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Peets Coffee & Tea, A San Francisco Coffee Chain in Numerous Area Locations


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I sure wish a Peets would open in the area.

There's a small one in the basement at Georgetown Law near Capitol Hill, so they may be slowly working their way into the DC market.

ETA - this is a mini outpost within the confines of the Law Center that I believe is administered by GULC itself, so its probably not worth going out of your way to find. They do serve Peet's products during the school year, though I don't think they are open during the summer months.

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There's a small one in the basement at Georgetown Law near Capitol Hill, so they may be slowly working their way into the DC market.

Thanks for the info. That would be good news if they were indeed moving in to the area. A most welcome event indeed.

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There's a small one in the basement at Georgetown Law near Capitol Hill, so they may be slowly working their way into the DC market.

*perk*

Back in the era of the Great Communicator, we used to task one of our engineers with bringing back bags of Peets Sulawesi Kalossi on trips to the left coast, in order to keep the rest of our engineers fueled up. "Nitromethane for the human body" we used to call it. Good times, good times.

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We've been getting Peet's fresh-roasted Italian Roast shipped to us automatically every six weeks or so, for years. I've tried numerous other, more locally roasted and/or cheaper coffees, and I am sorry to say that none do it for us. A morning cappuccino is such an important aspect of our lives that we've been unable to compromise on quality, despite the cost. There is a coffee house/coffee roaster near UNC Chapel Hill in Carrboro, NC called Dolce, where our daughter likes to hang out--they have superb espresso coffee. I haven't inquired about the possibility of getting their beans shipped to us, but I might do that the next time I am down there for a visit.

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It's begun! The three Montgomery County Peet's will be in the former Caribou Coffee locations:

  7926 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda

  Westfield Montgomery Mall, Bethesda

  1316 East West Highway, Silver Spring

The Silver Spring store's Caribou sign came down today!

The countdown to their 28 April reopening as Peet's has begun.

Details in Steve Hull's post in Bethesda Magazine.

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We've been getting Peet's fresh-roasted Italian Roast shipped to us automatically every six weeks or so, for years. I've tried numerous other, more locally roasted and/or cheaper coffees, and I am sorry to say that none do it for us. A morning cappuccino is such an important aspect of our lives that we've been unable to compromise on quality, despite the cost. There is a coffee house/coffee roaster near UNC Chapel Hill in Carrboro, NC called Dolce, where our daughter likes to hang out--they have superb espresso coffee. I haven't inquired about the possibility of getting their beans shipped to us, but I might do that the next time I am down there for a visit.

I used to get Starbucks shipped to me back in the early 1990s, believe it or not, when there were no stores in the area.

Years have gone by since Zora's post, but I recently bought some Peet's at the Falls Church Whole Foods.

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I'm hoping the Caribou next door to me becomes a Peet's. When I first had Caribou in airports out west, it was good, but I went to the one near me and asked for something bold and hearty and they gave me dishwater. I became familiar with Peets during business trips to SF.

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Peet's was definitely my go to bean in Washington, easy to find at Safeway/Giant/HT and always consistent.  The stores out in California were always excellent, and I hope the former Caribou stores maintain that high-level.  I haven't bought the beans since the merger (or buyout?), but I assume the quality remains the same. though Richmond has some local roasters that do a hell of a job. The Richmond airport Caribou is supposedly becoming a Peet's, which is good news for everyone. Black Hand in particular has stayed in my grinder, while Blanchard's and Lamplighter are also well-regarded local options.  The grocery chain Fresh Market (which I think is coming or is already in NoVa) carries both Intelligentsia and Counter Culture, so there's good coffee everywhere to be found.

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There's also one going in at the new Hilltop Village Center at the intersection of Beulah St and Telegraph Road in the Kingstowne area.  This is the same shopping center that will have Wegman's as is anchor store.  Last I heard the businesses may not open until early 2015.  Things were supposed to open this Fall but building permits took longer than expected, at least for Wegman's.  I'm not sure if it's affecting the smaller businesses or not.

Here is a link to the site and what's planned so far.  Lots of good choices for lunch and shopping.

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It's begun! The three Montgomery County Peet's will be in the former Caribou Coffee locations:

  7926 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda

  Westfield Montgomery Mall, Bethesda

  1316 East West Highway, Silver Spring

The Silver Spring store's Caribou sign came down today!

The countdown to their 28 April reopening as Peet's has begun.

Details in Steve Hull's post in Bethesda Magazine.

Yes, the old Caribou sign at the Bethesda location on Old Georgetwon has been down for at least a month, maybe longer. Woohoo!

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The Caribou in my building at 17th and L is now a Peet's (just opened a week or two ago).

I'm not a coffee drinker so haven't tried it yet. How are the food options? What do they even have? I used to duck down to the Starbucks in my old building for a breakfast wrap or cake pop or other random sweet every now and then.

