Cafe Ama

Cafe Ama at 1101 30th Street NW is located in the Georgetown Waterfront building at the fifth-floor suite level, which gives the coffee shop a physical situation that most Georgetown cafes do not have: an elevated position with access to the views that the Potomac-adjacent building and the Georgetown waterfront provide. The Waterfront building at this address is part of the Georgetown Harbor development, and the cafe operates within the professional office complex that the building houses.

The coffee program covers the espresso standards, with the full range of espresso-based drinks from the simple shots through the milk-based formats that define the American specialty coffee menu. The light food offering, which typically includes the baked goods, sandwiches, and the salad and snack formats that a cafe in an office building context serves for the working lunch and the quick meal, provides the food component that a full-service cafe at this level of a professional building requires.

The waterfront position, which gives Cafe Ama access to the Georgetown Waterfront Park’s pedestrian traffic during the hours when the park generates foot movement from the residential neighborhoods and the recreational users of the C and O Canal towpath, supplements the office building’s internal customer base. The fifth-floor suite address is the practical location within the building complex; visitors arriving from the street need to navigate to the suite level.

The Georgetown waterfront development has supported coffee and cafe operations at this address as part of the mixed-use character that the Waterfront Park and the surrounding residential and commercial uses generate. The breakfast and lunch service windows at Cafe Ama address the morning and midday demand from the building’s professional tenants.

Hours run from 7am Monday through Friday and 8am Saturday, closing in the afternoon each day. The Georgetown waterfront development at the K Street and 30th Street intersection has evolved significantly since the original Georgetown Harbour development of the 1980s. The current building complex at 1101 30th Street houses professional office tenants in the upper floors, and the cafe at the fifth floor level serves this professional population alongside the visitors who arrive from the waterfront park access below. The Cafe Ama espresso program provides the working professional with the morning and afternoon coffee that sustains the office environment, and the light food menu addresses the breakfast and lunch needs without requiring the professional to leave the building complex. For a Georgetown-based professional who works in the building, the combination of the waterfront view and the competent coffee program makes the fifth-floor cafe a preferred alternative to the busier cafes on M Street. Hours run weekdays from 7am and Saturday from 8am. The building at 1101 30th Street is also known as Georgetown Park One, part of the Georgetown Harbour complex. The Potomac River and the Georgetown Waterfront Park visible from the upper-floor windows provide the morning view that makes the 7am arrival worthwhile for Georgetown’s professional tenants.