The coffee here is quite good and the service always efficient and friendly, but it’s a bit ridiculous that the counter has both a traditional tip jar AND a «dip your credit card for a $ 1 tip.» Honestly, the owner of this local chain is selling filter coffee for $ 2.75/cup. The place is always packed. All of the locations in DC are always packed. How about paying your staff a living wage — perhaps $ 15 or $ 20/hour — instead of asking customers to subsidize your labor costs? Yes, the rent is high in DC, but how do coffee shops in London, Paris, and Berlin remain open where staff are paid a living wage?
Jules F.
Place rating: 4 West Hills, CA
Good environment. A diverse pour over coffee menu with taste notes. Friendly staff. Decent espresso.
Veronica L.
Place rating: 5 Northwest Washington, DC
Drinks are fantastic and service is the best here! This location is close to my office, so I come here fairly often whenever I have a little extra time to chat with my coworkers. The space is small, but they have a few seats and tables upstairs as well and lots of natural light.
Chad P.
Place rating: 3 Severn, MD
A small and quaint location, however the coffee was not that good. A very smooth and balanced coffee, but I prefer a little more flavor.
Leslie T.
Place rating: 4 Los Angeles, CA
Had a delicious pour over here and a long conversation with a friend who I think is a regular. The interior is quite minimalist, 4(or 5?) tiny tables for sitting on a mezzanine and some high tops for parking your coffee on while you stand on the first floor. The building is under construction, so the façade is a bit hard to make out. Filter’s here, it’s open. Don’t go there for the atmosphere, go for the quality coffee and quality patrons.
Jeff M.
Place rating: 5 Washington, DC
My go to coffee shop, friendly staff and great espresso.
Nick F.
Place rating: 1 San Francisco, CA
Filter coffee house provides a unique atmosphere in a quiant little area in DC. As much as I do enjoy their no laptop policy, which I do think can promote the ability of customers to socialize more in this digital age. I must say that the coffee is more than disappointing. It has the looks of an artisanal coffee shop with the lack of quality tasting coffee. The technique and lack of ratio measurements I witnessed the barista using with a v60 made me wince. The coffee was horribly under extracted and for the price I paid I’m quite disappointed. I’m on a cross country road trip trying coffee from different shops and this one so far was the worst. My review won’t matter for most of the coffee drinking population, but if you were looking for something more with your coffee I would skip this shop and try somewhere else.
Alex P.
Place rating: 4 Washington, DC
Overall, a very pleasant experience. The service was quick and friendly. The coffee was great. The espresso drinks could use a bit of work relative to the black coffee. I will be back!
Susan A.
Place rating: 4 Washington, DC
This is my office’s go-to coffee shop. Conveniently located in downtown DC, you can get here from Farragut West metro and it’s not too far of a walk from Foggy Bottom. Their drink menu is simple(see photo), but made nicely. I got the cold brew iced coffee for $ 3.50. The prices are similar to other small coffee shops downtown. The iced coffee was good, but not notably better than the cold brew I make at home. The space is also small, and many coffee drinkers just come and go instead of sitting and sipping.
Snowdrops C.
Place rating: 5 Cambridge, MA
Simply the BEST coffee around town.
Katherine L.
Place rating: 2 Washington, DC
Not sure if it’s the location in downtown bustling DC, but, this coffeehouse was not as nice as I’d hoped it would be. Given that they use nice coffee, I would expect the experience to mirror that. However, when I walked in, it just felt dingy and had a non-coffeehouse aroma, as though there was not much coffee brewing happening in the shop. It is convenient that their prices include tax. They have the traditional panoply of espresso and coffee drinks. They have an upstairs seating area and a downstairs standing area. They have soy milk for the espresso drinks. There’s agave nectar by the fixings bar. Purchase some Ceremony brand coffee beans for later. Some paraphernalia is also available for promoting the coffeehouse or making your own coffee at home. Overall, it was not impressive, and I would rather not return.
Jennifer W.
Place rating: 4 Washington, DC
Best soy latte I’ve ever had. Absolutely delicious and smooth. My only complaint is the price: over $ 5.
Vinny P.