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Yes, the old Caribou sign at the Bethesda location on Old Georgetwon has been down for at least a month, maybe longer. Woohoo!

I would council long-term caution: Starbucks used to be *great* twenty years ago - I used to actually mail-order their coffee beans from Seattle (this is before they had any area locations - seems like another lifetime ago, doesn't it?)

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I have generally enjoyed the Caribous around here -- South Riding, Brambleton (which I think is still there), 17th and L, maybe one or two others -- but it sounds like Peet's will be a more than worthy replacement. Our office is moving to Metro Center in two months so it will be nice to have a close alternative to my daily (often twice daily) Starbucks.

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I walked by the (now closed with brown paper over the windows) Caribou Coffee on my way to Trader Joe's on Rt. 7 in Falls Church over the weekend, and noted that the sign says it is slated to become a Peets! I did a happy dance. Now I won't have to suffer the obnoxious, entitled types to get to the Starbucks in the WF parking lot on the other side of Rt. 7.

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The Montgomery Mall Caribou Coffee kiosk shut down in anticipation of its reemergence as a Peets and then . . .  (poof) . . . the entire kiosk disappeared and now something else is in its place.  Perhaps the Starbucks on the second level flexed its muscles?

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Every once in awhile, I go to the Burke Caribou Coffee (just off Braddock Road), and enjoy it more than I do other similar chains. It has a very comforting (okay ... "mall-like") North Canada / Alaska theme to it, plus, if you answer the trivia question correctly, you'll get a dime off your order. 

Well, it looks like the Brambleton Caribou is going to become a Peet's as well. I have saved several dimes there thanks to my storehouse of almost-useless information. Example: how many strikeouts did Stephen Strasburg get in his MLB debut?

The South Riding Caribou became a short-lived and quite awful Fractured Prune donut shop, and is now a GameStop, another chain that will be out of existence in a few years.

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I would council long-term caution: Starbucks used to be *great* twenty years ago - I used to actually mail-order their coffee beans from Seattle (this is before they had any area locations - seems like another lifetime ago, doesn't it?)

I agree. But I am cautiously optimistic. Honestly, I wish we just would invent transporters already so I could go to Firenze every morning to my favorite bar for my dopio espresso and then transport back.

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I'm a bit confused by all the love for a large national chain that produces a middling product. There are so many indie coffee shops you could and should be supporting before going to Peets.

This is only a partial list, via DCist.

You're right, Joel: people are excited about The Name Of Peet's which probably used to be a fantastic coffee shop in the exotic city of San Francisco. My post above wasn't strong enough, and it did a disservice to people like you.

And let's not forget our own map of Independent Coffee Houses, maintained by porcupine.

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These independent coffee lists are great, but I see exactly one independent (Chinatown Coffee) in the large business district that stretches from the White House to the Capitol Building.  So for all the people that commute to work Monday - Friday and get off the Metro at Farragut North/West, McPherson Square, Metro Center, etc. (which in my experience is the vast majority of the Red, Orange, and Blue Line people that use Metro to get downtown), what are your options.  Starbuck's, Peet's, or chain restaurant/sandwich shop that is serving breakfast (Corner Bakery, Au Bon Pain etc.).

In the handful of times I've been to the Peet's by Metro Center they serve a decent cup of coffee for less than $2 (for a small).  

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How do indy coffee houses get added to the map? Mug N' Muffin out in Stone Ridge (the next big community past South Riding) is a nice little place. They even make affogato and I am finally going to try it! http://mugnmuffin.net/

If you  post about a place in the Independent Coffee House thread, I'll see it eventually and add it to the map.  I'm out of town this weekend with limited time to goof off on the internet but I'll try to remember to add this one.

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If you post about a place in the Independent Coffee House thread, I'll see it eventually and add it to the map.  I'm out of town this weekend with limited time to goof off on the internet but I'll try to remember to add this one.

It's also a good time to say "thank you" for the time you've spent assembling and maintaining that map. The total amount of money you've made from doing it wouldn't even buy you a cup of coffee, and that's just not right. THANKS, Elizabeth. (If ever you liked a post, like this one.)

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These independent coffee lists are great, but I see exactly one independent (Chinatown Coffee) in the large business district that stretches from the White House to the Capitol Building.  So for all the people that commute to work Monday - Friday and get off the Metro at Farragut North/West, McPherson Square, Metro Center, etc. (which in my experience is the vast majority of the Red, Orange, and Blue Line people that use Metro to get downtown), what are your options.  Starbuck's, Peet's, or chain restaurant/sandwich shop that is serving breakfast (Corner Bakery, Au Bon Pain etc.).

In the handful of times I've been to the Peet's by Metro Center they serve a decent cup of coffee for less than $2 (for a small).  

