Bidwell Restaurant — Restaurant in Washington

Horrendously overpriced, terrible service, and atrocious management. I will not be returning here again.

I came here with my date the weekend of July the 12th, looking for a nice place to settle down and have a drink or two and dinner. He ordered the ceasar salad with chicken (which cost and extra $10) and I ordered the bidwell burger. We also ordered a starter of calamari. In addition, we ordered 2 lemonades, which ended up being $10 each. For $10, I was expecting something incredible. I was very disappointed as it tasted just like lime juice.

Our server, a 20-something year old who looked extremely out of it and mumbled the entire time, forgot to bring us our starter. He offered to bring it after he brought our entrees, and we declined. What's the point in bringing an appetizer AFTER the entree??

The burger I got was overcooked, served on sandwich bread which acted as a sponge for the grease. I could squeeze the grease and my date and I watched as it dribbled onto the plate into a puddle. It was completely inedible. At that point I had entirely lost my appetite due to the poor service, disgusting food, and genuine lack of care by management, cooks, and staff. My date asked for a box, which our server all but THREW down in the middle of his salad plate.

(My date also complained the chicken wasn't salted, and he would have had better luck going to costco for their chicken instead of paying an extra TEN DOLLARS for chicken on top of his flavorless salad.)

We told our waiter we'd like to leave, and instead of going to fetch us our check he sat and rolled silverware until we essentially had to wave at him from our table. He then tried to put a card surcharge on our bill despite the fact we paid with cash. Never once did the manager come over and apologize for the service or food. Rather, I could see her drinking at the bar the entire time.

Forty bucks out, we left with empty stomachs and sour tempers. I cannot recall the last time I had such an awful dining experience. Instead, we went around the corner to Puddin southern food and ordered po-boys, which were some of the best I ever had, and the servers were absolutely spectacular. They were completely shocked to hear the service we received at Bidwell.

This place is extremely overpriced for the subpar food they offer. I am beyond disgusted with the service we received. To whoever is reading this- you will spend well over $60 for food that is worse than other shops at Union market and are at least half the price. Do not spend your money here, it is completely worthless and you will walk away disappointed, hungry, and poor. I will never return to this restaurant even if...

Re: Ketchup and mustard: $0.75 surcharges for each - An Open Letter to the Bidwell Management. SMH

I wanted to share honest feedback about my recent visit to your restaurant, because it was, quite frankly, one of the most disappointing dining experiences I’ve had. No one from the restaurant has responded which demonstrates the level of unprofessionalism and disregard.

As someone who has waited tables, I know what decent service looks like — and unfortunately, that’s not what I experienced. Our server seemed very new, which I understand happens, but we had to ask multiple times for basic items like silverware and napkins. While he tried his best, the overall service was disorganized and far below what should be acceptable at a restaurant of your standing.

What truly left a bad taste in my mouth — no pun intended — was being charged $0.75 each for mustard and ketchup to go with a turkey burger. That’s $1.50 for standard condiments that are typically expected to come with a burger. It felt like blatant nickel-and-diming, and it honestly made me question whether I was being charged differently for some arbitrary or personal reason. This type of charging is in poor taste. To add to the frustration, the water was served in your swing-top bottles — which, in most restaurants, indicates cool or chilled water. Instead, it was warm and clearly straight from the tap. The server provided no alternative to the nasty DC water.

After finishing my burger (which was just okay), I still had two ramekins of barely used ketchup and mustard. And while I say this half-jokingly, the overall vibe was so petty that it wouldn’t surprise me if those condiments were reused and resold to someone else.

The entire experience felt cheap, frustrating, and like a complete waste of both time and money. I had hoped for better, and I won’t be returning — nor can I recommend Bidwell to others in good faith. I sincerely hope this feedback is taken seriously, because your customers deserve far better.

In these economic times, people are being even more intentional and selective about where they spend their money. Restaurants that take advantage of patrons through petty upcharges and subpar service will lose business. Word spreads fast, and customers will choose places that respect their time, money, and dignity.

I will not be coming back, but you should know this type of charging is in poor taste

Sincerely,

A...

Considering that this was a Michelin-rated restaurant, this was a really bad meal from start to finish. We will not be back. From the moment we walked in, the staff were rude and poorly trained. We arrived at 6:35 for a 6:30 reservation, and after checking in, the hostess said "We have been waiting for you." This could have been meant as welcoming, but the tone suggested that we were late and had inconvenienced her. It turns out that our table wasn't even ready so either way, it was not true that they had been awaiting us. From there, the food and drinks were really awful. The cocktail menu was a joke -- many were made with well liquors and contained ingredients like seven up (not exaggerating). The beer and wine lists were not much better. After looking at the food menu, which read more like a Chili's menu with excessive fried options, we opted to start with a couple oysters. It is pretty hard to mess up oysters, but the mignonette was made with malt vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, which seems like it may have been a mistake by a prep cook instead of an inventive twist. The waitress proceeded to let us know that they were "transitioning to their fall menu." Aside from a compulsory pumpkin soup, apparently fish & chips, fettuccine with shrimp and a patty melt constitute the fall menu. The service only got worse when our waitress rested another table's food on our table fully acknowledging, "I know this isn't y'alls food, but I just need to put it here for a minute, because my hands are full." When we got our food, and the waitress was finished using our table as a tray, it was a greasy thrown together mess. It did not appear to come from a restaurant that advertises its "responsibly sourced" ingredients or its vegetable garden on the roof. Numerous other details were off about this place. The kitchen is open to the dining room, but it features a dirty drop ceiling with fluorescent lights like a middle school cafeteria. Since the dining room light is provided by dim edison bulbs as is common and fine, there are additional lights above each booth. Unfortunately, nobody bothered to replace a burnt bulb above the booth right beside us so they were sitting in darkness. Really disappointing that the Michelin guide led us astray. Generously, this place seems best-suited for families with small children visiting Union Market looking for a quick lunch who are not opposed to a...