C&C — Restaurant in Maryland

I usually have a great experience here during the week for happy hour: friendly staff, fast service, good food and drinks but Friday night I had my first run in with C&C manager Tori WIlliams. I sat down and two bartenders took a look at my digital ID & said nothing about it. I was not sure if it was going be accepted. After about 10 minutes of no service the manager came over (Williams). She took a look at my Drivers License on my iPhone and decided that because the "License" part of the license was highlighted (since I searched for the term in my iPhone photos app) that it was not a real ID. I explained to her that that's a common mechanism used to find photos in a camera roll. I explained this to her not realizing how deeply unhinged she was and she began to interrogate me, asking why I had multiple IDs in my camera roll. I explained that I take care of my mother and thus I have her IDs as well as IDs from living and owning property in 2 states (MD & DC). I do not know why I expected her to understand this concept because she kept spiraling over me having multiple IDs in my phone after I already gave her an explanation. It was pure jealousy, incompetence, and corruption projecting from under those false eyelashes. She was so nasty that she abpruptly walked off before taking my order or expressing what the next course of action was since I couldn’t order a drink. She did not once tell me I couldn't sit at the bar though. The customer service was non-existent. So I moved on, ordered myself a Sprite, expressed my discontent to the man next to me at the bar and proceed to enjoy myself, laugh, take photos and videos at which point she brought her miserable energy back over to me and innocent bystanders at the bar. She had been in the general dining room on her laptop just watching me. The man next to me was attempting to stand up for me because I was clearly being bullied, she began to go back and forth with him as well, disseminating this narrative that I was some kind of scammer and have “multiple IDs in my phone”. I attempted to ignore her, drink my sprite, and took my phone out to take selfies because I came there to enjoy myself like I always do. My attempts to lighten the mood made her even more miserable and she called the HEAD OF SECURITY over to “check my ID” that she knew was digital and threaten to “take me out” since allegedly they don't accept those and I couldnt sit at the bar (I later received contradicting information form the “Officer” (man in a police vest outside). Security (Keleku?) kept asking to see my ID & I kept explaining to him that it was digital. She would not even allow him to do his job as she kept interjecting and trying to see what was in my phone as I pulled it up again. It was the most bizarre interaction I have ever had with professional staff in any establishment and totally fueled by what I assume is jealousy and personal misery. She began to condescendingly call me “babe” & he called me “sweetheart” as they were simultaneously threatening to get the police officer outside to again “take me out”. Their tones became very threatening and the term “take me out” was very ominous. Obviously I was not going to allow it to escalate to that point so I left, got my physical ID & came back. I of course was excited to show my ID & receive service. The Head of Security checked it, scanned it, and I thought I was good to go until he stopped me and said the manager wanted to “have a conversation with me”. I explained over & over to him why that was not a safe situation for me based on the behavior she displayed before. I knew it would result in being denied service. I waited for at least 5 minutes and she never even came outside because she’d have to swallow all her false pride & ridiculous accusations about my ID being fake. I don't know what's up with the manager here but if you are a life-filled young woman I would not go solo, it is not a safe nor welcoming environment...

Let me start by saying that I try really hard to find the positives of an experience, and give the benefit of the doubt, and it takes a lot for me to be upset with an experience. With that being said, I was VERY disappointed with Citizens & Culture and will not be going back. I was blown away by the seemingly completely untrained and unprofessional waitstaff at every level. I'm VERY upset that I spent $120 on this horrible experience. I was really excited to try this restaurant too.

Positives:

1. The place looks pretty cool.
2. Food is 3 out of 5 at best.

Negatives: Going to attempt to keep it brief, but there were just so many bad things.

