Espressamente Illy

Hmm… pleasant surprise for a place connected to a hotel… I decided to go for a walk before work and happened to see a nearby coffee shop. Perhaps Unilocal steered me towards this place. I did spot some latte art photos however I didn’t really have time for a sit down coffee. The Menu was minimal in that has your staples espresso, lattes, blended drinks and iced coffees.
I decided I needed a extra boost for the day and ordered a Caramellato caldo… Illy espresso caramel sauce topped with frothed milk. Basically it was a fancy name for a caramel latte. I didn’t really taste a caramel sauce perhaps a hint of caramel it just tasted like a caramel macchiato. It still had my full roasted taste of my espresso but it was just a bit too sweet for me.
Overall decent cup of java… is it my drink of choice probably not but the other menu items do sound interesting Illy in generally is a well known coffee brand.

I went specifically for a cappuccino made with my favorite canned coffee. It was delicious! The ladies at the counter were very pleasant and there wasn’t a thing out of place, very clean. Definitely a «must» if you want a great cup of Italian coffee.

A great spot to grab a coffee in the morning. It’s usually much quicker than the Starbucks that is a block away.

Tasty treats, I heart the hazelnut cream sandwich cookies in the jar. I save my change and buy several at a time. Their deserts are cheaper in the store than the restaurant. M

My company actually booked me at the hotel across the street, and breakfast there was NOT happening. I was so glad when I walked across the street. The coffee was great, as Illy always is. I actually didn’t know they had standalone stores, but this is the coffee I buy at home so it was a pleasant surprise and break from awful bland Starbucks.
The sandwiches were ok– for lunch I had a chicken and vegetable ciabatta and for breakfast I had an egg and gouda ciabatta. Both were pretty good for pre-​made sandwiches, and they will toast them for you. I would not recommend toasting the ciabatta, get a different roll since the roll toasted a little funky.
Starbucks is just tiring and not good, so I was really glad I found this before I settled for yet another Starbucks sandwich and PSL. The quality of the ingredients here really exceeds any other takeout/​fast food coffee.
I did unfortunately find tiny hairs in my sandwich one morning– can’t tell if if was someone’s or from like a brush or something– but sadly in commercially prepared packaged food I wasn’t shocked… well the manager was shocked for the both of us and incredibly apologetic. I only wanted the sandwich refunded because I wasn’t going to continue eating it, but he refunded the entire order and threw in a donut, above and beyond but definitely appreciated. They were incredibly friendly and very apologetic, so they definitely got bonus points in service.

Delicious Americano and fresh mango & mixed berry cup. Friendly, quick service and very clean establishment. Will definitely come again!

I don’t drink coffee. But my partner does & pronounced this as THE BEST.
Lovely atmosphere, great service, illy quality, what’s NOT to like?

While staying at the adjoining hotel, I found myself stopping by Illy for coffee on a daily basis. As both the hotels attached seem like hubs for conferences, be prepared for a line if you go in the morning, or immediately after a conference ends.
The café has a sleek feel, and is chromed out, which is an aesthetic I appreciate. Nice options of espresso drinks. But, after finding a drink I liked, «the Greco,» I found that having it made by 3 different baristas resulted in 3 different versions of the drink, 2 of which I liked tremendously, and one that tasted like dirty water. Yes, I know what dirty water tastes like as one summer our water well had issues.
They offer a variety of great snacks, sweets, and savory breakfast items. Where else can one find hummus, veggies, tiramisu, and iced coffee at 4 in the afternoon?
My only knocks on the place are how early it closes (6 PM) and inconsistencies in the drinks.
Pluses are friendly service, availability of double shots of espresso, and a cupcake when you need an afternoon boost.
All in all, I recommend this place.

Best coffee in the area for sure! illy is top of the line in my book his and this cozy little spot is a winner.
Attached to a Marriott property in Crystal City the location has a progressive inside with a conservative selection of food options. Lol…
The illy Coffee is a smooth coffee compared to others. Reminds me of the taste difference between drip coffee and a pour over, the way you can lose the acidity and truly taste the flavor of your coffee is what you get with illy in my opinion. Contrasting this is the espresso bean which is bold and full of flavor. Whatever drink you get it should be a winner.
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It’s the best option in the area, but it’s not good. This is a spectacularly beautiful, custom coffee shop. Everything is custom and everything has a really nice functional design. I wish that all shops could invest this much money in beauty as they see it.
However the coffee is just not that good. The problem is that Illy coffee isn’t that good to begin with, it taste stale and old because they vacuum packet in those tens for a long time. It’s mass-​produced coffee and it tastes like it.
That is to say that it can’t be good, but the baristas are awful – it’s like they were never trained. In the end the bad baristas here prettiest coffee that just isn’t very good. They don’t even understand how to steam milk. Mine was scalded.
The only other option here is a big green chain of stores who also make terrible coffee, so you might as well come to the Ellie place because at least it’s nice looking and unique. It almost has a feel of a miniature museum. I really liked the design.
With regard to baked goods I guess it’s worth pointing out that they have some reasonably good-​looking donuts, as well as the usual array of bagels which did not look good and scones and muffins which looked okay. I didn’t get any baked goods so this is all based on looks.
This café is connected to the Renaissance Hotel, and it has very short hours ending around five or 6 PM in the evening. There really aren’t great place the said but there is an excellent standing desk type of bar area, which might be of interest to those needing to work. Plugs are plentiful and artfully hidden. Very little parking is available on the street.

