Can a place with subpar food and drinks exist if its setting is enticing enough? Apparently at Big Bear Cafe it can! So while the chocolate bear paw pastry I had was a 2/5... and the cafe au lait was a 1/5... and despite it being 11am on a Sunday 90% of the pastry offerings were gone... I guess I still enjoyed my time at Big Bear because they have some decent outdoor seating space? I ask this both sarcastically and seriously.In all seriousness, I really hope someone else takes over this space and tries to actually make quality food and drinks. I don't say that to be mean, it just is a waste of a really nice space otherwise and the other reviews back this up.
Really cute neighborhood cafe with some decent food and great drink options. I will say the breakfast sandwich left a little to be desired, felt fairly over priced. I've had much better local Bodega BEC in NY for half the cost, but perhaps that's not a fair comparison.
Such a gem! This place has great coffee and breakfast options, and their cocktails and pizza are fantastic. Staff is super friendly and helpful. Can’t wait to come back!
I worked with Big Bear Cafe to plan my child's first bday party in their upstairs event space. They got back to me quickly and were super responsive and helpful through the planning process.
This place used to be great--the food and coffee were always solid, and the service was wonderful earlier in the pandemic. We even got a free pizza one day when we were the only customers there.The food's still good, but the service has taken a nosedive. Now it's one of those places where you walk in and get ignored for a minute or two before anyone deigns to serve you.Their employees don't always wear masks, either.Oh, and they don't have WiFi. Seems like a nickel-and-dime move.The breakfast burrito's just too good to completely boycott the place, though. But if that slips, I'd say Big Bear's days are numbered.
I hate to say this because I really wanted to like this place, but their food is not great and their prices are way too expensive for what you get. A breakfast sandwich with just an english muffin, egg and cheese is over $9 (if you want to add any extras it ends up being over $11)—and when I ordered it, the english muffin was barely warmed, even though I asked for it to be double toasted, and it just wasn't good. I've been here several times and always been disappointed, the last time I got a bagel there and got the thinnest layer of cream cheese I have ever seen on it, and of course it was like $6 or something. I'm not usually one to write reviews, but Big Bear Cafe just charges so much, and I don't think it's worth it at all.
Great ambiance and location, but terrible service. I mostly have gone here for a drip coffee and/or coffee beans. I inexplicably wait an extremely long time for probably the simplest items you can purchase. The staff come across as rude, slow, and inept. Also the food here is not worth your time or money. Oddly, they had their act together a lot more during the pandemic but there's definitely been significant slippage in their service. Perhaps this place could become great under new management.
Dinging them 2 stars for only providing single-use plastic disposable cups and utensils and another star for the bland and basic “homemade” English muffin breakfast sandwich. Like so many cafes during the pandemic, Big Bear moved in a less sustainable direction which is sad to see and also unacceptable given how much we know about the affect of non-recyclable waste. Big Bear still does not permit dine-in on the bottom level, only outdoor seating and indoor seating upstairs (where the lone bathroom is), though they had blocked off all the seats outside in the sun the day we were there. Would recommend skipping this place in favor of more sustainable cafes until they improve their environmental practices as well as their food on offer.
This place is great. Really friendly staff and great coffee. You can really feel the neighborhood vibe of this place. I always leave here satisfied.
Great coffee, and solid bagels. Also the best breakfast burritos I have found in DC to date. They do get slammed in the mornings and on weekends though, so be prepared to wait!