DC Comedy Loft and Bier Baron Tavern — Restaurant in Washington

We went to a comedy show here last night and while the headliner was 5 stars, the staff at this club are not.

As with any comedy club experience, the evening starts off with rules for the audience to follow to ensure a good experience for all.

1. no flash photography
2. no recording
3. keep any conversation brief and to a whisper
4. turn off or silence your phone and if you absolutely must take a call, step out into the hall/lobby

All of these are great and appreciated steps to make sure that the focus is on the comedian at the front of the room. Here’s the problem, many of the staff show very little understanding to these rules.

I should note that our bartender was great, quick to help, spoke quietly so as not to distract, and was really nice. But for the rest of the staff, it was like they were going out of their way to distract. At one point, the other bartender and two of the “managers” were loudly chatting across the back of the bar. Multiple people seated around us kept turning around to see what the commotion was and at one point, I stood up, walked to the back and asked if they could keep it down.

When I said that it was really hard to hear the headliner with them talking, one of the “managers” responded back “no, it isn’t.” Well…I disagree and when I said “no, it’s really hard to hear with you all talking” he responded with “we are managers - we have to talk about things.”

Let’s explore that…

The bartender started out by shouting “why did you leave earlier without telling me you were going?” Other employee (who I was later told was the GM) responded with “I wouldn’t do that” to which the bartender screamed “check the video, check the video” and that then led the GM to go over and hug the bartender before continued loud chatter. Yep…sure sounds like vital business discussion that couldn’t have happened at any other time, couldn’t have happened at a whisper, or couldn’t have happened in the hallway/lobby as they had advised their customers to do.

This issue wasn’t isolated and the back of the room was often a place for multiple staff members to join together and chit chat loudly throughout the evening.

Bottom line - professional staff at a professional comedy club, theatre, etc. can conduct business without taking away from the performance on stage. It’s...

Terrible, atrocious, appalling service. There may not be enough words to describe how bad our experience was here. When attempting to place a drink order we were repeatedly dismissed (once by the bartender and three times by separate servers), then eventually lied to as my card was falsely charged for a drink we never even received.

We attended a talk here last night as part of the Profs and Pints series. We arrived 20 minutes early with hopes of getting settled with a drink before the talk started. The place was packed, so my girlfriend went up to the bar to get a beer. The bartender wouldn't give her a beer and instead told her to return to her seat and a server would be by to take her order. A number of servers were around and we attempted to request the beer and three more times we were told that "our" server would eventually be by. The talk started and we still weren't able to place a drink order. It was 40 minutes after our arrival that a server came and took my partner's order along with my credit card. Fifteen minutes later, a different server returned my credit card and said our server will bring the beer. Well, that beer never came and the talk started to wrap up. As the server came by to collect the plates and empty glasses of others around us, I informed her that we never received the beer and I wanted assurance that I would not be charged. She apologized and said the card was not charged. This seemed to be confirmed as she returned with receipts for everyone in our section and did not give us one.

This morning I see that my card was indeed charged for the beer that we never received. Now, I am being further inconvenienced because the staff here is either lazy or deceitful and I am being forced to request a refund for service I was not provided. I can't describe how infuriating it is to go to a tavern and find it impossible to order a beer in spite of numerous attempts, then to be charged for the rude and terrible service which provided us with literally nothing but frustration and a...

Review for comedians: 5 stars

I'd like to preface this review by noting that the comedians who performed were incredibly hilarious. I was there to see Learnmore Jones (funniest man, truly) but I ended up following Chris Harvey so I can see him perform again!

Now, the rest of my review will focus on the subpar customer service and the frustrating setup of the performing area.

The thing that really left a sour taste in my mouth was that I had planned to go to this show for a long time and bought tickets at some point. The day of the performance, I didn't see a confirmation email/proof of purchase in my inbox, so I bought another 2 tickets just in case I forgot to buy them previously, thinking it would be simple to get a refund if I did in fact buy the original 2 tickets. When we got there, the frontman asked if we were a party of 4. I explained that I couldn't find proof of purchase so I bought another 2 just in case. He then said he would just take the extra 2 tickets to give to someone else???, did not offer me a refund, and then motioned us inside. I am disappointed that a business would default to essentially stealing tickets when it is clear that we were only 2 people. A refund should have been offered immediately. I've never been treated like this at other the other incredible comedy bars/venues in DC.

We got there early but still sat directly in front of the bar, which is quite far from the performer, which made it difficult to hear at times, what with the servers blocking the view constantly and talking loudly about food/drinks. The audience volume level got unacceptably high several times, especially one person in particular who was obnoxious, and who eventually left of their own accord. It doesn't seem they take volume levels and audience interruptions seriously here.

There are better places for comedy in DC. I really can't recommend this one at all. It's just too noisy and the servers get in the way of the experience, due...