Songbyrd Record Cafe

I came here to study with a friend. I had a chai latte, and we studied by the window where there were stools. I think the main area had someone playing some local bands, which was neat. There are albums along the walls that you can listen to, and vinyl for sale.
My chai was middle of the road. The atmosphere is very cool and very in line with the Adams Morgan area, but probably not where I’d return to study, since the hours are shorter and there’s less study space than Tryst a couple doors down.

Love love love this place! I live nearby in Cleveland Park and have been going to Tryst to write for years, but this is definitely my new favorite place! Amazing service, great food and drink, and an incredibly comfortable and chill feel! even if you’re not into music, this is the best place in the area to sit and read, do work, etc. What a great addition to the strip!

This review only covers the restaurant half of the place. As you already know this place has two sides to it: restaurant and records café. The restaurant side was decorated in a really interesting manner: retro plus hipster. The service was good but the tables and chairs could have been cleaned/​wiped down better. The music was nice and the overall feel of the restaurant was relaxing. There was a projector that projected on a exposed brick wall that also had chipped paint and parts of a cracked wall. The images being projected were hard to see since the background was uneven.
We ordered the biscuits and gravy, Portlander scramble, and the breakfast sandwich. The biscuits and gravy was a large portion and the gravy was creamy with sausage. The biscuits were too hard and dry, but luckily there was bacon on top and a lot of gravy to help with the biscuit situation. The Portlander scramble came with choice of bread, we chose wheat, and came with a cranberry jam. The eggs were ok and the cranberry jam did not seem to compliment the eggs too well. The jam was good by itself on the wheat bread. The breakfast sandwich also was a large portion (large portion = good). The oven dried tomatoes were not really that good but the egg was cooked well. The bread was a bit greasy due to the basil pesto spread and cheese. The potatoes for both the biscuits and sandwich could have used more cooking time and more rosemary seasoning.
Next time I’ll try the café side and see how the drinks and sandwiches are there.

I first heard about Songbyrd from a colleague, but it only blipped on my radar when I was searching Unilocal for coffee places I haven’t tried. Anyhow, Songbyrd is located very close to a favorite of mine, Tryst. I ordered the Americano and it was great. It has a more bohemian vibe than most DC coffee bars. .. probably close to Baked and Wired in that sense. They do have listening stations of music and a good selection of in-​the-​know vinyl.

This coffee joint is warm, cool and hip. Love the vibe of going in here. The coffee is on point and so is the vibe. When I’m in Songbyrd all I want to do is listen to Miles Davis and people watch. Its a great place to enjoy a cup of coffee and relax. Two thumbs up!

Got the breakfast sandwich with egg, tomato, and pesto. It was pretty good and helped with my hangover. Was slacking on the potatoes but I would probably come back

A must-​visit for any music lover. One room is a bar/​restaurant, and connected next door is a coffeehouse/​listening space/​record shop. If that wasn’t enough, then there’s the basement studio where they host live music acts and listening parties! As soon as I stopped in for Happy Hour and saw that the TV at the bar was playing reruns of VH1’s Pop-​Up Video, I knew I was exactly where I needed to be. Bartender was friendly and other patrons seemed chill. Oh yeah, and the menu covers are LP covers! Neat idea! Had a couple of beers, stayed for dinner –a decent fish sandwich– and migrated next door to the listening stations. Total flashback to Tower Records at the mall in the 1990’s, with the giant over-​ear headphones, only instead of the selections being the latest hits on CD, it was a thoughtfully curated Spotify playlist of albums. And not just the latest indie hipster Pitchfork stuff. There was everything from 60’s psychadelic to 70’s souI to underground hip-​hop. I was in heaven. I listened for probably 2 hours, until closing time, and exited having discovered some awesome new (to me) music. I will definitely return, sooner rather than later!

A great place to get some work done. Great atmosphere and it wasn’t busy on the weekday.

