Across the Pond — Restaurant in Washington

Such an awful experience...where to begin. As a black woman from Britain, I absolutely hate it when I go to a supposedly "English pub" and experience all the traditional american racially motivated stereotypes. I tried to attend the USA vs UK football match after paying a $30 fee two weeks ahead of time. After waiting outside for 10 minutes with my reservation email readily in hand and seeing a rather disorganized line, I decided to venture in with my six-person crew. I was yelled at by this huge older man, it was sooooo embarrassing. I explained to him that i have a reservation. He yells and says well you missed the timeframe. By this time, it's 1:30, I've been waiting outside for 10 minutes and nowhere on the reservation does it say that you have to be there by 1:20. This man looked us up and down and was having none of it. Absolutely dreadful experience. Now I have to try and get my $30 back. Also, it's icky and old on the inside so probably wasn't...

We arrived at 7.45pm and there were a couple of empty tables at the back of the bar. We were told to wait outside for 5 minutes for a table to be cleaned.

After 10 minutes our table was ready and we were called in. As we walked in with the waitress, we tried to order some drinks since happy hour was going to finish in 5 minutes. She refused to take our order that way and told us she would come to our table in 5 minutes. I asked whether we would get the happy hour prizes and she said only if the order was placed before 8 pm.

We sat in our table and, unsurprisingly, at exactly 8.01 pm, one of the waitresses came to take our order. This same had been chatting with another patron behind the l bar for a couple of minutes before she decided to come to our table (the place was not very busy as the owner mentions below).

At that point, it was obvious to us that they made us wait on purpose so that we missed the happy hour cut-off.

Not...

I saw this place was down the street from my hotel and it called to me. Oh boy, why did I answer. I got an order of fried pickles and the chicken fingers and fries. They were both battered in the same batter that tasted fishy, so it's safe to say that they probably batter their fish the same way. The pickles should have been thrown out way before I came to DC. They were wedges but were so dried out that it was basically fried pickle skin. The chicken was not seasoned and had a yellow tint to it. The highlight of my meal was the house cut fries. No complaints there seasoned perfectly and crunchy. Overall not a good way to end my trip in DC. If you are looking for something better there is a small Italian place that actually makes their own pasta right down the block. It is a much...