Java Loco Coffee & Bubble Tea - Van Dorn Plaza — Restaurant in Alexandria

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I arrived in the neighborhood early for a twelve o’clock noon business appointment on a parallel street, Whiting Street, behind JAVA LOCO on Van Dorn. JA came up on my quick Google search for a nearby coffee shop. A couple traffic signals and less than five minutes and I was there. JA is in a large strip center and setback far away from the street. It has no visibility driving on Van Dorn. JA is definitely a destination location. The shopping center parking lot is enormous so parking is not a problem. Coming there for the first time yesterday I relied solely on gps to find it which is okay. I enjoy hard to find, tucked away spots when food and drink are good and if ambiance is cool.

Approaching JA I liked the clever little water saving message stenciled on the sidewalk on my path to the front door. I like the JA signage design on the storefront. Looking through the window and glass door JA appeared attractive. The shotgun interior is made interesting by using earth tones and having modulated lighting. There is a variety of lighting; hanging pendant lights in front on the short wall that is the front window, larger ceiling hung metal dome style lights on the right long wall that is exposed brick and has a bit of wood. On the left long wall above the service counter is a curvilinear bulkhead having recessed lights. The floor is smooth concrete that could benefit from a serious power washing. It is heavily stained and not clean. To my eye it looks like the floor is broom swept but never mopped and now power washing is the only remedy, again, my opinion.

Opening the door I was impressed hearing low level piano jazz music that I came to dislike after about 10 minutes of being there. At first I had audio images (nostalgia) of the long running (1978 - 2011) Mary McPartland Piano Jazz radio program. The entire half hour I was there the piano jazz turned out to be jazz versions of Christmas standards (Winter Wonderland, Let it Snow! Let it Snow!, Feliz Navidad, I’ll Be Home For Christmas, etc.) and all played by one piano artist, Shin Giwon. You get my drift here? It became mind numbing. How about a mix of Bill Evan’s, Chet Baker, maybe some Patricia Barber and possibly Chic Corea. Now, that is piano jazz commensurate with the visual aesthetic of JA in my opinion and compensates for the dirty floor.

Let’s talk about coffee and pastries. Examining the menu, which is sizable, I ordered a small cup of Cuban Coffee that was on the menu. What I got was a shot of something in a regular size coffee cup, not a shot size cup. Looking at the pastry display I chose a cherry danish. The shot size volume of whatever was served me was okay. It tasted like a very light espresso but I did not get an espresso kick at all from it. The pastry was okay though it seemed on the cusp of becoming stale. Cost for my little coffee break was $8.32. At that price point, in my experience and opinion, Mom and Pop in Mosaic is 3 times better in quality - flavor and freshness.

Lastly, I was stunned at zero attempt to control social distancing by JA management. All food and drink spots I have been in in the past recent months have spaced tape markers on their floors for measured customer standing distance in service lines and blocked out tables or removed tables for seating distancing. Not the case here. Every table and chair was available for seating and no tape distance measuring guidance on the floor. JA seats about 30 customers by my count and the spot was approximately 75% occupied when i walked in. All 5 of the counter stools were unoccupied when I received my order and where I chose to sit. Photos accompanying my review do not show the packed occupancy I describe here because the place emptied out shortly before I left which is when I snapped many of the shots. And I cropped out people in the earlier shots. So the photos do not seem to match my narrative description of crowding. Also, I should mention there is some alfresco seating in front of the shop. My business meeting was better than my...

This spot is around the corner from me, so I'm there quite frequently. The drinks are tasty and there's great variety. The food is quite good too. They've got a college town vibe (minus a couple ugly baby tables that I've never seen used), and you can sit there all day and access WIFI. So why only 3 stars?

*They're slow on food preparation. They're quick with drinks, but sandwiches take a long time, particularly breakfast sandwiches. Sausage egg & cheese takes them up to 25 minutes!

*It's not uncommon for them to be out of something. This morning they were out of cheddar cheese for the sausage egg & cheese. Other times they've been out of bagels, or tuna salad. They've been out of bobos, the key ingredient to their loudly advertised bobo tea drinks. Could be anything really.

*They're pricey. Items average about $1-$1.50 more than competitors, which adds up. Sandwiches are pretty small (between 2 slices of pre-packed supermarket-size sliced bread), and they seem to justify the price by offering you a free bag of chips. But the chip bags are tiny, and I don't eat chips anyway. The sandwich doesn't come with anything else (like a pickle, or cole slaw), and they never offer an alternative, which leads to my next comment.

*Beyond polite words, they don't do anything to demonstrate customer appreciation. It doesn't matter if the line goes out the door due to their slow preparation (or being understaffed, another chronic issue). Or, as in my case, I came nearly every day for 2 weeks at one point, and they never offered me an alternative to the chips I don't eat (they matter-of-factly told me 'no' when I asked if I could substitute). When they're out of a bread, making me buy a more expensive kind, they don't overlook the cost difference (a $.50 gesture of good faith that can go a long way). I witnessed one couple wait on line for about 20 minutes, then have both their first and second orders turned down due to being out of the ingredient. They weren't offered anything; the cashier didn't even suggest an alternative. He merely waited for them to place their next order.

In sum: they've got a great variety of drinks and some good food. They have offerings that are hard to find locally, much less under a single roof: gelato, bobo tea, etc. But they're pricey, slow, and...

I Was in the area visiting family and decided to give this place a shot as I saw they offered Boba tea. I placed my order online and arrived at the store a few minutes before the scheduled pickup time just to peep the scenery! The young lady at the register has a very nasty demeanor. She walked up to the register to take my order, and I politely informed her that I was there to pick up an order that was placed online. And she went back to sit down behind the counter. I go to the stand to wait for my order in front of the pickup counter. There was a guy behind the counter with a beard and a black coat on who saw me there waiting for my drink but said nothing. I continued to wait for my drink for an additional 10 minutes after I arrived. At that point, I went over to the lady at the cashier to show her my receipt. She looked at me crazy and then walked back over to the pickup area and said your drink is right here! In a nasty tone. Mind you, the drink was not visible, and I was standing directly in front of the pickup area for 10 minutes before the pickup time. Either one of the store employees could've just said can I help you or pushed my drink up on the counter to at least make it visible if they didn't feel like being bothered! The matcha I had was gross, and it didn't taste like the drink was made with the almond milk substitute; I requested and paid the additional $1 for it. I requested a sweetness level of 70%, but the drink was extremely bitter. I will never return and regret giving this place a try. The customer service is garbage and the drink I ordered was rough! I threw it away after additional mixing to dissolve the 5 lbs of matcha...