Compass Coffee — Restaurant in Arlington

Went in on 9/20. I used to live in Arlington and would go to the Rosslyn location as much as possible and now when visiting I always seek out Compass Coffee. Here’s why: The local clean milk in glass. I know it costs the owners more and they could easily swap it out with the same crud most other cafes use and most customers may not even care, but they don’t, and I appreciate that tremendously. It’s the only cafe where I let my young son have multiple warm milks. I was sure that as they expanded they would cut that out, but they haven’t! I will always support a cafe that puts quality over profits. For here mugs. I just love having a cortado or maple latte in a mug instead of a to go cup. Every location I have been to has that option. Smooth coffee. Never like that counter culture trash. Smoooooooth! And bold! Bubbly filtered water. What am I in Europe? Yes please, I will most certainly grab a glass and fill it up with free carbonated water to properly enjoy with my espresso drink. And thank you for the glass instead of plastic cups! That maple latte! Ask around other cafes what is in their maple latte and the answer will be some fake concoction of grossness….sweet flavoring that is supposed to taste like maple syrup. Compass Coffee still makes theirs with 100 percent maple syrup. Real deal. Cool art on the cans and walls.

Back to 9/20….it was my mother’s 81st bday and she loved cafes so of course I took her here to have lots of coffee drinks and hang out. I mentioned her bday to the woman making her cappuccino (maybe the manager….nose ring and has a bob) and asked if she could do some 81 latte art. She was amazing. Totally on board with the challenge and she nailed it. So appreciated. Really made my mom’s day! Nice of the barista to do that. In addition they were playing phenomenal music…some funky mix of 90s I think but it was safe for my son’s ears. Compass,...

We attended the drive through around midday on Jan 18 2025 and sustained a troubling burn due to the negligence of the person packing the coffees. It would have been a 4 star experience if it wasn't for her. (Not the person who actually took the order through the intercom and seemed to have made the coffees - a young man with long hair. He was excellent). The young woman who's normal job seemed to be to package and give the coffees to drive through customers did not know our order (it seemed the young man had been covering for her at the intercom) and crucially DID NOT PUT INSULATION SLEEVES on our coffees or give us a tray. (I thought perhaps the cups themselves were insulated and didn't need them.) My biggest passions are drawing and writing (which I do with the same hand I happen to hold my coffee with). It wasn't until 5 minutes driving I noticed pain in my dominant hand and now have a visible burn on it I've been nursing all day. Totally ruined our Saturday. To add to this before we drove off the woman condescendingly told us "please be careful a squirrel has gone under your car". Maybe you had to be there but the alarm in her voice, while she totally bungled through our order, left the impression that this woman thought she was morally superior to others because she cares about local wildlife. (We genuinely care about the local wildlife too by the way. It doesn't excuse neglecting the very basic safety of your customers.) The coffee itself is better than its major competitors but just decent rather than anything special. The young man who made the coffee today did a good job though. (I have received slightly burnt coffee at this cafe before....

Update: contacted corporate about this terrible experience and at first they were friendly and offered to send a credit for the drink. However after sending my account info to add the credit, they completely ghosted me despite me reaching out several more times over the course of a month and a half. Absolutely unprofessional and really shows they don’t care about the customer. This is on top of the shady employment practices they’ve been recently accused of. Won’t be coming back

We come to this location somewhat regularly and they’ve given us the wrong drink a few times recently. The latest time we went back to get it fixed. One went inside to ask for the right drink while the other waited in the car. They served 10-15 cars in the drive thru after retaking the order inside despite being the only one inside. After asking about our drink they said they forgot about it. Finally remade our drink after a 15 minute wait and we hurriedly left only to find out they gave us the...