Baltimore-based Donna's at The St. Gregory Suites Hotel offers espresso drinks with house-roasted coffee beans. (LaJuan Payton/wp.com)

Photo Gallery of Washington Restaurants

Coffee comes in a few varieties in Washington, and we're talking more about venues than beans.

There's the fast-food type of coffee joint that you'll find in any American city, on almost every corner, including Au Bon Pain and Starbucks. Other big chain operators you might stumble upon include Brothers and Corner Bakery.

One step closer to the local ground is Xando Cosi, whose lounge-esque cafes are proliferating on the Eastern seaboard. Xando features a light menu (including S'mores on a hibachi), and at night, alcoholic beverages. It has locations in some of the city's most-happening neighborhoods.

And then there are the independently owned establishments, where coffee is a labor of love and ambiance a natural partner. In Adams-Morgan, you'll trip over Tryst, a neighborhood lounge in the purest sense, where 20-somethings smoke, sink into the couches, drink a joe or a brewskie and just watch the world go by.

Donna's, a popular coffee house and roastery based in Baltimore, expanded to downtown Washington in early 2000, in St. Gregory's Hotel. In addition to its bistro-style menu that features many Mediterranean options, Donna's serves premium espresso -- it's so sweet that sugar is not necessary.

Serious coffee drinkers, however, should head to Old Town Alexandria, home to Misha's. A disheveled long-hallway sort of annex with mix and match and tables (and smoking allowed), Misha's has the best coffee (roasted on the premises) in Washington. Stay awhile, listen to the jazz (straight ahead, no kid's stuff) and suck back a cup of Route 66. If you're smart, you'll buy a pound of beans to take home.

For tea only, there are a few interesting choices, from the tranquil surroundings of Chinese teahouse Ching Ching Cha to Asian-inspired Teaism, a hip cafeteria serving up not just leaf-based tea but tasty morsels (many of which are vegetarian). For more of a continental experience, try the high tea at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown. Served daily in the hotel's restaurant lounge at 3, tea service includes little sandwiches, scones and sweets galore. Nibble and sip at your leisure and get high from all the sugar. A most delightful way to pass the afternoon.

-- Kim O'Donnel