The Washington Flyer (you've seen it at National, right?) has a short piece on Washington's favorite places to eat. Four local spots made the list:
Capital City Diner (What a Deal! (dinner) AND The Most Important Meal of the Day: Breakfast)
Granville Moore's (Nice Mussels (steamed))
Taylor Gourmet (Sometimes, I Just Want a Great Sandwich...)
Dangerously Delicious Pies (Food Trucks)
13 comments:
To the owners of Smith Commons,
I had the pleasure of exploring all the excitement of your venue on two occasions. It was a dissapointment .The first night I went there for dinner only to find that there was a 1 1/2 hour wait. It would have been nice if the host would have suggested reservations when I called to enquire about hours of operations. None the less my dinner partners and I decided to check out the upstairs.The second floor had a sexy vine with the tastefully appointed furniture,exsposed brick and the back patio. This wonderful.experience was ruined by the hour wait for bar. I was a little discouraged at trying a second time. So I let my gaurds down and decided to be proactive.This pass Saturday I made reservations for a party of 7.
We arrived on time and were seated promptly...so far so good or so I thought. After drinks and appitizers our server can to inform us that three of the entrees that we ordered were sold out. My guess reorderd and all was happy. I decided to play it safe since my original entree wasn't happen,with a medium rare burger. Well my burger came back rare with blood on the bun.I wasn't upset because I want to support all venues in our neighborhood.However,the straw that broke the camels back was when my reorder of my came 10 minutes after my dinner party had finished there meals .When the bill came I was a little surprised that the burger wasn't comp. Where was the customer service ? Also the server received a 20% tip.
Signed,
5th street
Yelp is that way. -->
I don't understand the "Yelp is that way" remark. Most of the items on this blog are about local restaurants and bars so it's totally appropriate for a customer to relate his or her experience at one of these places.
It's possible to disagree with someone's opinion without disrespecting their right to express it.
Smith Commons is just not the place to go to for food. It's a "to be seen" place for the bridge and tunnel crowd. And that's fine, just don't expect otherwise.
Ah, okay: New place opens on H Street, is immediately inundated with an uncontrollable tsunami of gawkers. So far so good.
Now, local H Street resident decides to go there at dinner time on a *weekend* night and is shocked--shocked! I tell you--at the minor inconveniences one would expect when visiting a newly opened establishment that's getting hammered by thousands and thousands of patrons.
Whocouldaknew???
:)
I've been twice and haven't been impressed. Likely won't go back, but doesn't seem like they'll miss my patronage. Nevertheless, welcome to the neighborhood SC, best of luck to you, you LOOK fabulous!
Hi folks. I'm Miles, managing partner at Smith. 5th Street, I apologize that you had a less than perfect experience at Smith. It's unacceptable, and if you would be gracious enough to come in and talk to us, we'd love to try to make it things right. We're normal people and have experienced the same growing pains that any restaurant would. We are two months old. In those two months we've gone through a dozen cooks, a chef de cuisine, a dozen front house staffers, all because we are constantly working to provide the best experience to all of our patrons. In regards to the waits, we had no clue that we would have such a high number of people visit so soon after our opening. There is a barricade out front from the trolley work, the lot writes $250 tickets, and we are on a street with at least a dozen other dining establishments. Outside of asking people to get up, not to come in, or just turning people away, I'm not sure how we would can better address that. We shut down the reservation system well before we are at capacity to make sure that we have space for local walk-ins. We're all about the neighborhood. In our two months we've supported any and every neighborhood function that we've been asked to do. We've worked with the atlas, held events for the local government so that the entire atlas district receives better consideration during government deliberations, and have worked with local schools to help raise funds.
In regards to the bridge and tunnel crowd comment, we try to be as neighborly as possible to whoever comes in. That type of look and judge approach is not something we support and is probably why our ethnicity was the subject of cyber assail on this blog pre-opening. We want everyone to enjoy the space in their own way and will indeed miss the patronage of anyone who doesn't return. Everyone's opinion is valid. We are just not of the opinion that we should dictate who should be made to feel welcome and who shouldn't.
If there is anything that you or anyone you know would like us to address, just email, call or stop in to talk to us. We'll grab a beer, have a few laughs and work together to fix any and all concerns. Anonymous comments in the blogosphere only hurt the integrity of the blog and the community as a whole. It paints a bad picture of our neighborhood's inhabitants, and ultimately stoke fires of ill-will. It's reflective of the internet in general now, but I think the people who read FT are intelligent enough to really work to make the community stronger and it's businesses better. So few people read these things that it really only makes sense to fill the microcosm with positive energy. It's just food and drink, it should be fun. cheers. miles@smithcommonsdc.com
Hi Miles -
Thanks for your reply to the poster, some good info to know. I'm a local homeowner (late 30s) who stopped by SC in the opening week or so and was delighted by the vibe and decor of your place (I will reluctantly admit it, my Cap Lounge and basement of Politiki days are behind me and it's nice to have someplace a bit more age appropriate, yet "hip", on H Street to hang out). I was chuckling tho as I envisioned that some time in the next month(s) I'd probably be elbow-to-elbow on your great 2nd floor deck to enjoy a drink overlooking a DC alley and the AutoZone parking lot! How times change. Your second floor is already packed and the bar jammed, and I'm sure will only continue so once the nicer weather opens with the deck....I hope you'd consider adding some bartop tables to the front side of that room (even just for standing) so more of us can comfortably enjoy a beverage. I didn't eat that visit, but look forward to returning for a meal at some point. Welcome to the neighborhood, and thanks for investing in H Sreet!
Cheers. Stacey
I went there soon after opening expecting to eat at the upstairs bar. They werent doing food up there at the time. Bartender gave us some breadsticks and cheese. Nice gesture.
As far as the B&T crowd, it's not like Smith Commons is discriminating, some places just attract that crowd. Actually it seems like most places on H St attract that crowd now. Probably just a function of more people coming to the area to dip their toes into the hood. Then they come back a couple more times. Then they buy a house. Its going to happen happen more and more
Believe it or not, I still have friends in Capitol Hill who think H St is dangerous and won't come up here because they think they wont be able to get a cab back home. The treacherous walk is a non starter
We have been to SC two times for dinner and were very happy with the service and with the food. Also, impressed with the beer selection and had a few of the unusual and wonderful cocktails. We are delighted to have you here, delighted with your responsive post, and will be back again and again!
In those two months we've gone through a dozen cooks, a chef de cuisine, a dozen front house staffers ...
Sounds like a great place to work ...
@anon 4:20.
Every new resturany goes through staff the opening months. its common and expected to loss that many staff. Some times its staff who realize they can't make the time commitment they could when they first get hired. Other times its the staff just don't work out. It's no reflection on the resturant.
I've worked full or part time at resturants for years and have witnessed the staff turn over that occurs at new places.
Who are the "bridge and tunnel crowd"? (Really, I don't know.)
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