So glad you brought this up. I have been trying to find a space in the central business district for more than 2 years, even went on Kojo Show to discuss the barriers I have faced. There are very few small footprint spaces that landlords want to rent downtown and when they do come up they give preference to large chains with lots of bank. Without boring you with the details, I recently spent 2 months negotiating a letter of intent with a landlord downtown, only to be summarily dropped when a larger vendor came along. I know that isn't really an answer to your problem, but it maybe explains why there aren't more indie coffee shops centrally located.

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So glad you brought this up. I have been trying to find a space in the central business district for more than 2 years, even went on Kojo Show to discuss the barriers I have faced. There are very few small footprint spaces that landlords want to rent downtown and when they do come up they give preference to large chains with lots of bank. Without boring you with the details, I recently spent 2 months negotiating a letter of intent with a landlord downtown, only to be summarily dropped when a larger vendor came along. I know that isn't really an answer to your problem, but it maybe explains why there aren't more indie coffee shops centrally located.

This is a huge problem in DC.  For myriad reasons, including what Joel outlines above, our downtown is so characterless and dominated by big chains and large restaurant groups.  It's pretty dispiriting to come home to DC after spending time in other cosmopolitan cities where independent and small bars, cafes, and restaurants can be found on almost every street corner -- I was in Brussels for three days recently, and despite it being the "DC of Europe" in many ways in terms of the amount of the city taken up by large government buildings, it had so many neighborhoods that were phenomenally dense in interesting and local places to eat and drink.  And don't get me started on the prevalence of high-quality corner markets.

There's a lot to like about DC, and a lot to like about DC's food scene, but it does not suffer the comparison to other cities very well at all, and it makes me sad sometimes to realize what we're missing here.

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I'm a bit confused by all the love for a large national chain that produces a middling product. There are so many indie coffee shops you could and should be supporting before going to Peets.

This is only a partial list, via DCist.

No argument with that, but since my current situation is living in VA and working in MD, it's not likely I'll be making a special trip to DC, with all the hassle that includes, for a cup of coffee. Chains to the rescue! :ph34r:

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It looks like the Bethesda branch of formerly Caribou has completed its changeover to Peet's and is open now. Walked by it yesterday.

The Burke branch was actually shuttered last week (with the dreaded brown paper on the windows) - probably to make the design changes before reopening.

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I sure wish a Peets would open in the area.

Be careful what you ask for. :)

There may still be some Caribou Coffee locations in the area, but I don't know of any - the transition appears to be complete, or nearing completion. Peet's isn't as ubiquitous as Starbucks, but there are plenty of them now. And if they play their real-estate cards correctly, I see no reason why they can't throw a few more elbows at Starbucks going forward.

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We had a Peets in our neck of the woods (Mt. Vernon area) in a strip mall on the northbound side of Rt. 1.  I think it opened sometime this summer and closed a few weeks ago.  It came and went so fast I don't think people even had time to realize it was there, but it seemed like a perfect place for people to stop on their way to work.  Guess not.

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We had a Peets in our neck of the woods (Mt. Vernon area) in a strip mall on the northbound side of Rt. 1.  I think it opened sometime this summer and closed a few weeks ago.  It came and went so fast I don't think people even had time to realize it was there, but it seemed like a perfect place for people to stop on their way to work.  Guess not.

On 15 Dec, Rebecca Cooper wrote a short blurb about this in the Washington Business Journal. They're pulling out of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan (guess they aren't running for President):

Peet's Coffee and Tea closed its Alexandria and Bristow locations Monday as part of some adjustments the California-based company is making to its portfolio.

The announcement came the same day Peet's said it will close all its remaining stores in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania in order to focus on the D.C. market.

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Location, location, location. There might be a dozen Sbux within three blocks of my office, but there's one Peet's right across the street, next to the Metro entrance at 13th and F (Homer Building). So that's my primary coffee outlet during the week now, and it seems to be doing very well in general. On weekends Sbux still rules for me, since the only Peet's I'm aware of out in the boonies is the drive-thru in Brambleton (a former Caribou), which is out of the way for me.

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Peet's is one of America's great coffee brands. Founded in 1966, it pre-dates Starbucks and figured prominently in the Starbucks earliest days and the beginning of the premium coffee renaissance in this country.

While I don't think it "bad" and will occasionally grab a cup here as I will with Starbucks, to me it hasn't been the same since it sold itself (for nearly a billion dollars) in 2012 to the same holding company that also brings you products ranging from Jimmy Choo shoes and Einstein Bagels to Clearasil, Lysol and Easy-Off oven cleaner.

Just one person's view but truly great coffee, like truly great food, is almost impossible to do at very large scale by owners for whom the business amounts to a rounding error in competition with a broad range of other products. We have so many excellent independent coffee shops in DC now (with more on the way), it'll soon be possible to get great coffee in virtually any area around the city for those who favor it.

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