Swing's Coffee — Restaurant in Alexandria

UPDATE to previous review: While I stand by the experience I had in my previous review below, I feel that it's important and fair that I mention that my past few visits have been fantastic! 6/23/25

I can't quite figure out what it is about this spot. I love their coffee, with 4 Mile Espresso and Mesco beans being on my all-time favorites list. The 4 Mile Espresso beans are perfect for my grind and brew machine, which doesn't handle dark oily beans very well. It's a great full-bodied, but not heavy medium roast. It's perfect for both morning and afternoon cups.

Equally satisfying, especially in the morning, are the Mesco beans. As their signature blend, it makes sense that it's been around from the beginning. It's bright, balanced, and smooth. Their claim that it's “the coffee that improves in quality as it cools in the cup” is true in my experience. From time to time, I also enjoy trying something new. Today I bought and am looking forward to trying one of their featured coffees, Guatemala Regalito.

As for the service, and this is just my perspective, I've never really had a great experience in the store. Most of the team members are somewhat polite, but not necessarily friendly. My visit today motivated me to write this particular review.

As I was checking out, I asked if I was part of the rewards program, and if not, how to sign up. The person waiting on me kind of explained it by pointing to a sign next to the register, prompting me to put my phone number in. I said to her that the screen was still asking how I wanted my receipt, but she just kind of stared at me. I then noticed and pressed the next button which took me to the prompt to put my phone number in. Apparently, I was already a member of the program and had five points. Excitedly, I said to her, "oh, it looks as if I already have five points!" She kind of smirk-smiled, gestured toward the screen and said "well if it says you have five points, then I guess you have five points."

Frankly, it wasn't what she said, but rather how she said it. Dismissive, and pretentiously condescending is how it came across to me. I smiled and thanked her, but I didn't like the way I was feeling as I left. It was as if I had been a nuisance or was taking too much of her time. And unfortunately, this wasn't the first time I felt this way as a customer here.

Great coffee in a cool space, but not the best customer service in my experience over the past several months. I discovered Swing's earlier this year after deciding to buy coffee exclusively from local roasters. To that end, I'll probably keep buying from them. And even though I enjoy getting out and going into the store, I may feel better about my experience and purchasing from them by...

It boggles my mind that M.E. Swing Company has been part of D.C. culture for almost 100 years (it was founded in 1916). It's clear from their ethically sourced beans to their community-like cafes and demeanors that these people care about a good cup of coffee. Situated across a dog park in the Del Ray neighborhood, this location is a large, open space with a large windowed front, reclaimed industrial furniture, and beautiful coffee bar. This location is particularly awesome because it's also home to their roasting facility. Not to mention, if you come by Fridays at 10am, you can see their cupping lab and take part of their public coffee cupping. M.E. Swing Company also has a location on G Street near the White House.

While their specialty and focus are in pour overs, Chemex, espressos and drip brews, they also prepare lattes, cappuccinos, iced tea in mason jars, hot chocolate, as well as an assortment of pastries. You can also purchase beans and pour over supplies here. This is a great place to have a cup of coffee, read (they provide free newspaper racks too), and hang out with friends and family. I had a latte here and it was really good. The cup sizes are also pretty large, so you get a fair amount of latte for...

At first glance Swings is a very cool, local coffee shop with a great location of being close to two dog parks. Because of this reason I’ve been to Swings a lot over the past few months and every time there’s something lacking. Either the lattes are way overpriced for what you get or the drip coffee is too weak or it just takes forever. The final straw for me was this morning. I order online and then head to swings to pick up two lattes. Pick up time was listed as 10 min after my order time. I get there right when it said they would be ready and they were not ready. Which was weird because there were five people working. 10 min later, after seeing many people come in, order, and then leave I check out the order times on the coffees at the bar. All of them had been ordered after me. I ask where my order is and they at first aren’t sure and then say “oh it’s next up.” SURE IT WAS. 5 min later I get my lattes (25 min after ordered) and there was no apology for obviously forgetting my order and to top it off the lattes were $7 each and just tasted like hot milk. I will not be going back, no matter how convenient...