Bolla Coffee & Tea

Very poor service. Or let’s say no service at all. We literally had to excuse us to place our order as the serving person was busy with her phone. Just across the street is a breakfast place (jakes…)with a large buffet offer!

The Nutella latte is crazy delicious! It’s a really small shop, but in my opinion that’s part of the charm! Tried one of their sandwiches as well. They aren’t life changing, but they are great quality and each one has something unique about it. Definitely worth checking out! Seemed to be less main stream and more of a hidden treasure. Great area to sit outside and drink your coffee as well.

Really well made coffee! I almost passed it by to go to Peets after grabbing lunch with a friend at Old Ebbit. Glad we stopped by here instead: perfectly made espresso drinks, zero bitterness, fresh beans… what’s not to love?

I don’t think they could have been more absent or uninterested. I don’t want to take my business to the huge corporations but with attitudes and service like theirs, it’s a easy sell.

Great latte and scone combo. Proper espresso but recommend adding a third shot to the large latte.

Surprisingly good, especially since it doesn’t have to be given its high traffic location.
My wife went basic with an iced mocha and I decided to live on the edge with an iced nutella mocha. Both were very good and certainly better than the over-​roasted brown bean water lurking at Starbucks around the corner.
My kids also give the chocolate chip cookies a big thumbs up!

Great espresso, very tasty sandwiches, and friendly pleasant staff. The pastries are also good and fresh. Their sandwiches are made to order and some of them are toasted, so they’re wam and nice. The staff pays attention to your order and know how to make the perfect cup of espresso.
This place is a wonderful alternative to Starbucks and sandwiches mass-​produced the night before you buy them.

Love getting my ginger tea in the AM here.

The sandwiches are great, the pastries are good, and the drip coffee is awful. If you want fastish lunch at a reasonable price (hard to find near the Whitehouse) go here. The ingredients are fresh and the portion size is good.
Be forewarned! No indoor seating.
For coffee, go across the street to Starbucks, their coffee is down right BAD.

Badly needed something of quality downtown. Read the reviews and figured I’d give this locally owned place a shot.
The cashier gave me cause to worry. Made me feel like an alien for ordering coffee. But the barista nailed my macchiato. Glorious! Top five on my all time list.

They actually know what it is precisely that needs to be done to pull a good espresso. There’s appreciation of beans, storage, water quality and technique that is hard to come by. The real item. I will put in my rotation.

Professionally trained baristas make by far the best coffee downtown. Cappuccino, latte, etc on a real Italian machine. Plus it’s $ 3 for a cappuccino, not $ 4. Beats Starbucks by a mile.

Good, tasty and fresh lunch food prepared quickly with smiles from behind the counter.

Went there today for the first time for lunch. They are located across the street from my office and the menu looked like it had a lot to offer. I ordered the tomato, mozzerlla, basil sandwich and it was awful! Soggy and there was only ONE little tiny piece of basil on the entire sandwich, the size of a quarter to be exact. The whole point of a tomato, mozz, basil sandwich is the basil, thats where all the flavor comes from! I also think there was suppossed to be balsamic dressing on there too which there wasnt. Needless to say it wasnt worth the $ 8.25 to just end up throwing it away since it was missing half the ingredients. Will never go there again!

This place is open early, close to the White House, has friendly staff and good coffee. Short of an invite from the Obamas, it’s probably about as good as you’ll find.

3.5 stars.
Oh Bolla. I used to love you so.
A few months ago, I’d be at Bolla practically every day, getting a sophie’s favorite, avocado, NW, or bolla classic… it was a little pricey, but it was so delicious. On days that I needed to pamper myself a bit, I’d get a soy mocha latte (which is really just chocolate milk with a splash or coffee). On days I really just needed some breakfast, I’d stop and get a ham egg and cheese, or maybe an almond croissant.
Bolla is still good, but I find that their quality has declined a bit. I’m not sure if it’s the «new» ladies who work there, or if something there has actually changed – but I find my bread is not toasted the same way, and tastes a bit drier than I remember. I’m getting more lettuce ribs, or wilted lettuce, and I feel the two new ladies are polite enough, but not as friendly as Sophie, with the adorable headbands and that sweet smile of hers.
A quick warning – I normally love the mocha latte, but for your own sake, don’t get it past 2pm – it’s so bitter!

This is no ordinary office building coffee shop. They serve Counter Culture coffee brewed very well, and pull great espresso beverages from their La Marzocco machine. Highly recommended for coffee in morning or afternoon. ( Unilocalers, please take complaint about the lack of ghetto lattes elsewhere!)

I love Bolla, and it’s high time I review it. I go there whenever I need a coffee or latte fix (former Starbucks and Caribou addict here). I really like their breakfast sandwiches as well as their lunch sandwiches. Sophie’s sandwich is my personal favorite. I’ve had no problem with having substitutions made on occasion. They — meaning Peter and Sophie, a brother and sister duo — use high-​quality ingredients and are very friendly. All in all, a great local joint to check out if you’re in the White House area, especially if you just can’t handle any more lunches from Cosi, etc!

Located in the 655 15^th St NW building, the entrance to the café is outside on G Street. There are four outside tables under the cover of the building entryway — safe from the rain.
Example prices
— bagel with PB&J $ 1.59
— Mocha Latte, 3.27 regular or 3.82 for a large
— Tropicana OJ in a bottle was about $ 1.65 or so.
My friend told me to meet him at «Bang Café» — turns out this is it (the name was changed at some point).

When one non-​descript coffee place replaces another often the change of the guard is little more than the logo on the coffee cup. That was the case with Bolla. In the 6 years I’ve worked in the area there have been at least one, if not 2, other coffee shops in this location, so when the last one left and Bolla moved in, I hardly noticed.
I must honestly say — I’m certainly glad I opened my eyes and took notice. I’m not a rabid coffee connoisseur. I don’t militantly support one brew over another. I drink coffee on an occasional basis and have found the coffee, iced coffee, coffee concoctions, teas and cappuccino all quite acceptable here at Bolla. They also have a nice assortment of muffins, pastries, and cookies — as well as hot sandwiches at breakfast, nicely chewy bagels, hot soup and lunchtime sandwiches and salads. Its a small shop. They don’t have a lot but what they do have is very good and affordable.
Two things MAKE Bolla for me though.
First — and it might seem like a small thing but I really enjoy it — they have 4 small cold cases packed to the gills with a myriad of drink options from sodas to juices to various waters, including nice big bottles of my favorite San Pellegrino. The drinks in the cases are keep ice cold. Imagine the temperature of that coke you pull out of a convenience store case and then lower the temperature at least 10 – 15 degrees.
A BIGGER DEAL IS THE STAFF!!! Ryan and Sophie are a charming little team. Very friendly and efficient. If you’ve been in there even semi-​regularly they remember what you like and how you like it. Always a cheery hello, how was your day/​weekend and other small talk as you wait, and a pleasant have a nice day as you are sent on your way with your goodies. Ryan is only there in the morning and leaves after the morning rush (Sophie gets another assistant in the afternoon). I’m not a morning person, I’m not even a chatty person, but its nice to be greeted by them every morning or so and that they care to remember their customer preferences. Really a pleasure to deal with.
The shop is very small (more than 3 people and the place is crowded) but if you aren’t just grabbing and going, when weather allows they do have 4 small tables that they set up outside where you can eat.