Buzz Bakeshop and Battleship

On rainy days, especially those of early January, a coffee shop is a welcome sanctuary. The Buzz Bakeshop on Slaters Lane in Alexandria turned out to be a quiet, cozy spot with surprisingly great coffee.

The perky Buzz logo made it easy to find from the roadway, on the corner of a small shopping center a couple of blocks off the George Washington Parkway and Route 1.

The freshness and display appeal of the many baked goods and savory items they offer made deciding on a late breakfast difficult. My boyfriend and I each chose a piece of their quiche Lorraine, and I added a chocolate chip cookie—my requisite accompaniment to coffee.

While my boyfriend sampled a Cortado, I chose the drip coffee they had brewed that day. It was flavorful and strong, the perfect complement to the cookie and a game of Battleship—the bakery keeps a shelf of travel-sized board games by the counter. Who doesn’t love games that remind them of being eight years old? 

The day we were there, several people were camped out with their laptops at the small tables and at the window-front bar, and a group of ladies was meeting at one end of the communal table, but it still wasn’t so dense with customers that we were unable to find a place to sit.

It was peaceful, yet not so quiet that you were afraid to speak above a whisper. I am not a fan of coffee shops jammed with so many laptop users that no one can actually find a chair, so I was happy.

A children’s area presented several colorful toys, including a pretend stove, possibly for baking imaginary quiche Lorraines. Depending on your taste, the large conglomeration of china plates on the wall is either creative or strange, but as they say in the theater world, “it’s a choice.”

Coffee: ★★★★ Unusually flavorful house-brewed coffee.

Food: ★★★★ Freshly baked, tasty, and there was quite a variety available.

Ambience: ★★★ One part industrial chic, one part cozy.

Service: ★★★ Staff were friendly and put up with my boyfriend’s bad jokes.