Nelsen's Hall Bitters Pub — Restaurant in Town of Washington

Nelson’s Hall - Home of the Bitters Club: Not Bittersweet, Just Bitter

If you're not from the area and aren't dining solo, I’d suggest finding somewhere else. Here's why.

The Positives: Let’s give credit where it’s due—the concept behind Nelson’s Hall, home to the Bitters Club, is unique and intriguing. The space has character, and the previous reviews give good incentive to visit.

The Rest: We were greeted (if you can call it that) by a man at the door, who asked if we were looking to eat. We confirmed and mentioned we were a party of nine. He told us, “No problem, move things where you need to.” Great, right?

Well, not so much. The table in the corner sat six, so we started to move an adjacent table to accommodate the group. Just as we began, a young blonde woman (whose name we never caught, because she never introduced herself) stopped us with a loud, “Woah, woah, woah!” She approached and told us, “You can’t move the tables, it’s policy,” in an unnecessarily rude and snarky tone. We explained that we were told we could move the tables, and after a brief back-and-forth between her and a coworker (who confirmed it was actually fine), she begrudgingly moved the table for us—this being the third time the table was moved in the process.

Finally, we all sat down and were ready to start ordering. The same waitress plopped the menus down and asked for drink orders. Everything seemed to be on track until we mentioned we’d need to split the check four ways. This is where things went downhill fast.

They don’t split checks for groups. Their solution? We could sit at separate tables to split the check, but not at the same table. Make that make sense. After the confusion with the tables and now the refusal to accommodate split checks (a pretty standard request these days), it was clear that this wasn’t going to work out.

So, we left.

I doubt the waitress will think much of it, but the owner might want to consider some staff training. The restaurant must be doing well enough to turn away what would’ve easily been a $300 tab. If that’s the case, well, good for them, but we certainly...

One Star Is too much. We (a group of 10) had the worse possible waitress I've EVER seen. She Refused to work with us on getting us seated more a meal. She said she couldn't move 2 tables together. I said that's fine, two tables with 5 would be fine. She then says she can't put 5 at a table! I pointed out a group of 5 at a table! And then I pointed out the Huge group (more than 10 people) with tables together. I pointed out two tables close together. She came up with: Well, there are only TWO chairs at that table, we can't put 5 there??? I even asked if we could sit outside on the two EMPTY tables. She told me they can't set e us out there because of ( The ever so popular now), we're understaffed. There were others outside eating already. I don't even know this lady's name, unfortunately. But she did everything in her power not to serve us! Well, I talked to another waitress, and she had a totally different attitude. She said sure, and started setting up the tables. Well, a couple of people in my group decided they didn't want to spend our money at a place that treated us so poorly. I ended up thanking the second waitress and telling her we decided not to eat there. Waitress #1, was laughing about the situation. That's when I really became FRUSTRATED. I may (possibly) have over reacted in the in the Restaurant. I asked (yelled) at the #1 waitress if she really thought this was funny? I told her she the the WORSE I've ever seen, and a few other things too. She laughed even more, and said have a good day. Thanks for the worse...

I have an extremely fond memory of this place from over a decade ago, when while sitting at the bar, I lit my face, hair, shirt, and hands on fire from incorrectly taking a flaming Dr. Pepper shot. Once I realized that I had set myself ablaze, I spat out the remainder of the shot, consequently producing an enormous fireball from my mouth, and for a moment, I looked like a dragon. It was an interesting tale to tell once I returned to work, as I had very obvious portions of the left side of my cheeks, chin, nose, nostrils, and fingers covered in large blisters and scabs for a couple weeks. Great times!

Also, their food is excellent, and the bartenders and servers are amicable. I will, once in a while, come in to order a whole custom pizza you can select from their menu options, which is usually pretty decent, and will typically have a few adult beverages while I wait for my food. If I recall correctly, prior to my complete inebriation and subsequent immolation due to poor decision-making, I had ordered and eaten some species of hamburger containing bacon, which I remember was extremely delicious and satisfying.

Thank you for the good booze, good food, good times, and awesome memories. So come one and come all and come check them out. Please drunk responsibly....