I’m not sure why my experience differed so much from all the reviews praising Songbyrd, but I definitely won’t be stopping in any time soon again.
I’ll start out with a positive. It’s a reallllllly cute café. It’s super hipster with a good amount of seating and some cool music. I loved the digital music stations as well as the records. The overall atmosphere/​vibe was definitely the only saving grace of this place.
As for the food, we were very disappointed. Two of us got different English muffin breakfast sandwiches and one of us got their quiche of the day. The sandwiches were were pretty boring and dry. When I get a breakfast sandwiches, I expect a nice, buttery, warm, maybe a little greasy, delight. Ours, however, were pretty underwhelming and dry. There weren’t any seasonings or sauces, and the proteins just kind of fell flat. The quiche was by far the worst part of the whole experience. To start, it just looks unappetizing. The purple potatoes are pretty off-​putting. Combine that with the spongy, dry egg and the lack of crust, you’re basically stuck with an alien-​looking, dried out omelette pie. My friend couldn’t even finish it.
As for our coffees, they were pretty generic. No praises, but definitely better than purple potato quiches.

Really cool place. With a great bar staff! I had the Bulleit bourbon, and it was wonderful and well priced. The water was also very good– and I’m a real stickler when it comes to water!
My one critique is that, similar to most bars, they do not have iced tea. I really like iced tea, but that’s just me. If they had iced tea, they would essentially have everything I’d need.
The bar is great and has seasoned tenders, who really know their stuff and are friendly, but don’t pry into your business like some tenders who are like, «long day, huh?»
Also, I can’t wait to check out the new music venue!

Pretty cool new coffee shop that knows how to play to a hipster crowd. I went with my standard double espresso. It is good, very flavorful, packs a good punch. Definitely top quality stuff. I also had a banana nut muffin. They sell the muffins in little tins, very homey feeling, but more importantly, they are sweet, full of fresh banana flavor, and soft in the perfect way. Really good.
They set themselves apart with the old school record shop theme and welcoming bright yellow walls. They even sell used records and have a recording booth off to the side where people will be able to record themselves. Cool stuff.
I went on a Sunday around 2, and it was packed. It’s a very small space, but they did a good job filling it out with seats and counter space. Free wifi, but you will have to ask for the password.

Couldn’t find a spot at Tryst? Songbyrd has plenty of seats, good reads, and music to keep you entertained. They serve Maine Root sodas here too, which is nice.

Love the vibe, and whole feel of this place. Everyone is so nice and friendly. The food and drinks are amazing. Went on a Friday night, and it wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be.
I ordered the steak and it was the perfect medium rare. The music was from a local DJ who, played a lot of amazing old school hits. I cant wait to go back, and take a look at the studio they are putting in downstairs…

I came back a couple of times since my first visit for lunch and each meal was absolutely delicious! I could come here everyday! Service is super friendly and you’ll want to come!

An update: The Little Richard is one of the best veggie sandwiches I’ve had the pleasure of putting in my face. Toasted rosemary focaccia with a pleasant buttery crunch on the outside; layers of grilled veggies infused with balsamic vinegar; gooey smoked provolone that’s toasted separately so it gets that nice caramel-​colored bubbly cheese topping; a spicy/​sour Creole mayonnaise. Normally, I’m big on sharing my food, but I hid this sandwich from my co-​workers so no one would ask for a bite. Even the side salad was fresh.
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Vintage/​used records? Check. (Melissa Etheridge! INXS! Motown! An otherwise ridiculous assortment!)
All-​day breakfast tacos (with fresh eggs, chopped tomatoes, and queso fresco)? Check.
Vegan food? Check.
Awesome espresso? Check.
Cheaper coffee than certain other coffee shops that are close by (Tryst, I love you, but your drip coffee prices are ridiculous)? Check.
Listening stations with curated playlists attached to the walls? Check.
A RECORDING STUDIO??? Check.
This place is sort of like something out of Portlandia, but less obnoxious. Folks in Portland or Seattle might be jaded about adorable, music-​centric coffee shops, but here in DC, these places are gems. Overall, a delightful concept, friendly customer service, a great-​looking menu, and affordable prices.

