D.C.’s restaurant scene appears to have just about everything, ranging from free-range beef and specialty veggie burgers to cruelly prepared foie gras and cannibalistically raised chicken. Apart from the occasional IHOP or Denny’s, the city’s one overlooked attribute has been the dearth of 24-hour service in the area. Luckily, the creators of the Diner in Adams Morgan—one of the few non-chain restaurants of its kind—have provided a Columbia Heights-based sister restaurant that fills this terrible void.
The Coupe, which serves as a diner, bar, lounge, and coffee shop, promises to serve “early birds, night owls, and everyone in between.” While avoiding an explicit promise of quality, the establishment does not disappoint on its simple, unambitious mission: fulfilling late-night (or anytime) hunger cravings.
As an amalgamation of 24-hour food services under one roof, The Coupe sets high expectations for an appropriate atmosphere, one which suits an undoubtedly diverse clientele. A resulting orderly incongruity dominates the interior: assorted couches and seats surround a coffee table in the lounge area that blends into a fully-stocked bar showing the Redskins game on a flat-panel TV to the right of the entrance.
To the left, a classic diner materializes, featuring booths lining the windows, tables for two at the center backed into a low dividing wall, and countertop seating facing a second television set.
Brick columns supporting the wide windows, metal tile insets in the ceiling, and minimalist lighting fixtures, as well as white ceilings and beige walls, wrap the entire room in a bright, presentable package. Free WiFi and outlets at nearly every seat add functionality to the pleasant interior.
A central selling point of The Coupe is a built-in Tryst coffee shop, mirroring the 18th St. diner location. The menu outlines the origin of each brew, as well as the specific preparation process, neither of which is an empty marketing strategy; the beverages are truly well-crafted. La Golondrina, for instance, hails from Cauca, Colombia, and exudes potent aromas of chocolate and caramel with subtle hints of cherry and citrus.
Each cup arrives with a side of often decapitated animal crackers, à la that scene in The Godfather, with a camel instead of a horse. Such animal cracker cruelty, however, does not serve as an omen for the breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes offered all day long.
Traditional, predictable breakfast items such as eggs made-to-order served with sides of grits, hash browns, or sausage and bacon are certainly passable (though, really, how do you screw up bacon?). One pattern exhibited by the chef is a liberal use of garlic, particularly in the grits and hash browns. The resulting plates, if not inedible, are certainly unappetizing—a problem ameliorated by request or a hefty helping of ketchup and other condiments.
A substantial lunch and dinner menu, headlined by The Coupe Burger, awaits post-bar customers as well. The patty, which mercifully avoids garlic, is topped with firm, fresh mushrooms, crispy Tabasco-fried onion rings, and thin layers of cheddar, lettuce, and tomato. The thick, half-pound beef patty itself is juicy and rewardingly filling, but hardly deserving of excessive praise. In fact, none of the ingredients are particularly effective; even the Tabasco sauce fails to stand out in the mundane frying batter, unable to lift The Coupe Burger out of the ranks of ubiquitous similar meals clogging D.C.’s menus—and arteries.
Aside from boasting an exquisite coffee collection, The Coupe fails to impress in terms of culinary craftsmanship. The establishment’s real draw is nothing more than the 24-hour format and welcoming ambiance, which lends itself well to student all-nighters, an inevitable side-effect of midterm season. After all, a leather lounge chair and a steaming mug of Ethiopian coffee beats the cramped Lau stacks any day.
