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| dining room |
OVERALL: 5 Stars
Oh, the south! Being from Texas, this location reminded me a lot of home. But the similarities ended with the menu. Otherwise, the place was sophisticated and had plenty of DC history to support its claims.
Food Quality: 5 Stars -- Buffet's are fun because you can pick and choose from several different options. The first thing on the line was fried fish, chicken and greens. The meat was delicious, with just enough grease to make you feel a little guilty. Macaroni and cheese, sausages, gumbo, jambalaya followed suit. A salad bar was laid out, as well as an omelet and waffle station. The food was placed in random order; the breakfast food was the least accessible when going to the buffet, when I think you should start out with eggs and croissant.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 4 Stars -- Included in the meal price was champagne or mimosas. Halfway into the meal we challenged the waiter into mixing us some other types of champagne concoctions from a list of juices he had rattled off as we sat down. Pineapple, grapefruit, cranberry. Pineapple was my favorite. The grapefruit was a little bitter.
Service Quality/Refill time: 3 stars -- Our waiter's name was Beau. He certainly seemed to love his job. He could have been a little bit faster with the refills, but thats always limited by the bartender. As he realized we were there for the booze, he began to pick up the pace.
Atmosphere: 4 stars -- The historical location definitely impressed. Our waiter gave us a well practiced scenario of the Presidents who had passed through and why the space has been designed and decorated as it had. There was a live pianist, trying to class it up a little, but I think he could have practiced a bit more.
OVERALL: 3 Stars
Chef Tony's had a great groupon recently, which was perfect: $25 for 1 entree and bottomless mimosas. We had a friendly, well prepared meal at a 50% discount, with plenty of bubbly. The place was crowded and people were waiting out the door as we were leaving. They should spend some of their profit on new tables and decor though.
Food Quality: 3 Stars -- The standards were on the menu; French toast, something with crab in it, steak and eggs. I enjoyed the apppetizers that were priced under $10. Calamari, fried oysters, a greek hummus plate. There were just enough of lunch to give the salty taste you craved but not too heavy or pricy. I would suggest they find a better serving dish for the calamari. The paper lined raised basket made it hard to see into. I felt like i was fishing for the squid a second time. The entrees were yummy. The french toast was my favorite, with the unique caramel sauce on top.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 2 Stars -- They only served the classic here. No exotic juices. They mimosas were well made though with perfect proportions of OJ to bubbly.
Service Quality/Refill time: 3 stars -- I think out waiter was more interested in discussing the latest movies that were out, but he did his best focusing on our empty glasses after a while. We didn't have to wait more than 5-10 minuted before our drinks were filled. The food was also prepared in a timely fashion, though he forgot that eggs came with our french toast, as it was stated on the menu.
Atmosphere: 2 stars -- The owners must have skimped on decorators, because the paint job wasn't the best. Some walls had traditional appearing murals of potted plants. Others had more contemporary art work. The track lighting was not positioned appropriately so the pendants hung off to one side of the round or square tables. The tables themselves had rickety, plastic legs things covered with white paper drop cloths.
OVERALL: 1 Star
Only if every other place on your list is totally full, then go here. The food was tasty, and cost effective given that $35 got you unlimited food and drinks. We had a great time, of course, because we entertained ourselves trying to come up with good stories of where the wait staff was...
Food Quality: 3 Stars -- The best thing about the place was the eclectic menu. Grits, salmon omelet, thai burger. The name makes me think it was going to be latin food, and 20% of the menu had chorizo in it, which to our dismay the kitchen was out of. The Grits with cheesy melted bits mixed in were delicious and buttery. The skirt steak was also well seasoned and cooked to order, no"rare" piece of meat with a warm center. That steak was cold in the center, just like it should be.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 2 Stars -- Only 2 champagne cocktails in addition to the traditional mimosa, plus 2 types of bloody mary's and 1 lemonade cocktail. All were average, when we finally got a few on our table. But those ingredients too began to disappear. No more lychee to be found!
Service Quality/Refill time: 1 stars -- The wait staff kept forgetting which drink we ordered, but after the first 45 minutes we didn't care as long as we got anything to drink at all. I maybe got 4 glasses the whole hour and 45 minutes we were there? And the food came out in single plates, making the first round of "plates" very awkward as we all waited for our small amounts of food to arrive. It did, eventually.
Atmosphere: 1 stars -- The place was trying to be modern and industrial, with clean square lines and painted steel pipes for hand rails. The lighting was good, but they had crammed too many tables into inappropriate spaces. We actually moved tables a few minutes after we sat down because the first table we were placed at was literally right next to the front door. Come on! We had a reservation, and that's where you put us?
OVERALL: 3 Stars
Nage restaurant a is a charming sidebar to a hotel on Massachusetts ave, about a 10 minute walk from the Farraget north metro. I made reservations, but you could probably get in without them. Good service and tasty food and deep wine glasses of champagne cocktails were filling and came to about $30 per person.
