Grace Coffee Roasters

A lot of people who need to realize that if a line is out the door you might actually have to wait a little.
I work in the state building across the street and come here at least three times a week and it has replaced old soul as my new coffee spot. Because of the close proximity to the convention center there are days when they have only two employees and a line out the door and since they aren’t Starbucks and use a manual machine it does take a while but that’s what you get when you choose quality over convenience. Ever notice how angry customers always suddenly know a business better than the employees?
Minus one star for lack of seating and always being out of the good pastries.

It is a bummer this place doesn’t have better employees or coffee (which is mostly terrible because barista doesnt know what she is doing) because this location is perfect for a downtown spot and for convention attendees (which is what I am this week).
Waited in line for almost 30 minutes just to order and another 20 to get my drink. Barista had three, yes THREE, group heads she could have been using and I believe I counted four portafilters… Yes she insisted on making each drink one by one? This added to the long waits. Not to mention that she looked completely and utterly annoyed to be at work and her personal grooming was questionable. I know for a fact in food service your nails cannot be beyond a certain length and she was sporting (and touching fresh ground espresso — double ewww) with long dirty nails.
Anyway, I took time to notice while I was waiting that she had absolutely no clue was she was doing. Barista doesnt steam milk. I saw the texture as she poured into a cup– it was just hot milk. Sooooo fluid with no texture as properly steamed milk should have and her shots were over extracted and bitter. I know they are bitter because I tasted it. I know they are over extracted because the shot came out at twice the speed it should (adjust your grinder please) and was a touch of espresso with 90% crema. The light brown color of crema should not be the entire shot or you’re over extracting!!! Anyone would know this who has been even remotely trained!
Long story short, don’t bother going here. I would rather Starbucks across the street to this burnt water milk latte. Don’t be swayed by the hipster vibe — it means nothing without craftsmanship.
Two stars because the cookie was freaking delicious and the young cashier with crazy curly black hair was super friendly.

On my visit to this café, I approached the entrance and noticed that the employees (they were in their aprons) a few feet from the door smoking. I walked in and placed my order. As I waited, I saw a pack of Camel cigarettes sitting on the counter near the register, which kind of bothered me because they didn’t belong there.
The beverage was fine, though the price seemed a little high. The combination of the smoking employees, cigarettes on the counter and high-​ish price did not leave a great impression, and I have not been back.
I work very close and it would be convenient for me to come here often, but I don’t – on principal alone. The employees congregate outside the entrance and smoke on a daily basis. It does not make for an inviting entrance.
I tried to contact the owners via their website to let them know about the smoking obsession of their employees, but never heard back, so they must not value the input of potential (regular) customers. Oh well.

Delicious mocha. Admittedly I’m not much of a coffee aficionado but the ambiance and professionalism of this place is just what I was looking for for an afternoon pick me up.
PROS: no frills (know what they do and do it well); kind attentive staff of one wasn’t a hindrance to customer service; well lit; warm
CONS: limited seating (if that’s what you’re looking for); not super speedy (see kindness factor)

Delightful Coffee Stop! (Just Across The Street From The Convention Center Starbucks! ;)
SITREP
«We love it when the Convention Starbucks gets too busy with Con-​patrons cause they all come over here when they are overloaded!», says the Manager. And I can totally see that!
I am embarrassed to admit that I have TOTALLY missed, ignored, bypassed (whatEV) this delightful coffee shop on all my walks from my home in Midtown as I walk to the Capitol Park, or blitz to the ESQUIRE IMAX theatre just around the corner, or am coming from the Sheraton Grande that shares the block with this delicious little bit of mecca.
THE SETUP
First off, if you are trying to find it by the listed address as given on Unilocal — «1215 K St» — let’s just say that THAT is f*cked and absolutely no help to locating this shop. That MAY be the address for the HUGE ESQUIRE BUILDING that takes up much of this block, but it is NOT the physical spot of this coffee shop that actually faces out to the Convention Center across 13^th street.
A better designated address would be «1025 13^th Street», so that you at least would be looking for the front of the store — and it’s public entrance — with a proper, and far more accurate GPS orientation.
To bring it home, if you are more familiar with the entrace/​exit of the parking garage behind the Sheraton Grande, this sweet coffee shop is just on the other side of that from Sheraton, right before you turn the corner onto K Street Mall and hit the Esquire IMAX.
THE COFFEE
The house brew I received is absolutely delicious! I got a small and it was only $ 1.85: full-​bodied; fantastic aroma; a wonderful «go-​to» brew.
But the 1-​Star deduction (for what would otherwise be a raving 5-​star review) is basically for my wanting initially a sugar-​FREE Mocha, but followed by uncertainty by the two lovely ladies about how to go about making that.
In fairness, this is no different than many other indie coffee shops where apparently having «pre-​made syrups» — most of the time WITH sugar, and not WITHOUT — often creates this scenario where departing from that pre-​made regimen creates a problem if staff isn’t trained on alternative preferences that «don’t fit the mold of the majority.» [And which honestly is why I’ll still patronize Peet’s and Starbucks, because at least they have the sugar-​free option down-​pat & available on high-​end coffee drinks.]
It is what it is.
THE LOWDOWN
If you want delicious coffee brews than this is definitely a place to go!

