A family that opened a coffee shop inside a recently closed Italian restaurant in Old Town North has launched a GoFundMe.
In January, Dream Chasers Coffee owners Leo and Brittani Maggio opened Valletta Espresso Bar inside Italian restaurant Valletta Port at 682 N. St. Asaph Street. On Friday (April 17), the restaurant abruptly closed. Maggio told ALXnow that he arrived at work to find the doors locked and the business shut down.
An upcoming café and wine bar in Old Town is getting closer to opening its doors.
Ksenia Varakina told ALXnow she is hoping to open her new business, Cherry on Top, around mid- to late May at 1021 Queen Street. There, she hopes to offer a variety of wine, espresso beverages, charcuterie and pastries across the shop and its accompanying 437-square-foot yard.
Swing’s Coffee is one of the best coffee shops in the D.C. area, according to one ranking.
A new list from Eater DC lists the cafe in the top 16 coffee shops in the area, highlighting “the best drip java, pour-overs, and lattes in town.” The coffeehouse with historic local roots has two downtown D.C. shops and a flagship Del Ray roastery at 501 E. Monroe Avenue.
Are you a friend of Dorothy?
Since World War II, the coded question has been used to determine whether someone is queer. Now, Dorothy Edwards is using the phrase as the name for the first-ever LGBTQ+ focused cafe in Alexandria. For the last several months, Edwards has been raising money to cover six months of operating expenses at a yet-to-be-determined space, build-out of the space, and equipment. She says that once the cafe is up and running, it’s all she wants to do for the rest of her life.
There’s a new Vietnamese coffee and bubble tea shop in Old Town.
Last month, Bloom Tea formally opened its doors to the public at 425 S. Washington Street. Getting city approval, renovating the space, and opening took more than two years.
A new French cafe wants to open in a prominent location in Old Town.
New York City-based Maman Coffee Baking Kitchen has filed a special use permit application to operate a cafe, bakery, restaurant, and accessory event space at 701 King Street. That’s the former home to Foxtrot, which closed in 2024, located at the corner of King and N. Washington Streets.
There’s good news for Old Town coffee enthusiasts, as a new coffee shop and wine bar is asking the city for expanded hours and extra outdoor seating.
LaPluma Coffee & Wine Bar opened in May at 1000 Cameron Street in Old Town, and now its owners are asking the city to expand their operating hours only on Sundays from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and add 12 more seats and two tables to the outdoor patio, for a total of 40 seats.
A new coffee shop and wine bar has been proposed in Old Town.
Ksenia Varakina recently moved to Alexandria from New York City and wants to open Cherry On Top at 1021 Queen Street before the end of the year. She says that the proposed shop is off the beaten path and wants it to be a refuge for locals to unwind.
It’s taken a lot of coffee to keep Hypergoat Coffee Roasters humming in Old Town, and next month they’re celebrating their first year in business.
“This past year has been full — early mornings, great conversations, new faces, familiar ones, and lots of coffee shared,” shop owner Deborah Joos Tafner de Moraes recently wrote on social media. “We’ve grown more than we imagined, and it’s all because of the people who’ve been part of this journey.”
The La Madeleine at 500 King Street in Old Town is temporarily closed, but signs in the window say it will reopen next month.
The coffee shop, next to the Alexandria Circuit Court and directly adjacent to a Starbucks, has signs in the window saying the shop will reopen on March 16.
Tired? There’s a new specialty coffee roaster in Old Town.
After launching at area farmers markets last year, Hypergoat Coffee Roasters formally opened at 215 N. Payne Street in August. The new business is the culmination of a decade-long hobby for married owners Rodrigo Ramos and Deborah Joos Tafner de Moraes.
