Present Company Public House — Restaurant in Washington

My partner and I went to opening night at Present Company Public House last night (Friday August 9th, 2019), and we enjoyed our food, drinks, and the employees we interacted with immensely! We shared the Nashville Hot Chicken Wings and the Steamed Bao Buns, and my partner had the Roseda Farms Steak Frites, a Peak IPA, a martini, and a cocktail called, "El Amor Prohibido," which I deeply hope is an Arrested Development reference.

The wings were fantastic, and probably my favorite dish of the night. We got seven in our order, which came with awesome dill ranch dipping sauce and shaved celery. We both loved them. They aren't too saucy, and they're just spicy enough. Seven is an awkward number to share, but I prefer that over getting six wings!

For our pair of Steamed Bao Buns, we tried one of each variety: bacon jam and BBQ jackfruit. Those were both delicious, and we were both very taken by the BBQ jackfruit. It becomes easier to forget about meat when substitutes are pulled off like that. No disrespect to the excellent bacon jam variety though!

We sat at a table where we got to see a lot of food pass by us, which was mostly torturous, because everything that came out of the kitchen looked great. I definitely plan to try the burger, the Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich, the Lobster Half-Smoke Pups, and a number of other things I couldn't identify or can't remember.

My partner enjoyed both of her cocktails, but especially the El Amor Prohibido, and she was thrilled that there is another bar that serves Peak IPA. The steak was a great cut, and was perfectly medium rare, as it was ordered. I didn't get to try it, but I'm told it hit the spot fantastically. I did manage to steal a few of the accompanying tater tots, which I'd be happy to order an entire basket of if it becomes a side dish offering.

Our server, Hugh, was very nice, patient, and accommodating, despite how busy they were opening night. On the subject of opening night: you really would not have known it was their first night, based on how well everyone was operating, and how fast we received our food and drinks. Our water was constantly refilled, and it was surprisingly not as loud as I've come to expect from bars, which is a major major plus for me. The high ceilings must help with that...?

Excited to see how they settle in, and definitely looking forward to checking out the second level...

The atmosphere and décor is very nice. They have seating both indoor and outdoor.

I would be giving the food a very generous rating if I were to say it was subpar. I ordered the 'Guinness Milk Stout Soft Pretzels', the 'Italian Sandwich' and the 'Burnt Ends'.

The pretzels arrived cold, and had a stale texture which would make me think they were made for another table a few hours ago and repurposed for my order, which didn't make any sense based on the amount of time I spent waiting.

The Italian Sandwich had the appearance, and taste, as though they were low on ingredients. All of the meat/vegetables/sauce on the sandwich was placed in the center, and there was a 1/2 inch of just bread around the edge of the sandwich. Despite being stacked, the filling was very 'thin'. I would estimate a 80% bread to 20% filling ratio.

The Burnt Ends only come with 6 pieces, each somewhere between the size of a game die, and 1/2 an ice cube. They held together very well, which is not something you'd expect from a burnt end, and not desired.

One of the people at my table ordered the 'Dry aged Skirt Steak Tacos' and had discussed with waiter what was in the sauce, and if they could have extra. They ended up receiving no sauce at all, and three sad looking tacos which I would have assumed were 50 cents a pop, not $11 total.

The service was also somewhat lacking. My experience with the server showed unfamiliarity with the beer offerings, forgotten food orders, and lack of checking in. I never received a food item in the end, and when I asked if it was still coming I was informed the kitchen was now closed (despite ordering it ~45 minutes prior...

Every month my company project will select a location for our monthly happy hour and I was beyond happy with our decision to have our event at this location. The event coordinator, Lauren, was phenomenal at communicating throughout the entire reservation process and provided my project with everything we needed to finalize our event. Along with reserving a section of tables for my group, the platters we ordered were prepared and delivered to the tables on time. We ordered the cheeseburger sliders, steak tacos, and Nashville wings and everything tasted amazing! We loved the platters so much that we asked if they would be able to accommodate an extra two platters of the sliders and wings. Lauren handled all of our requests with ease and provided recommendations for other options on the menu. She also gave us excellent recommendations on other food to try and told us about how they host trivia each week! The bartenders (Shoutout to Ryan, specifically) handled all of my group’s drink orders swiftly and accurately. Everything, between the food and drinks, tasted fantastic. The customer service at Present Company Public House was incredible and unmatched compared to my experience at other locations. My group was very well taken care of and we will definitely be hosting some of our future events at...