Food Quality: 2 Stars -- There were several unique plates on the menu, making it difficult to choose: Lemon zest pancakes, kill-it-skillet with macaroni and cheese, smoked salmon cobb... Too bad they left something to be desired: like seasoning.The pecan waffles were perfectly crispy, but needed more cinnamon. Crab Benedict left just enough crab flavor, but the home style potatoes were bland and cold. The pork belly BLT sounded delicious but the best part of the plate was the thin crispy "truffle frites". The pork belly was too thick, making the fatty meat a little too greasy to stomach.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 4 Stars -- $15 provided you with bloody mary's or champagne cocktails in large, generous wine glasses. The champagne was a lovely, not too dry, and not overwhelmed by the juices. All fresh and apparently changed weekly for various combinations. Blueberry was delicious! lychee and pear were just sweet enough without being syrup-ee
Service Quality/Refill time: 4 stars -- We never had to call for refills. The waitress was quick to see when one of us was empty and offer the entire table new drinks, even when we had half of one left. The place was small, maybe only 20 tables, but the staff was older, experienced, and didn't hover.
Atmosphere: 3 stars -- Small and dimly lit, the place was casual but clean and stylish. It was quiet without too much background noise, so we could easily keep up a conversation in the comfy booths. There were smaller square tables set for two, but which could probably be moved together to make a long rectangular table if a larger group was needed to be accommodated.
OVERALL: 4 Stars
Urbana was true to its name. Urban and chic, hidden in the basement of the Polerno hotel, it would have been easy to walk right by the entrance if your face was stuck in your phone. You could come up with a total of 40,320 champagne concoctions with the 8 different fruits they had to mix with your bubbly. Food was tasty and cheaper than the booze!
Food Quality: 3 Stars -- tasty, but average. The burger was large and juicy, definately the most substantial thing on the menu. The eggs benedict would have been better with more than the sliver of ham they served it with, although the hollandaise had just the right amount of lemon to give it a light finish. Seafood omelet was my favorite. The french toast needed more cinnamon.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 5 Stars -- Serve yourself! A new bottle is plopped on our table as quickly as we emptied the last one. 8 puree's were available as mixers: the standard orange, followed by mango, peach, strawberry, blood orange, grapefruit, passion fruit, and cherry.
Service Quality/Refill time: 4 stars -- The refill time was awesome; because... of course it was your own two feet that took you tot he juice bar whenever you wanted it. Only once in a span of 5 bottles did we have to ask for more. we only waited 15 minutes between ordering and receiving our food.
Atmosphere: 4 stars -- The place had a modern loungy feel to it with booths upholstered in a teal that reminded be of Mad Men scenes. I did notice that we were there a little over 2 hours, and several tables had been empty for 'reservations' the entire time! We were snug around an open seating coffee table type situation while empty chairs enjoyed the luxury of elbow room. If the party doesn't show up in 20 minutes, open up the table man! Come on!
So this is actually week 5 of our brunch adventures, but the first that we decided to post on a blog.
OVERALL: 3 Stars
The Getaway was...let's say decent. Located a few blocks north of the Columbia Heights Metro it feels like it's deep in the heart of true DC. Come early though, parking is a beast. Prices were pretty fair, about $10-15 per fixed plate. I left feeling content, but not stuffed. Would definitely come back for dinner, food wear great.
Food Quality: 4 Stars -- the food was definetley the best part about this place. They have a great brunch menu with the standard egg based fare, salads, and tons of sandwiches. Most of the dishes games with a side of crispy tater tots. I wished that I was a bigger man and could down multiple plates. As the waiter kept bringing food for various tables it looked great. I had a large breakfast burrito with chicken sausage. It was very tasty with a great mix a mexican flavor. I really enjoyed every bite, but wished there was a little more...or at least a side dish that came with.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 3 Stars -- The Getaway offers three different types of champagne drinks with the Sunday Bottomless Champagne option for $15: mimosa, mango, and passion fruit. The drinks were pretty good, mostly champagne with just a splash of the juice. You could also get a bottomless bloody mary option.
Service Quality/Refill time: 2 stars -- Pretty slow on the refills, though the food came out pretty quick. Appeared to be understaffed on the lower level. Bar tender was the waiter as well. The upper level had more of restaurant layout, so they might be quicker on the pour up there.
Atmosphere: 2 stars -- Obviously a bar that the owners were using the serve brunch. Very dark, with minimalist approach to decor. Good music choices which were not played so loud that you couldn't talk over it. The tables were rickety as well, which sucks when you are trying to cut your french toast and the drinks are splashing everywhere.
OVERALL: 2 Star
We left with a disappointing buzz from the over juiced, over-iced pint glasses topped with a bit of champagne that they called mimosas. Though I would probably go back to this place to try it for lunch, since the food was good.
Food Quality: 4 Stars -- I wonder what the place is like for lunch. We enjoyed the waffles, burger, omelet, steak and eggs, and benedict. Good classic brunch food that was prepared quickly and hot. The portions are large. I highly suggest the sweet potato fries as an appetizer.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 1 Star -- Pints of champagne and OJ sound like a great idea; less frequent refills, more stable than a champagne flute. But when you fill the thing with ice, and OJ then add a little dry champagne, call it anything but a mimosa.
Service Quality/Refill time: 1 star -- there was 1 host, 1 waitstaff and a bartender. The bartender was obviously busy mixing the worst mimosas ever, while the female waitress appeared to be flirting with the bartender and the single, middle aged dudes sitting at the bar. This left the host who was dutifully glued to his podium, and our waiter who was running back and forth to our table trying to get our food and keep up with us as we sucked our watered down pints of OJ. The demand was high but supply was just not keeping up. After a while, it didn't have to. We left.
Atmosphere: 2 stars -- Non destinct American sports bar. I did like the table arrangements though. We had a large, tall table near the front bay window that had great seating for a larger group. Towards the back were plush semi-sircle booths with tall backs to create the illusion of privacy for the diners. A small front patio area was full of burnch goers.
