Barnes and Noble Cafe at CUA

If you’re looking for a coffee shop WITH wifi, Barnes and Noble is one of three options in the Brookland area (The other two are Busboys and Poets and Serendipity; nearby Filter is cool, but there’s no wifi). Unlike a commercial Barnes and Noble, this location has a section catering to students (with Catholic University goods, items for our dorm room, etc) and then a small section of books. You can find all your major book and magazine needs, but note it’s small and there’s no travel section (boo!). The café itself has strong wifi, lunch service, tons of snacks, and plenty of indoor and outdoor seating (The wifi connection is even strong outside).

Sandwich was subpar, don’t accept Starbucks cards, but it is a nice place with free wifi so at least there’s that. A good place to Study and buy snacks, but make sure to bring an alternate form of payment … And avoid their chicken sandwiches.

The CUA-​branded Barnes and Noble is smaller than your typical bookstore, but at least the café/​study area has plenty of space. Sometimes I go here on Sundays to do some homework. I always venture out into different neighborhoods to find a good place to study. They have study desk area and a secondary one as well as bar stools. I usually sit at the bar stool area since there are accessible power outlets.

stopped by to pick up a 2016 weekly/​monthly planner at Barnes & Noble (got a cute one for $ 12.95!!!) and went to the café for a cool drink. Everything totally sugary except for an unsweetened Gold Peak iced tea that cost me $ 1.99. Sat and watched the store for a while and saw them either testing the metal detector system or making some poor guy walk back and through it several times as he kept setting it off. Any staffer i talked to (such as behind café counter or in the bookstore part) were helpful and friendly. This place is wheelchair accessible!

Don’t pretend to be a Starbucks and then tell people that you aren’t Starbucks.

Great place to study and feel free to bring your children as there are a wide variety of books to peek their interests. My nephew who is 11 came with me and bounced from book to book in the five hour time span that we were there. The only downside to this, was that the free AT&T free wifi was down the entire time which kind of derailed my study plans… The café sponsored by Starbucks was also pretty great! There is a variety of pastries, sandwiches, salads, teas, cupcakes, and snacks which is great when you have the study munchies… The prices were somewhat high, but the qualify of food was ok, typical café food.

They over heated 3 croissants. Like how do you not understand that a croissant will get hard if you over cook it. Also the cashier did NOT know how to work the register… probably the worst experience at a Starbucks in my life. The absolute worst.

We have come here to go to the Starbucks. The baristas are polite and pleasant. They take your order accurately and quickly. They have great personalities. Or food and drinks have always been what we order and taste great.

Short and sweet review. This café is NOT a Starbucks, it is a Barnes and Noble Café SERVING Starbucks. As such, they do not accept Starbucks cards (nor do any of the Barnes and Nobles cafes). A further caveat, although this is a Barnes and Noble store, it is actually CUA’s bookstore run by B&N so they do not take the Barnes and Noble members card.
Ok now that that is out of the way, this café is very pleasant to sit in. They do sell the coffees and teas by Starbucks along with cookies, brownies, other small eats that one would find at a Starbucks. Being part of a college bookstore, they also sell small grocery and convenience items, bottles of soda, water, tea, etc.
The staff has been unfailingly helpful and cheerful every time I’ve been here.
There are several low table with chairs around them and another area with bar stool type chairs and high table to sit at. Lots of places to charge phones, computers etc.
I would give this 5 starts if they took the Barnes and Noble members card.