Residents Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in Washington

UPDATE: The manager was very kind and graciously offered our party a free dinner on them to make up for their kitchen mishap during my friend's birthday, and also sent her a generous gift card. I changed the rating from 1 to 5 stars based on the quick and attentive response to our negative experience - we came on a bad day. Thank you Marko for being so kind, understanding, apologetic and courteous! He quickly resolved our unfortunate experience and he deserves recognition. We will come back and I am sure - based on the management's response - that we will have a much better experience. :-)

I typically do not like to write bad reviews, but the management at this place is horrible. My friend made a reservation for this place a month in advance for her birthday party, and we had to wait for almost 40 minutes in the heat to finally sit down at our table. When we asked them when we will be seated, the host informed us that the kitchen was "broken" and that it will hopefully be back up and running in an hour, but with "no guarantee." They gave us a complimentary glass of champagne as we waited, which was nice, I will give them that much. We ordered drinks and they were extremely expensive, and then they told us after we sat down that they CANNOT serve us food. It all seemed very suspicious without being given any reason as to why. We may have been more understanding if they gave a reason, rather than just saying the kitchen is "broken." We also still saw food coming out of the kitchen, but perhaps it was prepared before whatever issue occured. I am almost certain that a restaurant cannot stay open if they are only serving drinks and not food. Mind you, we had not eaten all day since we thought we were having brunch. My friend's sister had to ask for complimentary shooters and they did provide them, and then our waiter took one with us, which nobody asked him to do. I found that to be rather unprofessional. If anything, they could have given us or the birthday girl a gift card and encourage us to come back another time, but they did not do so. I would not have been writing this bad review if they did do that. It seems like this place rides on the fact that they have a nice, photo-worthy vibe rather than providing half-decent customer service. When we passed by this establishment later in the day in our Uber, we saw that they were STILL open, although their kitchen was completely closed? We even asked for a salad, chips and salsa, or bread at the very least - nothing. It all seemed very strange and let me reiterate, I will not be recommending this place to anybody, nor will I be...

Where do I even begin? My party of 10 had made a birthday reservation a month ago. We all showed up within 10-15 mins of each other. We were told to wait outside-in the heat of DC in August. Mind you, we were all in the way of other patrons, hosts, and wait staff. We were in everyone’s way without much room- I think they could have facilitated a better waiting area or maybe just have had our table ready at our reservation time considering they had known for a month. Anyways we waited outside for 40 minutes. They did bring out party complimentary champagne! But was it enough? No.

In the 40 minutes, the host told us the kitchen was having a problem and they couldn’t serve food for at least an hour, but could serve drinks. We went ahead & sat down & decided to have drinks in the meantime. We ordered a round of shooters to celebrate our friend’s birthday & the waiter joined us. In retrospect, why did he drink with us? Seems a little irresponsible to be drinking on the clock. In the same breath, he tells us the kitchen will NOT be open. They can’t even serve us chips & guacamole- I asked. So why was food still coming out of the kitchen? Why were other tables still being served? At this point, we’re scrambling to find reservations to celebrate my friend’s birthday and eat because we’re now drinking on empty stomachs which is a little bit tricky considering we’re a large party without much notice. We are able to secure a spot at Founding Farmers who had amazing service!

Bill was $293 and included a 20% gratuity. I understand that somethings cannot be controlled, but this got out of hand quickly and the staff did not handle this well. Personally, I think they should have called those with a reservation and let them know the situation. Bad start to a birthday celebration and drinks weren't that great, won't return!

Edit: Owner reached out & gave us a voucher for spent amount. Second go around was much smoother. Good drinks, food was okay. Nice summer...

I can’t decide if I like Residents more pre-COVID or during COVID because it’s spectacular both ways.

Let’s start with the ambiance. The ambiance is calming and welcoming. I’ve been struggling to find a place where I could dine outside AND have a nice, cozy environment. Oh, and especially one that’s warm-ish in this frigid winter!! Look no more. Residents has the most beautiful set up and for a split second, I felt like I was on a European vacation with friends.

Next up, the drinks. Oh, boy the drinks. Let’s just say I didn’t intend on drinking but they are too delicious to pass up. I had a nonalcoholic espresso martini which was everything I needed in this world. Wish I could have one of these every morning. The Quince was the star of the show. My friends each got one, and we were not disappointed. It was a delicious blend of a whiskey sour and a hot toddy as one described it. We also had the matcha tea, glass of champagne, cranberry seasonal cocktail, and ginger seasonal cocktail - all so tasty.

Now the food... oh my goodness the food!! We got the smashed avocado toast, market plate, and carbonara - added meat to all of them. I was so happy with my avocado smash but needed to have a bit from everyone’s dish. The food is sourced locally so everything tastes incredibly fresh and filled with bold tastes. My goodness, I did not expect that I’d eat so much. We even ordered the toasted pumpkin bread for dessert. For the record, I hate pumpkin everything but bc I trusted what this place was doing, I had to try it when Debbie (best server ever) brought it out. Let’s just say no crumbs were left behind.

And finally, my experience would have been great but it was elevated by both Debbie and Moody. Two genuine people who truly enjoy their job. Both so personable, filled with wittiness and kindness. If you get them as your servers, please take care of them - I promise they’ll go above and...