Place rating: 5 Philadelphia, PA
During my visit to DC, I went coffee hunting as I usually do when I travel and Filter Coffeehouse was my prey and it was delicious. After reading some other reviews, I went with the Colombian in a hand pour. The friendly staff behind the counter expertly prepared my cup while simultaneously making other drinks to keep the line moving. All in all, it was a very pleasant experience. The cup really did have distinct flavors that I could perceive. This to me says it was fresh and prepared properly. I don’t live around here but when I get back, I’ll be stopping in. They make a solid cup of coffee without any nonsense.
Jason S.
Place rating: 4 Washington, DC
I’ve gotten pour-over coffee from here before and was never that blown away by it. Always solid cups of coffee but nothing that noteworthy; until today, when I had a Columbia pour-over. Seldom am I able to actually taste the flavors listed in a coffee’s description. But, when my coffee cooled down a bit, I could make out these beautifully rich and nutty, as well as smooth almost caramel-like notes. It was really delicious. I pretty much craved a second cup of it all day.
Edward S.
Place rating: 5 Washington, DC
All around great coffee. I found this place after searching for top coffee shops in DC. During my visit I went with a classic flat white and Filter delivered. It was the best one I’ve had since moving to the area. I’ll definitely be stopping by for future afternoon pick-me-ups. Watching them prepare drinks for other customers, you can really tell that they know coffee and how to brew it. There’s fairly limited seating and standing room but they do a great job of getting you your coffee in a timely manner. If you’re in the Foggy Bottom or downtown area, stop by Filter.
Sohrab S.
Place rating: 5 Washington, DC
I used to be a guy that required wifi in a coffee shop. Getting coffee at Filter was an interesting change as they intentionally don’t offer internet connection to customers, but the coffee here is so good that it’s worth the visit. Also, it’s by and far the best coffee shop that is nearest to GW. They take their product pretty seriously(but the people that work there are very kind). If you’re sick of Gelbucks, this is your place. The Brazil Cerrado Gold coffee beans are delicious– chocolatey notes are present. I highly recommend you order their pour over with those beans.
James n.
Place rating: 5 Fairfax, VA
Serious coffee shop Always happy to find a place in DC like this. They use Ceremony coffee from Annapolis. Pour over bar, and nice beyond-the-basics espresso options(Cortado, Flat White, etc) are always a good sign of a shop that does coffee well. Downstairs has standing tables, and upstairs is a 6 table seating area.
Peter K.
Place rating: 5 Hoboken, NJ
After a not-so-great experience at Bourbon Coffee, I decided to try Filter the next day. They use beans from Ceremony Coffee, which is a roaster in Annapolis. I’ve always been a fan of Ceremony so I was glad to see their stuff being brewed here. I got an Ethiopian and thought it was pretty tasty. Also got a slice of banana bread and thought that was good.
Vivian H.
Place rating: 4 New York, NY
I was in town for a conference and wanted to wake up fully before I had to work magic, so I fired up the Unilocal app and it brought me here. Good thing for that. You know you have arrived at a good coffee destination when all the patrons are speaking something other than English. I hate to say it, but Americans don’t know good coffee. Americans only get BIG and MORE, but not QUALITY. Am I racist? No, not really. I am American so I guess I can rag on my peoples. The coffee is legit. No burnt taste, doesn’t compare to Blue Bottle, but def better than STARBUCKS. I can’t say much for the décor, as hard as they try, but the ambiance is just blah. So pop in for an espresso, get your adrenaline going and hop out.
Ash C.
Place rating: 5 Cleveland, OH
Soooooo glad i discovered this place and even more grateful are my taste buds who have been put on a on-and-off diet which makes them crave sugar even more! I intended to get my cappuccino but eying the ‘coconut-vanilla tea’ made me want something sweet(lifelong dilemma of a severe sweet tooth). Trying hard not to eye the pastries, I decided to try the delish sounding tea with steamed whole milk. Soooo glad I did because the aroma of coconut and vanilla made me forget about dessert and adding a tsp of raw sugar made up for the sweetness. The staff at this place always asks you what you want exactly and I love that since I was asked whether I would like my teabag in the tea or thrown away after pouring the steaming milk and tea drinkers know that over-steeping MAKES A WORLDOF A DIFFERENCE!