The Wydown

OUR ARTICLE

There are coffee shops and then there’s The Wydown, a cozy neighborhood cafe serving up a warm rush of home with every cup, crumb, and conversation. Nostalgic family-run establishments like this offer a customer-attentive, familial service that’s increasingly rare in big, meandering cities. This place thrives on its zeal for serving craft coffee and genuine affection for patrons that’s built a devoted community. The CYTIES team already feels the love. 

If you like a good hero story, there’s nothing more heroic than bringing caffeine and baked goods to the masses in the District, with a side of grassroots Midwestern hospitality. 

The shop combines passion, technical expertise, and good ole fashion’d charm with top-notch brew, sourced from around the world.

So it goes, two brothers with Midwest ties grew their business from a local pop-up into a permanent brick and mortar location in the heart of the energetic 14th Street neighborhood. In the pop-up’s earliest days, the team decided to add afternoon snacks to the menu and introduced a tiny oven for making cookies — a move that proved to be a gamechanger. Now years later, each shop [a second location is located on H Street Northeast] is equipped with a scratch bakery. The smell of baked treats wafting through the space is a perfect complement to the comfort and excitement their coffee effortlessly evokes.

The shop combines passion, technical expertise, and good ole fashion’d charm with top-notch brew, sourced from around the world. With a mixture of roasted-to-order (to ensure freshness), brewed-and-ready and espresso bar menu items, in addition to tea options, there’s something for everyone. 

Its comfy, dimly lit digs feature a main countertop salvaged from a Hersey’s Chocolate Factory, a collection of handmade coffee art, a cushioned back area and sidewalk seating in the heart of some serious foot traffic, prime for people watching. 

The Wydown is as much a gathering place as it is a coffee shop. It’s purposefully designed for commingling (or not commingling) and a come-for-the-coffee, stay-for-the-company kinda joint. Rather you’re searching for some fresh vinyl in the CYTIES Record Collection, recharging post-workout or meeting a friend, we recommend making it a part of your urban adventure.