Hip Baristas. Good strong iced decaf! Quick lines. Reasonable price. Accessible and centrally located. Recommended.

First time here and it will be the last. Unbelievable how slow the service was. Coffe is good, but not worth the wait.

Felt a warmth as I entered here. Smiling faces and great coffee. You know you are a good place when other customers are smiling ear to ear. Will return.

Great atmosphere, the best coffee I ever had. Everytime I come here to visit I ll check out this place with my husband. It s so relaxing with nice quiet ambience and good place for studying. The service is amazing

I’m not usually one to complain, and I hate to give a bad review because I appreciate their cause to fight trafficking, HOWEVER, I work just a block over from Grace on K st and go there every day with my sister for coffee, and first off, they are NEVER open on time. A couple minutes late? Ok, fine. But more than 10 minutes every other day and there’s a problem. It has happened multiple times and they never apologize for making us wait.
In addition, this morning we walked up at 7:05am (they are supposed to open at 7am) and the doors were still closed but unlocked and the lights were on. Both of the baristas were sitting outside smoking and drinking their iced coffees. We waited in the lobby for them to come in and give us the ok to go inside, but they continued to drink their coffee, smoke, and talk.
We finally decided to open the doors and walk up to the counter so they would know (as if it wasn’t already obvious) that we were customers. We stood there for a few more minutes waiting for them to come in. By now it’s 7:10 — 7:15 and FINALLY one of the baristas comes in, throws her keys on the counter with a scowl on her face, clearly angry with us for interrupting her cigarette break and morning chit-​chat. She did not say a word to us and went to wash her hands (the only thing she actually did right was wash her hands). At that point we decided we had no interest in doing business with someone who behaves that way and we walked out.
This type of behavior is absolutely disgusting and there’s no place for it in any business, let alone a business competing with Starbucks right across the street. My intent is for the owners to see this review and take action immediately. The only reason we overlooked the late opens and bad service before was because we like the young man who sometimes works in the mornings (he was there on ¹²⁄₈ in the morning if that helps identify who he is, he always gives great service). To everyone else who works there in the morning, you are RUDE and not worth our time or our two dollars for your coffee. I’ve worked in customer service for 10 years and I know there is no justifiable reason to treat customers this way. Never have I repeatedly received such poor service and bad attitudes from all the workers (except the one guy).
I have every intent to contact the owners and let them know of this deplorable service. If you don’t intend to correct the actions of all, at least let us know when our favorite guy is working so we know when to give our business.
Thank you.

Simply great coffee. Came here the first time to avoid the crazy lines at Sbucks. Fabulous coffee. My boss came over for what she said was the best chai she had ever had. Love this place.

Definitely a better alternative to the Starbucks in The Convention Center, as other reviewers have mentioned.
Dropped in while attending a conference and the place has lots of positives:
–friendly cashier and barista, who both were enjoying their day
–efficient speed of making beverages
–nice Astra espresso machine set up
–easy payment methods on an iPad POS
I ordered an americano. It was well balanced, earthy, and no hints of over extracted bitterness. $ 4 for the drink and a tip seemed like a good value for the level of service and efficiency. Overall, I could see myself coming back next time I’m in town.

