Ego Shine Company

It’s disappointing when a very highly rated business doesn’t live up to expectations — this was worse than that.
First let me say that many reviews of shoe shine places include reviews of shoe repair services. Many are female clients who report on whether the heels were repaired well or the fabric/​material of the shoe was mended.
This review is entirely for the shoe shine service. Prior reviews would lead you to believe that you will get a spit shine from an old hand who has rubbed polish for decades. I have previously gotten my shoes shined at Eddie’s in Grand Central in NYC and they make those babies sparkle.
However, this was totally a let down. A single, sad stand with one chair manned by a young lady who said that she was the «shoe shiner.» She applied polish and did some buffing but basically it was a minimal effort job. Literally 2 – 3 strokes with the brush, very little application of polish with the cloth, and virtually no effort on the end rag buffing. When I got down and she told me it would be $ 20 for the 2 pairs of shoes that each took her 2 minutes of work, I was stunned. I told her that was steep, but then realized I should be glad she didn’t do something bad/​damaging to the shoes.
There is no reason to go here to get your shoes shined. If you rubbed your captoe on the back of your pant leg, you would have an equivalent effort and result.
1 star for the young lady because she was pleasant and it isn’t her fault the prices are set. But also the system wont let me put 0 stars…

There’s something special about a really great shoe shine. The last time I had one was in Oaxaca, from one of the professional shine men in the zocalo. I was so proud, until I went crawling through a graveyard, and ground the dirt of death into my fine leather brogues.
So, back in the U.S., I was walking around wearing shoes that looked like they’d been threshed and dehydrated. So embarassing! I finally headed over to International Square, where I’d seen a bona fide shoe shine stand.
Ego Brown’s assistant waved me onto the throne after only a few minutes of waiting, and proceeded to wax and buff the hell out of my shoes. Layering, rubbing, buffing… this man became absorbed in the microcosm that was my neglected footwear.
My shoes sparkled and shone for weeks after. Not like new — like *better* than new.

Old school shoe shine place like your Dad used to go. It’s located in International Square food court. The food court is connected to Farragut West Metro (18 street exit). Some women like to get their mani/​pedis while some of us men like to get our shoes shined. We both do it for the same reason: you feel like a million bucks afterwards.

I was looking for a shoe shine and surprised that you couldn’t find anyone on the street. A FedEx guy told me about Ego Brown and I’m so glad he did. Tucked away at the bottom of International Square, Mr. Brown gave me the best shine I’ve ever seen — and he’s the nicest guy you could ever run into. We talked for about 20 minutes (three coats, his insistence). Comfy stand, with music and tons of magazines if you aren’t interested in chatting. This guy treats shoes as an art form.
He reminds me a little of Famous Wayne in San Francisco.
Even better, I looked his name up on Google — the guy is history. Plus, it explains why there are no shoe shine stands in D.C.
Stop and check him out — you’ll be glad you did.