Le Caprice DC Café Bakery

Best chicken pesto ever. I'm here waaaay more often than I should be. :-/ The all day breakfast is great as well. Delicious croissants and pastries.

Poor customer service , barely the staff can interact or speak English

I only stopped by for a cappucino, but to be honest about it, it tastes a little strange compared to, say, Elle Bakery's cappuccinos in Mt. Pleasant, or perhaps Rue Cafe just up the same street a few blocks away.

The beans Le Caprice DC used for my cup taste, well, I don't wish to assume anything, so I'll just say the roast that ended up in my cappuccino made it taste a little differently than I'm used to cappuccinos tasting at cafés. For reference, my go-tos for espresso drinks are places like Tatte (several locations throughout DC), Elle Bakery (Mt. Pleasant), Yerevan Cafe (Adams Morgan), Saku Saku Flakery or Fresh Baguette (Cleveland Park), and so on.

This cappuccino from Le Caprice DC didn't quite evoke the flavors and aromas that I'm keen to perceiving from my usual café stops.

Also, one big hang-up for me from Le Caprice DC was that they offer one size: large. Not only that, but for just over $4, the amount they filled up my large cup with *milk foam* relative to actual liquid was immediately evident the second they handed the to-go cup to me. Upon waiting for the foam to dissipate a bit, the liquid revealed itself (pictured).

I honestly hate it when cafés do this and fill your cup with significantly more foam than espresso. It takes skill to froth milk to a point where it becomes creamy with light froth (suitable for café art, for example). When you froth milk to the point when it's just air and bubbles, however, and then sell it to me as a size large...well...that's disappointing.

About the service: minimalistic. They took my order, fulfilled my order, said thanks and goodbye. That's it. If I sat in to stay, I might have received a little more attention, but that's alright--I was just in for a quick stop and wasn't asking for any special treatment.

**PS**: the Square/Block credit card reader at the counter follows the unfortunate trend of the increasing "guilt-trip" tipping option, where you have the "choice" to tip 15%, 20%, or 25%. Off of what total, I'm not sure as I did not look nor did I keep my receipt. This tactic is increasingly used shamefully towards customers for places that oftentimes don't offer much or any actual service, and it's known to increase irritation and play on a customer's sense of obligation to tip. Le Caprice DC implements this tipping mechanism, FYI.

Finally, bsed off the cappuccino I purchased and my purchasing experience from Le Caprice DC Café Bakery, I'm going to give them a disappointing 2/5 stars. ⭐️⭐️ You'd be better off getting espresso elsewhere.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 2

If I could put zero I would. I called 2 days ago for a cake and they said I could pay when I picked it up. I asked for it to be reserved and they said okay. Now that I go to pick it up and pay for it. There’s nothing there and all they say is sorry and the event is today it was absolutely a waste of my time and now I need to find a cake for today with no notice.

I bought cheese cake. It looked yummy and creamy but upon putting my fork into, I knew immediately, something wasn’t right. When I broke into it, it was rubbery, dry and looked so unappetizing. I bit into it and wanted to spit it out immediately! For an almost $8 price, I was expecting something decadent and instead was met with the most foul taste and texture. Never going back!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

I lovecthe bakery but I have noticed that you have to be careful about what you get on a Sunday as items may have been baked the Friday before.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

It just isn’t very good, especially in DC where bakeries are a dime a dozen. Hell, the baked goods at Lidl down the street are better. Its like someone was following the directions of how to bake but changed the make up of the ingredients. All looks good until you take a bite.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 2

This used to be so much better when I lived in DC 8 years ago. Food was bad, breakfast platter with powder eggs that had zero flavor. Only bacon was ok, everything else was tasteless mess. Staff were unfriendly, they were talking to everyone as if that were doing us a huge favor.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 2

The

Vegetarian options: They have the best Vegetariern food

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Cream Tart Cake

This used to be so much better when I lived in DC 8 years ago. Food was bad, breakfast platter with powder eggs that had zero flavor. Only bacon was ok, everything else was tasteless mess. Staff were unfriendly, they were talking to everyone as if that were doing us a huge favor.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 2

The BEST croissant in DC by a MILE. Everything they make is great also.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The photos and description of the food really excited us and enticed us to try La Caprice for the first time. We were extremely disappointed. We ordered from the Breakfast All Day menu around 2:00 in the afternoon. Everything was stale and dry. The croissant, sausage and egg sandwich and added bacon was terrible. The egg was unrecognizable as an egg in appearance and texture.The sausage was the driest we’ve ever had. It has the texture of jerky. The best thing about the sandwich was the croissant. The cinnamon roll looked fair, but tasted like it had been baked for display, not to eat. Usually, if we have an unpleasant experience in our first meal with an establishment, we’ll give it a second try. Unfortunately, since out of the four items we ordered, only the bread was good, we will not return and do not recommend. There are far too many restaurants in the same area where you don’t have to roll the dice on whether the meal will be good/great.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 2

I really enjoy a croissant in the morning and have been on the hunt for a decent bakery outside of Georgetown or upper NW. I had a pistachio croissant and thought it was pretty good and exceeded my expectations for French pastry in this area of the city. The croissant was a little oily, but crucially it is flaky, not bready.

I appreciate the full display case with baked goods rather than the typical dc tactic of puffing up a limited selection by putting 3 selected baked goods on gilded tiers like faberge eggs for all to gaze at in amazement. It has the authenticity of a bakery in Philly or nyc and the lack of pretense is refreshing. That said It gets 5 stars only because we are not in those cities and pastry is tough to come by in these parts. I hope they continue to refine the product so we can have pastry we can be proud of in DC, rather than just decent. Nonetheless, it’s worth a stop and I’m thankful to have them in the area.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Pistachio Croissant

Have you ever heard of a French bakery that doesn't sell baguettes ? They even make them for their sandwiches but they won't sell you one.

Super filling sandwich! The combination of bacon, salmon, and croissant was new to me. Not bad at all! I do wish I could get a 16oz coffee instead of 20oz…overall, good experience.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Croissant with Coffee