Great service. Superb Americano. Gigantic croissants. Have been hitting this place up each morning before my conference.

Friendly, clean and fast. Luckily the Starbucks at the convention center was backed up 45 minutes for a spanish speaking jehovah witness convention or I wouldn’t have been told to come here, which is closer and on the same block as my hotel.
They had an assortment of donuts and other what looked like store bought baked items available, but my coffee was good so I was happy.

Crappy attitude from the barista. If you enjoy snooty, uppity service this is the place for you. Coffee was good though, so I suppose if you can tolerate bad attitudes it might be worth it.

This is my go-​to, and that’s not only because I work in the same building. The staff are very nice and personable, and the drinks made between them are consistent. This place definitely beats Starbucks which is just across the street inside the Convention Center. If you have a choice, definitely go to Grace for stronger coffee and flavorful coffee. My staple is a whole-​milk latte, and I will sometimes get a smooth-​blended English toffee frappé in the afternoon.

Another update. The manager reimbursed me for the horrible sandwich experience and stated she was working on training her staff. I also complained about some lackluster coffee I had received and she corrected that as well. Seems like everyone that works there now is on par with each other and makes a great coffee. This is my go-​to place in my immediate work vicinity. The one in EG is good too.

Ahh Grace coffee with your strong, velvety espresso and your delicious addicting crushed ice, how can I not want to see you every day?
I discovered this little coffee haven across from the Convention Center recently. It is slightly landlocked, on 13^th street between J and K Street, and you have to park on the street or in a garage and walk in. It is in the bottom of the Esquire building and next door to the Sheraton. Walking in, it is small, with only a 2-​top table and a small couch with coffee table. Snacks on the left, fresh pastries in the case, and a small coffee counter. This is a nice space, created with a modern design in mind. Great floors and wall murals.
As noted, the espresso is velvety and strong, no bitterness or smoke tones. It is difficult for me not to drink down anything they hand me within 30 seconds. They have a ton of syrups (sugar free white chocolate, oh yes!) and even draw pretty designs in the foamy milk.
Now about the ice: If you love good, crunchy ice in your drinks, this is the place to be. The ice is the kind you get at Sonic– small little round snowballs, and crunchy. Sometimes people even ask for an extra cup as it is so good for crunching. I can just crunch on that ice alone and be a happy camper!
I have had iced lattes, flavored coffee, sugar free mocha’s, and straight espresso over ice with cream (breve’?). Everything is amazing. I do have my favorite place for coffee, however when I am downtown, this is it!
The barista’s are always friendly and work their tails’ off. There is never more than 2 working, so sometimes there is a wait, but they work fast and get out the drinks as fast as they can. There is always a smile, and a hello and they remember who you are and what drink you like best.
There are benches outside to relax and people watch (it is across from the Convention Center after all) or take it to go. This is a great little place with delicious drinks and an alternative to the big chains.

The barista and cashier were nice enough. The ambiance is a bit sporadic; I couldn’t tell whether it was a place I could hang out at for a little bit or if it’s more of a «get your fix and go» establishment with the combination of plush seating and serving espresso in paper cups.
Speaking of, the espresso was extracted well. Great crema and balanced sweetness, but it had an overwhelming black licorice flavor. While I’m not opposed to licorice, fennel, or anything else that may fall into a similar spectrum, it was just too much for me to find enjoyable.
I’ll probably pop back in after a couple of months to give them time to change to another espresso, or perhaps a different harvest of the one that they are currently using.

So much better than the coffee shop that used to be here! Being located on the bottom floor of an office building, it’s definitely geared more towards the local business crowd. There is a parking garage in that building that offers public parking, but you’ll end up paying more for parking than coffee. Go to one of their other locations if you really want to try them out.
The staff are super friendly. Prices are comparable to Starbucks, but I think their coffee is better. Their pastry selection too. I’m okay with paying upwards of $ 2 for a regular cup of coffee if I know a portion goes to a local non profit, instead of paying it to a coffee conglomerate like starbucks.
Seating within the shop is pretty limited. It’s more of a grab a cup and go type place. But the décor is pretty classy for such a small space.