Great 70’es vibe, chill-​out place with personal iPads connected to spotify, perfect for music lovers.

I’ve been wanting to check out Songbyrd Record Café ever since they opened up back in April: D It’s a cute little café in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, offering a menu (coffee & espresso, soups, salads, burgers, snacks, plates, and alcoholic beverages), a 1947-​style recording studio (3– to 10-​second recordings, where you can make your own 45-​rpm records for $ 15), counter seating with individual headsets to listen to some tunes, and a little section of vinyl records for purchasing. I was able to try their iced Mocha with half-​and-​half, and the hubs had an iced Chai Latte with whole milk (they have local organic coffee offered!). The Mocha was strong and creamy, with a bit of chocolate syrup at the bottom; the Chai Latte was more milky rather than Chai-​spiced, and more on the sweeter side. I also tried one of their Raspberry muffins, but I wasn’t a fan, as it didn’t taste anything like a raspberry and it was more on the dry end T_​_​_​T There were some tables, a couple of armchairs, counter seating, and some window seating; I really liked the guitar-​case table: D The café itself was a little dark, but there were few who were doing some work and/​or reading a book. Service was super friendly, and it’s a nice little spot to stop by if you’re in the Adams Morgan neighborhood to grab a few drinks.
+iced Mocha with half-​and-​half
+coffee bar
+individual listening ‘stations’ at the counter
+recording studio
+vinyl records available for purchasing
+friendly staff: D
+limited paid parking along 18^th St

I definitely judge books by their covers, and restaurants/​coffee shops by their names, and I walked into Songbyrd Record Café while walking around Adams Morgan, simply because the name sounded cool.
I wasn’t expecting the food to be that good, as I got the impression that this place is more novelty than anything else, and the food really wasn’t anything special. I ordered a BALT (I think that’s what it was called…), a BLT sandwich with avocado. The most disappointing part of my sandwich was the bread. It definitely was not bad, but it was just toasted white bread, and there wasn’t anything unique or memorable about it.
In any case, the place is still cool, and I’d come back just to hang out. I wouldn’t really come in specifically to order something from their menu, but the atmosphere is nice, and it’s very relaxing. They have individual stations set up for you to listen to Spotify, but I liked the music they played in the café so much that I didn’t really feel the need to drown that music out.

Amazing new café with an awesome 1950’s record store theme. They’re always spinning great records from the past, their sandwiches and coffee is tasty, employees are nice, and interior is charming. Good location for people watching and yet it’s a nice and quiet respite from the craziness of the rest of Adams Morgan.

I noticed Songbyrd was open when I walked by last Friday afternoon and was very excited to take a look around. The Songbyrd sign has been in the window since last summer, so I am happy it has finally opened.
The space had a pretty cool vibe with a few different seating options and records for sale. One thing Songbyrd has that I have never seen in a restaurant before is little screens and studio headphones connected to Spotify. This allows users to listen to music they select while they wait for food or do work. This would be an ideal study location for me if I still needed one of those.
For food I tried the BLAT, which is a BLT with Avocado. It came with chips and a pickle for $ 9, which I wouldn’t call a good deal, but about the price I would expect for a trendy café in admo. I definitely enjoyed the sandwich; however, as long as you don’t burn the bread or bacon a BLAT should always be enjoyable. The truffle mayo did make it extra delectable though.
While waiting for my sandwich I heard the head chef /​owner /​guy in charge say that next door they are opening a «bistro» with a live music venue. I will be interested in how this turns out. I am always happy to hear more places with live music coming to the area, but if the venue is the old downstairs of the Fed, which is my assumption, it will be pretty small. I guess time will tell the venue size and what type of acts they bring in.
I think this could be a good addition to the Adams Morgan strip. It seems like Tryst is its big competition and I usually don’t go to Tryst because it is too busy (among other things). I am looking forward to trying the other half of the restaurant when it opens.