1. Unfriendly, inattentive, unorganized waitstaff from the bartenders to hostess to waitresses.
2. Not greeted at all by either bartender in a completely empty bar when I sat down. My girlfriend showed up a few minutes later and was also not greeted in any sort of way or asked what drink she wanted. She waited too long to be acknowledged, so she didn't get a chance to order anything.
3. Worst Old Fashioned I've ever had. WAY too many bitters. Very tiny. Advertised at $9 for happy hour, but ended up costing almost $12 for some reason, not including tip. Advertise it for $12 if that's how much it actually costs. $12 for a cocktail is fine, if the bartender actually knows how to make one.
4. I had a reservation for a table. I was sitting at the bar and there wasn't anyone at the hostess stand so I asked one of the workers something along the lines of "I have a reservation for 5:15, who do I talk to to get my table?" and I was met with a blank stare and seemed like she didn't want to be bothered. She said she would go find out. I watched her walk to the back and talk to one of the cooks for a few seconds and then just stand around for a while while I waited to get my table. She didn't come back. No one came over let me know my table was ready or anything. (There were 2 occupied tables and 20-30 empty ones). I kept waiting and then gave up so I walked over to the empty hostess stand and waited there for too long for someone to notice me before I finally got a table.
5. Our waitress barely greeted us and was incredibly soft spoken and I literally didn't know she was talking to us a couple times while my girlfriend and I were in conversation. I'm 32. I don't have hearing issues.
6. They were out of multiple entrees and sides but we were not made aware of this until after I tried to order them. It's pretty standard procedure to let patrons know what isn't available so they don't spend time deciding what to order and then being told they don't have it, and then deciding on something else and then being told they don't have that either. I had to ask "okay, what else don't you have?" My girlfriend ordered her meal and chose a side and then minutes later the waitress came back to tell us that her side wasn't available and she had to pick a new one.

I hope I'm not forgetting anything. It was a horrible experience from start to finish. I was so confused at how a restaurant could be run so poorly. I've never had an...

Seems like everyone else has had a great experience here...

My friend and I were excited to try this place for the first time. The vibe seemed really great, but our entire experience was less than desirable. Right above our heads, there was a large screen TV playing ChiveTV with ads. Most of the content was cheap thrills and "Americas funniest videos" style clips. Very distracting and not the right vibe for the crowd or the decor.

Our server was nice and friendly however we had to ask for water which was dropped off at our table after our cocktails arrived. Our first round of drinks was good but when we were ready to order different drinks, we found out they had "run out" of three other cocktails on their menu. We settled for whatever was available and during the wait, our server dropped off a drink "on the house." I wasn't told what it was or why but my guess is that someone else didn't want it. It was very watered down both in terms of alcohol and whatever fruit flavor it was supposed to be. When our actual second round arrived they were decent.

For food - I ordered a half dozen oysters and between the two options offered they were out of the "Wellfleets". The beaver tail oysters I received were tiny and each one had shell fragments in it so I spent more time removing shell pieces for some of the smallest oysters I ever had. Not even worth the effort for the size/flavor.

For my main, I ordered the C&C Smash burger and my friend got the Sea bass. Sea bass was good but way too small. The fries with my burger were really well cooked, flavored and hot. I was initially pleased with the patty flavor and quality of my burger after the first two bites. Then I realized there was only patties and American cheese and tiny bit of special sauce.

I continued to eat the fries while I waited almost 10 mins for the server to come back and let her know I didnt have pickles or caramelized onions. She said they would fix it within 5 mins otherwise she would talk to the manager. After another 10 mins she stopped by and asked if it was fixed and I said no. Waited another 5-7 mins later she dropped off two tiny containers with 4 thinly cut pieces of pickles and some warmed up, thick pieces of not caramelized onions. After such a long wait, the American cheese had gone from runny to hard and trying to open the burger to add my new items tore the bun. I had lost my appetite by this point.

Prior to all this, it would have been nice if they had asked if I wanted to add bacon or request a different type of cheese.

About 15 mins later, a woman stopped by and asked about our experience. She didnt introduce herself or her role but I assumed she was the manager. When I complained about the burger experience and oyster shells, she was barely apologetic and said they just had grand opening last week so they are still trying to get things together. She didn't offer and form of compensation or a sincere apology and moved onto the next table to "check in"...