Great price, great Caramelato Caldo, polite fast staff. The food offerings looked sad in the cabinet, but I did not purchase any nor had intended to.

Close to the Hyatt. The fruit cup was large and delicious. Coffee and tea good too. Loved crisp cool morning outside on comfy furniture and cool music.

Random place (connected to the hotel) to grab one of my favorite coffees…
I had a soccer tournament at Long Bridge Park, and I had some time to kill. This was the closest place with good coffee options.
In addition to good coffee, I had a prosciutto and arugula wrap with chips and a drink for $ 8! Sweet deal!

I had always been too afraid to go to Illy because it seemed too fancy for me. However desperate times (having to survive a conference after a red-​eye flight) call for desperate measures (taking my chances with this pricey-​looking coffee shop).
Although I am not a fan of excessively verbose reviews, I had interesting and different experience for my 3 visits:
1. Despite having braced myself for this posh establishment, Illy turned out to be very reasonably priced, surprisingly about the same as Starbucks for the nicer dranks. The barista was friendly and helpful in recommending the Greco when we looked confused. We got our drinks in no time and enjoyed the relaxing patio furniture outside. The Greco ($ 3.30 for 8oz) was excellent – mildly sweetened good coffee with exaggerated frothiness that tasted like a cup of latte foam, dusted off with cocoa powder – the iced coffee of my dreams. Illy, ILY.
2. I was excited to come back, but the new barista but nowhere close to my Illy hero from the day before. There were fancy people in suits in line ahead of me and they ordered a ton of complicated drinks, but the barista said nothing to me as I was awkwardly stood there waiting for 10 minutes. He could have at least acknowledged me, or to satisfy the picky Unilocaler I am, asked me for my orders so he can scale up. (Clearly he would not survive Starbucks Happy Hour) I got the Greco for my friend and he gave me the option of plain or chocolate syrup; I chose chocolate syrup and apparently it tasted like diabetes. I got the shakereto for myself, and essentially it’s a single espresso shot with lots and lots of froth and lots and lots of ice but not much more. I relapsed into my afternoon sleepiness soon afterwards.
3. It was the new barista, and again I had to wait for a bit. I went back to Greco, but this time he didn’t ask me about my choice of syrup and in fact did not add any at all. Since I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I didn’t really mind, but the lack of consistency across my 3 visits is so unprofessional.
Conclusion: I’ll have to check out more Illys before I declare ILY, but overall it seems that I have found a new café on my caffeine radar.

I needed quality coffee within walking distance, so I hoofed it over to Illy based on my experiences over in Europe and the local reviews. Unfortunately, in the world of coffee, good equipment doesn’t make up for indifferent service. The result? A mediocre latte.

Illy coffee is tops in my book. This coffee shop, located in the Renaissance hotel lobby, is chic and perfect. The baristas are very helpful. One of them took time to explain the difference in some of the coffees to me. Instead of making me feel stupid, as some baristas are prone to do, she commiserated that the descriptions on the sign weren’t very helpful. The little cookies in the jars on the counter are perfect with a latte. I ordered a sugar free vanilla latte with several other picky requirements, and it was made perfectly. Also, the price for a canister of the coffee is good (comparatively cheaper than World Market, one of the only other places I find it).

One of only 9 or 10 Illy cafés in the country. Inside the Renaissance hotel. I had a caramel cappuccino. So delicious!

If I have to sum it up in a sentence… I LOVE Illy coffee! All of their speciality coffees are delicious! My favorites are the mocha (if I am in the mood for some rich creamy chocolate therapy) & the lattes… Hmm… so divine!
This location is in the vicinity of the a few hotels, sharing a wall with the Renaissance hotel. You can walk into the hotel through this barista.
The person behind the counter was efficient & had our perfectly made drinks ready with no real wait time. I loved the fact that I was allowed to take my pooch into the café, as it was a real cold day & would have hated having to leave him out… hence I was more appreciative of it (being pet friendly adds brownie points in my books!).
The only real downside is the parking situation. There isn’t any street parking close by. Most parking spots are a little over a block away which is no fun on a cold winter eve. Other than that… What can I say… It’s Illy! :)

I’m more of a tea-​sippin’ kind of gal but when I do drink coffee, Illy is my no. 1 choice.
Quality wise, of course the coffee beans here did not disappoint.
Service wise… ehhhhhhhhhh. The girls chit-​chatted amongst themselves way too much and didn’t seem eager to answer the the few questions I asked in regards to their lattes.

Best coffee in Arlington by far. This is really the way espresso and cappuccino should be made. And to all the haters out there: do yourself a favor and put REAL sugar in your coffee. Not only does it taste better, it is healthier as well and really does not add many calories to your daily intake.
The pastries were really good as well, and service was good even though a bit slow. We tried the small bite-​sized biscuits, baci di dama, by the counter. There is also parking available in the lot next to Renaissance and Courtyard.
Highly recommended!