Prince of Petworth — PoPville, to Washingtonians — is the blog that notices when anything changes on a D.C. block. In July 2023 it noticed us. Under the headline "Cleveland Park Coffee Alert – Dolan Coffee," the site posted a photo of our new café at 3518 Connecticut Avenue NW and a one-line verdict: "Apparently the wonderful Dolan Uyghur Restaurant in Cleveland Park has great coffee options."
Dolan Coffee had opened quietly on November 21, 2022, in Unit D beside the restaurant, a block from the Cleveland Park Metro. The idea was simple. Our dining room already poured tea from eight in the morning for neighbors heading to the train; we wanted to offer the coffee drinkers something just as good. We partnered with illy — the Italian roaster known for balance, richness and elegance — and built a short menu around it: espresso, americano, latte, cappuccino, flat white, Turkish coffee, a pistachio latte and a Spanish latte, with Dolan Gul Chai for tea drinkers and pastries and desserts from our own kitchen.
PoPville asked its readers, "Anyone take a taste?" The answer has come in slowly over the years since, mostly on Google, where Dolan Coffee holds a 4.9-star rating. One guest called it "this cultural gem of a café next to the entrance of the Cleveland Park Metro stop," serving "unique baked goods and pastry as well as espresso and teas (Dolan Chai is the special)." Another came for "a cup of coffee and dessert" and left praising the cappuccino and the rice pudding.
The café is open from 8 am to 10 pm daily — early enough for the commute, late enough for dessert and tea after dinner next door. It is also the only Dolan where you can taste illy and Gul Chai side by side, which is the pairing we recommend to anyone who cannot decide.
This article is our own account of the coverage; short quotations are attributed to PoPville, which holds the copyright to the original piece.
