I first heard of Baked & Wired when I went to my job interview in Georgetown last year. The manager where I interviewed gave me a coupon for a free coffee. I still have that coupon to this day. Since then, I've frequented the coffee/espresso/tea bar many times, often early in the morning when I needed a caffeine boost.
Baked & Wired is located on Jefferson, by the C&O Canal, and you can easily overlook it, if not for the bright yellow painted framework. It's connected to a copy/graphics place called Zap. For the most part, this is a pay-and-go coffee shop. In the Zap portion of the building, there's a table that seats about 3-5 people. Sometimes there's someone using their laptop, sipping their cup of joe, utilizing the free wireless. In the B&W portion, there's enough seating for maybe two people. So not a place for a mass gathering. However, if you're looking for a cup of coffee and you don't want Starbucks, this is what you're looking for.
Now, I don't drink coffee much anymore, so I'll review the teas. My favorite is probably the chai, which is great hot or iced. A lot of places don't get chai right, but this place does (although my favorite chai is at Teaism). My experience with the tea varies. Most people think that tea prep is just adding boiling water to a tea bag and letting it steep. However, you have various temperatures that are suited to different types of tea. For example, the water temperature for green tea is about 175 degrees, whereas a black tea, it's 195 degrees.
A lot of times, I order the tea and I'm handed a cup of boiling hot water and a tea bag. It is so hot that I can feel it through two cups, a cardboard sleeve, and need about 3 napkins wrapped around the cup so I don't feel like I'm going to scald myself. Once in a while I get a person who heats the water just right, but it's not often. The tea itself, however, is great. My favorite is the Colonile, a Vietnamese black tea with French vanilla. Mango Ceylon is also another favorite. Hm, looking at the website, they also have Lili’uokalani, which OpenTable/Tryst carries, so maybe they buy from the same supplier.
Baked & Wired also has baked goods, of course. These tend to range in price from $2-5, and are comparable to area bakeries. I have tried a few and they are tasty. I like the cofffee cake and muffins. They even have doggie treats and pies baked from scratch.
They also carry quiche, pasta, wraps, and salad. The pasta salad is the most cheapest entree (it tasted strange when I tried it), but the wraps are extremely overpriced at ~$10. They have a hummus filling with veggies and chicken with cherry tomatoes. I've tried them a handful of times and they taste mushy and bland. These are made ahead of time and sit on the counter until someone buys them. In my opinion, wraps taste best when they are made to order, but the counter space at this establishment is very small, so I can understand why they make them ahead of time.
At the same price, you'll also find entree salads. I like the mandarin chicken salad. The dressing is tangy and sweet but again, price is a factor. You can get a salad at Uno's, Tu-o-Tu, or Marvelous Market for less money.
Staff here are very friendly and are accommodating to the lactose intolerant. I am not sure if they charge extra for soy, but I've never paid extra for soy milk, which is a plus in my book. Be aware that $15 is the minimum for credit cards. They also have debit cards for frequent buyers.
If you're in need for a nice place for drinks and baked goods, Baked & Wired might be just what the doctor ordered.
more