Absolutely love this place! I first came when Sophie Labelle was in town giving a presentation here…read moreand the shop is magical! I haven't made it back here in a while, but I follow their newsletter and they have such amazing resources for the queer community and allies. I'm so glad I stopped in today! The staff is super knowledgeable and helped me find exactly what I was looking for and they have even more than books...Such fun little trinkets, prints, cards, socks, stickers, and more!!

Love this little bookstore on Capitol Hill! They have a great selection, and I love stopping in to…read moresee their recommendations for queer authors' new books. They have both the expected (best sellers) and more indie, unexpected reads. I found the service to be friendly and helpful when searching for a book.

The city's only coop bookstore has a storefront along the Brookland Arts Walk. Walk inside to find…read morenew and used books organized well on bookshelves. All their books focus on important issues to help make the world a better place. I especially appreciated their city section. They also host events and book clubs!

Who new there was going to be a gift shop? And a cafeteria for that matter. Both in the lower…read morelevel. Great selection of religious gifts and postcards, of which we bought many. My favorite purchase was my Pope Leo socks.

After wandering in and hearing the owner telling a story to another women in the shop, he sat us…read moredown for 2 hours to talk about philosophy. He gave us tea and cookies and a free pen, and great recommendations for books. Although ramblely, his kindness was truly touching. He explained that he has the first Arabic book store in dc, and he is incredibly passionate about free will and the right to literature. The store felt magical and peaceful , and I will cherish the few hours I spent there

We found this bookstore after encountering the scarcity of Arabic books available online. Stepping…read moreinside feels like being transported to the Middle East. After discovering it was our first time in, the owner gleefully offered us a tour. His knowledge was outstanding, and he left no shelf unaddressed. I would guarantee that Al-Hikma has a book for any need one has of an Arabic book or any interest one has in the Arab world. There are books for learning Arabic (or for Arabs learning English), English books about Arab topics (pictured), Arabic books for every Arab country, beautiful religious books, specialized dictionaries, photo journal books, cook books, and much more. After more than an hour of our searching, the owner offered us tea and Arab sweets (probably not a guaranteed part of a visit, but we were lucky!). He distilled more knowledge to us before sending us on our way. We felt notably enriched for having stepped inside.

So Barnes & Noble has moved to Congressional Plaza which probably bumps my rating up at least half…read morea star alone (bad move Montrose Crossing!) But some of the shops here are still overpriced and honestly, for some reason, a portion of the clientele who shop here are (I hope unintentionally) rude ... from parking to not wearing masks to cutting in lines (social distancing accounts for gaps, folks!!!) Still, there are enough great shops here that it's a great place to visit.

3/19/21…read more Congressional Plaza,   A place I use to travel to for a hair straighten (aka a perm) or a haircut. I might then  walk over to the Tower Records and buy a movie soundtrack or a necklace.      These two places  were high on my list. There even use to be a movie theater here, but that went the way of the dodo. Speaking of going the way of the dodo, Tower Records also went that way too. The space for the old Tower Records has been taken up only to shutdown two times that I can remember.  Today I learned that Barns&Nobles has taken up residence there. Even though it is only one floor,  the space is huge.  Tower Records had some problems filling the space, but they did it with the jewelry section, the adult videos/magazines section and the standard magazine sections.   I think Barns&Nobles won't have a problem filling the space.  I know there is a Starbucks store at Congressional Plaza akready,  but I have a feeling another one might be added inside the Barns&Nobles store at some point...if there isn't one already. I will have to check out this plaza the next time I am in town. I wanna see the inside of this Barns&Nobles; as well, as other areas of the plaza.

The Wandering Shelf is a mobile bookstore, and you can find them at various farmers market and…read moreevent pop-ups around the area! We recently came across them at the Courthouse Plaza, and their selection of books was well-curated, and there were also other various gifts, plushes, stickers, caps, and bags that you could purchase! Such a cool store to peruse through their offerings; the owner is very friendly and helpful, too! They are really good in updating their socials for their next appearances, so be sure to check them out! +great selection of books +gift items available +locations around the DMV area

Wow! What a gem of a bookstore. We feel so blessed we ran into it while exploring Takoma Park. It…read morehas a super cute kids book nook, an excellent selection of books for all ages, and they were doing outreach programs for people to donate for teachers while we were there. The employees even helped me find some new recommendations for my son. It's a beautiful and inclusive spot.

Friends and I originally went for an incardi print, but ended up staying a while to browse and each…read moreof us ended buying additional items. I ended up getting 2 books, one of which an employee helped me find as it was something on my to-read list. Great vibes. Would love to return if I'm back in the area.

What a fun shop with excellent, friendly baristas and fine coffee plus more! I was looking for a…read morejolt of caffeine and was in the area. I couldn't actually find the place vis GPS because it's actually in a larger building. Being a clueless tourist, I called and Tess kindly gave me some directions... they are across from Ledo pizza! Parking is available in the back. When I came in, Tess greeted me and ended up showing me around the store! It features an amazing assortment of fun, locally made, crafty artsy items like magnets, cards, clothes and much more. It's really pretty large and quite fun to explore. I bought artsy, unique, colorful Maryland and DC fridge magnets because my fridge door is not quite full and we love the area. Lucy helped us on our second visit and was also gracious and welcoming. They have a large assortment of in-house made flavorings for lattes so my wife was very happy. My pure double espresso hit the spot and got me going! Life is great with a fun, unique, local coffee shop.

It's hard to know how many stars to give here. We came wanting to chat over coffee and a pastry,…read morebut that's not possible to do in this place. LIBRARY SILENCE REIGNS. Perhaps it was the time of day, a Sunday afternoon. Whatever, everybody was working diligently on their laptops and, not wanting to disturb, we left them to it. The pastries looked good, if expensive. The decor is pleasant enough. But in no way is it possible to have a social experience. Great for working though.