Cotton & Reed — Restaurant in Washington

Cotton&Reed has been a pleasant experience up until last night. My good girlfriend and I went to have drinks and received good service in the beginning. When we were ready to close the tab, I handed the bartender(Reesie) my card…&she stated to me to see if there was a lock on my card because it said “declined” but it was a lot of emphasis on her words.

I was very surprised just as anyone would be that knew money was in their account but I checked it anyway and confirmed that there was no lock and funds available to pay for our $30 drinks. My card had read “declined” again so when she handed it back to me she says “It’s declined, I mean I was trying to be nice about it” and then followed up with nasty facial expressions….and again, her tone was disgusting. I don’t understand how you can be nice about anything when your demeanor and tone is unpleasant.

My friend ended up paying and we went to move our car so that we can get a closer spot due to wanting another drink. We went back to have one more drink and was serviced by the bar manager(Britt) which was a decent experience. Once we were done, we left and realized that Reesie(the first bartender) came behind us asking “is there a problem, I’m off the clock” as if she wanted fight, my friend and I exchanged words with her but it did not get anywhere which led us to go back into the bar and asked to speak with Britt.

Britt came out and listened to our concerns but was not accepting to them AT ALL. She stated that she did not experience any unprofessionalism from her staff after she allowed her staff to leave from behind the bar in the middle of her work shift and serving customers to pretty much adult previous paying customers! She told my friend and I “well I’m sorry you feel that way”. This experience was very tasteless, rude, nasty, unprofessional, unpleasant, and disrespectful. We will never spend our money here again and I hope that this review gets to the top since it could not be properly...

I did a birthday party here with a 1,000 dollar spend (pre-tax and tip) and a 200-dollar reservation fee. It was for a birthday party and the contract specified that there should be no “open fire.” My friends brought a cake and a few candles that they lit to sing Happy Birthday, and the candles were extinguished quickly thereafter after the singing concluded. Granted, the contract did say no open fire (must one really forward the terms and conditions of a party to their invitees?!? “Hey, I’m having a bday party, please don’t bring a cake and candles, cheers!!”); however, the manager, or whoever was in charge that night that chastised us, said and did nothing to the other birthday group who had candles lit literally 10 minutes after she chastised and threatened us with a “fine.” Why was it OK (under the same form contract that I and the other group signed) for the other group (mostly white people) to have “open fire” i.e. birthday candles, but we (BIPOCs) have to be threatened with a “fine” for doing exactly the same thing? We understand that contracts are contracts, but if they are enforced capriciously and inconsistently, how is that fair? Why is the manager so intent in “fining” us when she said and did nothing about the other group? Her actions might not be intentional, but they reflect her biases. So if you want to celebrate any milestone in your life without being discriminated against, spare yourself and don’t go here. I would not have tipped them anything, much less the customary 20%, but it’s already included in your bill. Maybe that’s why they are so bold and indiscriminate in treating their customers like nobodies (because they’ll be paid anyway). I will be reporting them to the DC AG’s Office for investigation. If you have a similar experience in this establishment, I urge to do...

We hosted a private party here in March for the ten-year anniversary of my nonprofit and were initially excited to support a local business- especially since it’s the first rum distillery in the District (and I love rum).

Unfortunately, the experience fell short, and I would not recommend hosting a gathering here under the current management.

The main issue was the service. From the start, staff interactions were unusually curt and, at times, hostile. Within the first ten minutes of set-up, we were yelled at about decorations that did not meet the venue’s specifications. Makes sense, our bad, not a problem at all, but the delivery was belittling and this set a really negative tone for our team and the event. The pattern then continued throughout the evening, where service felt dismissive and at moments mean-spirited.

Moreover, the event was a big moment for our newly hired team member, who handled the planning with great care, and it was discouraging to see her spoken to in a manner that left her feeling demeaned rather than supported.

We invested close to $5,000 for the three-hour gathering and expected at least professional courtesy in return. Instead, our group and team members left feeling unwelcome.

I had to on several occasions reassure the team that, not to worry, they’d done a great job (they had), and that whatever negativity was reverberating from the staff at the distillery wasn’t under their control or their fault.

I would have considered a lower rating if not for the fact that this is a small business. That said, I cannot recommend it for events unless management takes significant steps to improve...