilled sandwiches are fresh and amazing

Emma’s is very clean and bright. Lots of natural light which makes it great for camping out and getting work done. The pastries and food are all reasonably priced. I loved my dirty chai latte! I want to go back and try their wine and cheese selection.

I was tempted not to write a review, so that this hidden gem wouldn’t get «discovered». But as I don’t live in Alexandria and just happened on it while I was a visiting a friend, I’ll risk it. This is a great neighborhood spot. Very clean, cool setup, great location, and friendly staff. It’s not too crazy busy, easy to find a place to put your head down and get some work done, subtle background music, and your choice of wine or caffeine, whatever you want to drink. Like other reviews have said, good light exposure and views of outside. I wish there was a place like this in DC.

Great place. The muffins are great and a steal at $ 1.50. Same goes for the rice crispy treats. For lunch my favorite it the turkey, Brie, apricot sandwich. The coffee is very good. This is a wonderful and modern addition to del ray. You really can’t go wrong.

Emma’s offers something unique to the coffee scene in Alexandria. I like how it’s not cramped, is a clean space and has a lot of natural light. As a full-​time online student, it’s the perfect getaway from home when I need a change of scenery. My favorite is their dirty chai latte.
Side note: I was such a fan after a couple visits that I sought out a job as I saw the «Now Hiring» sign outside their shop. Now I am an employee that loves where I work and the people I work with.

Came here on a Saturday morning in order to get some coffee. They have a large selection of drinks and plenty of pastries to go along with them. I ordered a mocha and it was very good; the lone barista was nice and courteous. The location is nice and once you step inside the view is even nicer; it had a really nice atmosphere. This place has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.

Clean interior with friendly staff. Quiet neighbourhood place to sit and get some work done. I had a Capp and it was good but nothing to boast about. Nice seating area outside. I didn’t try the sweets but they look simple and good… However nothing looked too yummy.

This is my go-​to place for weekend breakfast and coffee. My fiancé digs their coffee and I am obsessed with their loose leaf tea (try the Madagascar coconut… trust me). Their breakfast sandwiches also hit the spot after rolling out of bed on a Saturday. I appreciate that it’s not smack dab in the middle of Del Ray (easier for parking) and it’s a great place to work if you work from home.

Emma’s was still under construction the last time we were here for a spell, so this was the first time we were able to experience it.
I had a chai, and my husband grabbed his usual americano. He is notoriously picky about his coffee, but appreciated their brews. My chai was delightfully spicy and not overly sweet.
Updated 10 – 19: came here to work for a spell & enjoyed some Jasmine green tea & their breakfast sausage sandwich. Nice vibe here in the am. I will say the counter upstairs, while providing a nice view, is a little high to comfortably compute on for too long. Felt like I needed a booster seat. Still, much more chill here than St. Elmo’s can be in the morning.
I’m sure we will return to check out the evening vibe at some point too!

Beautiful shop. Ambiance is nice and pleasant, sat and was able to crank through work in a peaceful spot. Nice and bright!
Café au Lait was great, got it with an extra shot of espresso. Came quick and tasted good.
Service was efficient and amicable. Smiles all around!

Ok I have found my little diamond in the rough coffee shop in Del-​Ray Va. It’s a must try and while here must try the Bacon Cheddar Scone! You never gone wrong with Bacon. :-)

Great staff, nice vibes. Great décor and free wifi. Good for a book read, study, or just a cuppa joe.

(I originally posted a review in June, but have updated the text below as of October 3, 2015.)
I hope people will note that the bad reviews are mostly from when Emma’s first opened.
They got off to a rough start, but now I think this is the nicest coffee shop/​café we have in Del Ray. Really modern but comfortable feel, friendly staff, good food even if the menu is limited, (easy parking if you need it). A bit slow, but those of us who are there to work on our computers (the majority of the crowd during the day) can wait 5 min for a latte instead of 3.
I work at Emma’s at least 2 days a week, starting at 7 am (when there are a lot of others like me, as well as people stopping for coffee on their way to work). I’m still loyal to Elmo’s and its quirky ambiance, but we all know how awful the coffee and most of the food is there :-) Happy to add Emma’s to the rotation between Caboose and Elmo’s.
It’s true this place doesn’t scream ‘wine bar’. But on days when I’m there until 5 or 6 pm, I see many groups come in for wine and appetizers who seem to be really enjoying themselves.

I accidentally stumbled upon this place and decided I would check it out. I thought the outside was cute and liked the outdoor seating. They should take advantage and have dog bowls and treats available since nearly everyone has a dog in Del Ray! The inside was very clean and bright and the staff was friendly.
I agree with other reviewers that the selection for food and dessert was very limited. I got an iced coffee and the hummus sandwich. I thought the coffee wasn’t that great-​kind of bitter. They need to up their game if their focus is coffee. The sandwich was good and just over $ 5, which is reasonable. The bread was probably the best part (some sort of whole grain w/​sunflower seeds) and I thought the veggies were fresh. I got it to-​go and appreciated that it was in a 100% recyclable, 30% post-​consumer cardboard container.
I am vegetarian/​vegan-​ish and I think this place could find its niche by offering vegan breakfast and lunch choices and a vegan dessert. I heart Del Ray but vegan food options are incredibly lacking. It is overrun by restaurants focused on meat unless you go for Thai or Indian food. Forget brunch unless you’re planning on just getting a bagel. I definitely think there is a market for a veggie-​focused eatery and they are already offering a few veg items.
There is too much competition with established cafes and restaurants in Del Ray that serve a larger variety of baked goods, coffee, etc. There are also plenty of happy hour spots and Evening Star w/​Planet Wine pretty much dominates when it comes to a wine bar. If this place tries to compete and doesn’t make any changes I don’t think they are going to be around very long… I’d love to see them succeed because I am all about small businesses!

