Sunday, March 23, 2008
XII Now Open
XII, a restaurant and lounge which is located in the 1100 block of H Street [near 12th and H], had its very soft opening on Friday night. They didn't have their liquor license. I don't know if they will have it by Monday, but they are serving food, and this is a good chance to check out the space. They will eventually have a rooftop deck and there is talk of sidewalk dining in the future. I have an outside photo, but flickr is being difficult so I can't post it right now. XII is owned and operated by Bernard Gibson. It's downstairs space replaces Cluck-U-Chicken, which Mr. Gibson also owned and operated. I have yet to see the space [except for peeking at the downstairs through cracks in the paper], but I have heard good reports and I look forward to checking it out.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Hey, I'm reposting this bk it is on topic and I didn't have the XII thread up yet-
Anonymous Chris Metzler said...
There's no thread for it, so I'm just going to post this here -- Inked, I hope that's OK.
My gf and I stopped in Friday night at the soft opening for XII and had dinner. Our experience was generally positive, but there are definitely some things that need work too (unsurprising, given that it was a soft opening).
The menu was decent: mostly comfort food-ish dishes, nothing too ambitious, which is fine. Better to execute the basics well. Prices were reasonable. We started with fried mushroom caps which were decent -- nothing special about their seasoning, but very lightly breaded and not oily. I had meatloaf and she had a spicy fettuccine alfredo, and both were good. My mashed potatoes had an odd edge to their taste which matched an odd taste I sensed in the water in my water glass. I should note, though, that my gf didn't taste that odd taste in the water at all; she even checked mine and said she didn't taste it. I'd say it was just me except she did taste the funniness to the mashed potatoes. It wasn't unpleasant, it didn't make the potatoes inedible or bad or anything -- it was just odd. $33 for the whole thing.
Service was slow, and sometimes inattentive (my gf's water glass sat empty for a while, even after some visits from the waitress), but very very friendly -- we liked our waitress anyway. I'm sure this will improve with time.
The food presentation was simple but nice, and the decor was pretty nice. However, there's one setting issue which is, IMHO, glaringly bad -- literally. The downstairs restaurant area was very brightly lit; and if the lights are on dimmers, they weren't used. The result was that the downstairs had the ambience of a cafeteria. Seriously, it was way way way too bright for a restaurant. Also, the music was of miscellaneous covers (couldn't tell by who) of R&B/funk/go-go/uptempo blues classics, turned up fairly loud. I happen to love that music (well, the originals anyway) -- it's the vast majority of what I own and listen to. But I thought it was a little uptempo and loud for a restaurant setting. That plus the lights gave the place more of a diner sort of feel, which I don't think is what they're shooting for.
(Oh, and I just remembered -- the menu needs a little tweaking in that it's full of misspellings. Some are glaring.)
After eating, we went and looked upstairs, where Bernard wants to have live music. It's done very nicely and is really pretty, but it's a really big space.
Overall, it was a positive experience. I'm sure we'll be back at some point, but I really wish they'd do something about the lights at least.
Mar 23, 2008 11:50:00 AM
Too bad that they don't have the check cashing space too. The gates and ugly check cashing sign distract from a really handsome exterior. In any case, this is a huge improvement on that corner.
PEEK, not peak.
glance vs summit
Yes, I peeked through. Nothing peaked at the entrance. Typo.
Amen about the lighting. We drove by Friday and considered going in but the harsh glare emitting from the windows drove me away (and to the pleasantly dark Argonaut). Please, please, turn them down!
I miss Cluck-U
The most glaring misspelling: Capital Hill. Aaarrgh, he should at least know how to spell the neighborhood (and whether it's actually part of Capitol Hill is another question).
Everyone will be pleased to know that later in the evening, the light did get turned down. It was really quite glaring to start off with.
The upstairs space is beautiful. It might be a while before all that space gets filled, but they way they have the tables spread out now takes up a lot of room, but could be compressed as more people come in the future. The panoramic windows will be very welcome on future nights at XII.
There are indeed some glitches that need to be worked out as with any new business. As the business flourishes and feedback from the consumers filter in, the minor things will fade away in no time. I am happy that Twelve has joined the neighborhood. I can't wait to see what will be offered once the lounge is fully operational. It is a really nice establishment and I highly encourage everyone to go in and ACTUALLY view the place instead of looking through the windows. Otherwise, how do you know what it really looks like? I am really impressed with the color scheme, theme, and overall look of the place. Very surprised indeed...take a step inside and view for yourself. They will gladly have someone take you on a tour.
It was a very soft opening on Friday and at some point I am sure they thought no one would even enter the establishment. I had the honor of being a consumer there but we came in when the rush came in. No one is really prepared for that. You expect the waitress to forget a thing or two...it happens. Somethings don't go as we all expect but you can't please everyone and I am sure if they had everything exactly like we all would want it, someone will find something to complain about. That's business. I felt the service was awesome considering it was a very soft opening. A bit slow at times yes, but you do have to understand many people came at one time. I remember people having to be seated upstairs because all the tables in the restaurant portion were actually full. There was one waitress in particular running back and forth downstairs and upstairs, but she seemed to have things under control to the best of her ability. Continue to provide them useful feedback so they can know what we as consumers want. It's just the beginning. I second what the previous person said, go in and see for yourself and only then can you decide. I had a great time!
XII, like other locations along H Street NE are a part of Near Northeast also known as Capitol Hill North and Old City . Of course, the Capitol Hill boundaries are always moving. It has definately extended since I first moved to DC in 1993. Once H Street, NE appears more like 8th Street SE (we are all crossing our fingers)it's Capitol Hill status will not be disputed. That is how Capitol Hill works. There was a time no one considered all blocks of Maryland Avenue (below 14th street) a part of Captiol Hill. However, as things changed that notion changed.
XII is a welcome addition. I attended the soft opening and had a good experience. I look forward to returning.
-Sasha
With regard to "what is Capitol Hill," I mainly was thinking that I like the name "Atlas District." Capitol Hill is a pretty big neighborhood (the biggest in the city I think) and Atlas District pinpoints where we are in relation to Capitol Hill, kind of like Barracks Row.
Post a Comment