YELLOW Georgetown
Cafe · Georgetown
1524 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20007
Highlights
Pastries, wood-fired pita sandwiches, coffee, and Levantine flavors
Pastries, wood-fired pita sandwiches, coffee, and Levantine flavors
"Identified as Michael Rafidi’s Levantine cafe in Georgetown, mentioned as the chef’s other venture alongside the fine-dining wood-burning restaurant." - Eater Staff
"Michelin-rated Albi’s sibling Levantine cafe debuted standalone digs in Georgetown to go along with the Navy Yard original. French patisserie classics with Arabic flavors in morning sweets such as labneh croissants dusted in za’atar or an olive oil basbousa (Lebanese semolina cake). Owner Michael Rafidi also makes sfeeha (meat pies) for the morning crowd. Hours start at 8 a.m. A massive location debuted in Union Market district last year." - Tierney Plumb
"It’s hard to imagine having a bad day if it starts with an orange blossom croissant and a coconut cardamom iced coffee at Yellow. It’s easy to get lost in the café’s pastries, and you’ll want to eventually try them all (the date and labneh coffee cake and pistachio Palestinian olive oil cake, for starters) but don’t let their sweets make you overlook their savory options. The wood-fired pitas with lamb hummus and the BBQ harissa cauliflower pita will make you want to stay all day. If your plan is to settle in for a long haul, just know that the small space doesn’t allow laptops, so come with a good book or just enjoy your meal in peace." - madeline weinfield
"This former Navy Yard café was once next to its sister restaurant, Albi, but has since found new life in Georgetown and Union Market. We’re partial to the Georgetown location for its proximity to shopping and retail, and the plush couches provide a nice spot to people-watch or read a paperback from Politics and Prose. Both cafés have solid breakfast options that tend to sell out quickly, so the sooner you can scoot on in, the better. Our latest obsessions are the cardamom chocolate cruffin—that’s a combo we didn’t know we needed—and the super-stuffed BBQ cauliflower pita that’s so huge, you could probably save half of it for a snack later." - omnia saed, mekita rivas, tess shiras
"This Levantine cafe in Georgetown (also with a Union Market location) sells its hefty, wood-fired, za’atar-dusted pitas as a six-pack for $15 (one online menu also lists a 12-pack for $28, though I haven’t seen that offering in the shop). That certainly puts them in a higher-priced category than your typical supermarket offering, but to me, the price difference is worth it: with the mere addition of one of these pitas, I find that home-cooked meals like yogurt-marinated chicken thighs, Zahav’s chicken schnitzel, and gyro riffs automatically turn into something special. They’re also great for dipping in baba ganoush, hummus, or zhug, whether your purchasing allegiances lie with local offerings like Little Sesame or Cava, or even with Trader Joe’s. Bonus — the pitas (also on the menu at the Union Market location) seem to freeze perfectly well, so you don’t need to down six of them in a couple of days in order to make your purchase worth it (that said, no judgment if you do). A warning caveat — if you expect to be visiting the cafe during peak hours, it might be worth a phone call ahead of time. I stood in a 20-minute line out the door on a bustling day around lunchtime in the hopes of snagging some pitas to bring to a group house gathering over the weekend. I got to the register and was out of luck — they weren’t selling the packets that day, and in fact had instituted a three-pita limit per customer. A cafe representative confirmed to me that they sometimes limit sales on busy days in Georgetown, particularly if pizzas are occupying the oven, though so far haven’t had to in Union Market. This was admittedly my first time being confronted with a pita limit in my daily life, but I guess a place has to be doing something right to necessitate one. I of course still bought my three. Update (1/10/25): This story has been updated to include information from a cafe representative." - Missy Frederick