So I walked in and said it was my first time and that i was getting coffee. Guy behind the counter launched into a full menu spiel starting with food. Turns out they import the coffee from Seattle. I semi-​jokingly asked why they would go all the way to Seattle when ME Swing’s and Misha’s are right here. He sang the praises of their brand so I got a coffee. $ 3 for a small.
And it was TERRIBLE.
I threw it out. I went back to get an espresso since I still wanted coffee. They comped it, which was nice. The espresso was better but still subpar. Still too bitter. It begs for sugar. We had a nice conversation and the guy let me see the packages for the beans and even poured some of the drip coffe beans out for me to inspect. The espresso beans are apparently lighter than the drip coffee beans which doesn’t make much sense. The regular drip coffee beans are pretty dark and very oily. They have a gross smell that I recognize in some coffees but I do not like it.
So the service is good, but the coffee is bad. Still giving 1 star because the coffee is what I go for.
Forget this place if good coffee is your thing.
Oh and cell phone reception in there is terrible.

Happy Hour and the charcuterie are a JOKE!!! There are so many fantastic happy hours spots in Del Ray — Emma’s is not one of them.
They have happy hour house wines by the glass for $ 5. Their house wines are whatever red they opened and whatever white they opened. They have happy hour beer and cider which entails about 5 – 6 choices, only one of which is cider.
The charcuterie was $ 13 for 3 selections. The cheese selections did not seem too bad, but notice the portions? They are about 1oz portions. The soppressata I had looked like it came out of a cheap pack from Giant. Nothing additional on the charcuterie. No olives, no jam/​chutney, no mustard, no pickles. It was a joke!
For added fun, after you’ve paid normal happy hour prices, you get to wait on yourself. While Emma’s is a coffee shop, the service doesn’t have to be. They call your name to come pick up your food (a charcuterie plate in my case!) like it’s a latté.
With so much happy hour competition in the Del Ray neighborhood, don’t waste your money or time at Emma’s, and don’t miss the other fabulous happy hours that are just anywhere from a block to four blocks away.

I saw Emma’s when I was on my way to Del Ray Artisans and remembered some of my fellow Unilocalers had mentioned it. I gave it a try.
This is a hard rating for me to write because I think the service is 3 stars but their products is 2 stars.
I am regular coffee /​espresso drinker and other than the price (felt like it was little higher) I don’t think you could really tell any differences between an espresso drink from Starbucks or Emma’s.
The bakery selection was also expensive and very limited. They had rice crispy treats, small cookies, soup and what appeared to be something like mini empanadas. I feel like other than soup what would help this place is to offer a selection of pre made sandwiches or something like quiche.
What is pushing it past the 2 stars rating for me into 3 stars for me is the ambiance. I visited on a weekday night and it wasn’t very busy. I could imagine myself being able to sit in the coffeehouse with a friend or a date for a while and/​or with a book and do some studying.
The ambiance is clean and modern and feels very different than what I am use to at other coffee places like St Elmo’s coffee pub in the area.
In a nutshell a nice place to hang out but don’t expect trying something new that will blow your socks off.

My wife and I came here last Saturday for our first visit. I had an espresso and she had a cappuccino. The shop is cute and comfortable. They appear to offer coffee drinks, beer, wine and some small snacks. We were able to get our drinks quickly and post up to caffeinate near the fireplace. The staff was reasonably friendly and overall my experience was good. If I am ever in the area I would be willing to return for more coffee. I am more undecided about coming back for drinks though. The selection, location and vibe does not fit where I would normally like to get a pint or two but still a cool spot. Thanks!

This is a cute coffee house, NOT a wine bar. We stopped in tonight for some wine and I was extremely disappointed! First, it was extremely bright inside. I felt like I was at a laundry mat. But since this place is new, my group decided to try it anyways. I ordered a glass of wine, which was $ 11 and I got maybe a 3.5 oz pour! Then, I ordered the meatball sampler, $ 7 for 3 TINY meatballs! And you are pretty much forced to leave a tip when you check out! I felt like I got ripped off! I would not go here for a night out. Maybe for coffee is ok, but the pastries looked like a child made them. This place is extremely over priced for what you get.

Okay, so they are new and it doesn’t seem to be a place that has a lot of restaurant knowledge. But upon walking in, I did not feel very good about what I was going to be getting into.
When you enter the café, the wine selection is hanging in front of the window in direct sunlight. At $ 10 a glass, I think I’d rather get the full bottles from Trader Joe’s for $ 6.99. I understand restaurant markup, but the price for a glass is traditionally the cost of the bottle, not a 550% gouging. «Maybe I’ll stick to beer,» I thought, before seeing more Trader Joe’s classics. Hey, there’s Port City, at least we’re supporting Alexandria.
I ordered a pair of breakfast sandwiches, for myself and my girlfriend who doesn’t eat eggs. I didn’t say anything about the «homemade» sandwich being unwrapped in front of me and having the egg patty removed off of one.
Restaurant was very bright in the morning, but maybe when it isn’t so wet and snowy, the patio might be okay with umbrellas. In the meantime, maybe some shades?
In fairness to the café, the coffee was very good. But I’ll stick to the $ 1 cups at Killer ESP or the drip at Misha’s when I’m not stuck in Del Ray.