CIRCA at Navy Yard — Restaurant in Washington

I do not think I have ever posted a negative review, but felt necessary after my dinner experience last night. My boyfriend and I went to Circa after a long day of work to celebrate thanksgiving early. I live in Navy Yard. I have been to Circa a few times and had nothing but positive experiences. However, after last night I will never be back. During our meal, the manager came up to our table and said she overheard we said something "inappropriate" about a member of their staff. She had a very accusatory tone and angry body language. I have worked as a waitress and my family owns a business in the food service business. I have never felt more uncomfortable at a restaurant. Not only did I think this way of handling the situation was so unprofessional, I think there was a much better way to address something like this. After this instance, we wanted to leave the restaurant immediately as we felt very unwelcomed, but we had already put our food order in and I did not want our waitress, who was nothing but kind, to face the repercussions of her manager's behavior. I am in my mid-20s and am wondering if the manager was just discriminating based on our age. At the end of the night, my boyfriend politely did tell the manager that she ruined our night and really thanksgiving. She seemed confused, how not thinking this incident would ruin our meal - I am not sure? I might be traditional but I think the most important thing a manager should keep in mind is customer-service and customer- experience. In what universe coming up to a table and accusing customers of making inappropriate comments is considered good customer service? Anyone who knows me knows I would never say a bad thing about anyone. I am a very kind person and value respect more than anything. I also did not appreciate the manager clearly ease dropping in our on conversation-- even if she misread what we were saying. Finally, I am not saying at the end of the night we should have received a free meal or free drink at our next visit but I did expect her to make some sort of an effort to make up for experience instead of just looking frazzled. As a Navy Yard resident, I would encourage you to go to Bluejacket, Chloe, etc. or another restaurant that seems to value customer experience much...

Ok, so before I start let me say the food was phenomenal. The manager and the food are the reason for the stars.

We went for my uncle's birthday and there were 10 adults and 1 child. We had a waitress. She asked if we'd like to order drinks. We did. They got appetizers after a while because the birthday boy was running late. I ordered a plate of carrots, of which 3 came on the plate.

In the midst of everything, the waitress didn't come back nor did she tell us she'd be leavibg for the day. We get a new waitress. She introduces herself, tells us the other waitress is leaving and proceeds to ask us if we'd like to order entrees.

We say yes, and when my husband said french toast, she told us brunch was over!! WHOAAAA!! What?!?!?!? She said they put the brunch ingredients up and he would've had to place his order 7-8 minutes earlier in order for them to make it.

Like I siad before our other waitress said none of this to us. We had no clue about this rule. The proper thing for her to do was say "hey I'm leaving if you'd like anything from the brunch menu; I'd need to put it in now". She said NOTHING!

Theonly bright side, I aksed for the manager and when he arrived, I explained. He allowed my husband to get the brunch items.

After we placed our order, we sat, tallked, laughed anjoyed beiing with our family. We needed more silverware and when we looked up to find someone to ask, there was our original waitress. We were all so shocked. She was the one who brought of the new forks, so we inquired about her leaving. She said "I am soon. I'm still here for now". Weird, but ok.

As time passed on, we finished up our food and asked about the checks. When we recieved them, they were wrong. I left out the part where the new waitress kept coming back to our table to aske what we ordered before she had gotten there because she was unsure of the order in the computer (the old server was still there).

Needlss to say, they fixed the checks and when we left the old server was still there. That's didn't sit well with any of us, but ok!

The food was good, but we...

Stopped by with the kids for dinner. For apps we had the Chicken wings and shotgun shrimp. The wings are flavorful served with house made blue cheese. For entrees the kids had jambalaya meals, fried chicken sandwich, and the Thai salad for myself. Everything came out perfect [ fries were a little crispy]. Decided to go back the next day and grab some food to-go. I had the Brussel sprouts, the wings(again) and a burger. The Brussel sprouts were really good, the burger was, ehh. Will return for the short rib entree again.

MAJOR UPDATE: Wow, where should I start. 11-27-2022 my girlfriend and I went to the location in Clarendon and service the was HORRIBLE. We sat for about 5mins without being greeted or given any water. After a few minutes the waiter drops off water and says he’ll be back, doesn’t make eye contact with us, introduced himself, or say anything welcoming. Several minutes later a you lady comes and take our order (starters/apps). After nearly 15mins the waiter finally comes back to take drink orders. Appetizers arrived, waiter never came to check if things were good. Let’s just say I’m going to stop there, I can go on and on about horrible the service was, But as always the food was good. So good, I decided to grab dinner at the navy yard location the very next night a few minutes away from where I stay. SMH Boy Ol’ boy the service was just as HORRIBLE I took a seat at the bar, was given a subpar hello, some water and a menu. Sat for about 10-12mins before a different gentleman came to take my order. Another 10-15mins passed before I’m finally able to get my order in. And I was only ordering TO-GO 🤷🏽‍♂️. Only prompt service I was given is when I asked for the check 😂 that literally came within 45 seconds BOTH NIGHTS..Again let’s just say I’ll stop there I can go on and on. Sad part about this all, not to long ago I gave them a 4...