The Alchemist DC — Restaurant in Washington

I tried to reach out privately first, but the establishment's website is not set up, and I cannot find an e-mail. My best friend and I went to Alchemist on a Sunday, to celebrate my sitting for the bar exam. The drinks were delicious, but I have two major and unforgiveable complaints.

First, my friend and I enjoyed ourselves with two rounds of cocktails. When we left for dinner (Alchemist does not serve food,) I had the bartender charge the card I started a tab with, and the itemized receipt was behind the signature slips. Without checking the itemized receipt, I left a 25% tip. We went for dinner and came back for espresso martinis. At that time, a different server/bartender alerted us to the fact that gratuity (20%) was included. Our first bartender did not say anything about the automatic gratuity, even though I paid the bill before looking at the receipt. Additionally, we sat for several minutes after paying to finish our drinks, so there was ample opportunity to ask us about the tip (which would seemingly be an error because most people do not leave 45% as a tip.) Days later, I am still stewing about the incident. I feel taken advantage of at a bad time, like I was a tourist. I feel like a chump for coming back after dinner. I know Sunday is an all-day happy hour, but twelve dollars a drink is not a steal.

Second, incense (a lavender/baby powder scent?) burns perpetually, and the odor is really strong. Skip if you have allergies and sensitive sinuses. I put the smell out of mind to celebrate, but I will NOT be returning.

UPDATE: I had to drop another star because of the hostile (AI generated?) response from the establishment. I guess customer service is dead. I am genuinely surprised by the utter lack of concern for the guest experience. The good news is, now I have a place to tell my family and friends NOT to go to. My guess is this will be a new restaurant/bar within five years. You can only get so far in D.C. not caring about return business.

The cocktails were tasty and balanced, but considering the hype, uninspired and thoughtless. Before the pandemic, I never would have believed that a "speakeasy-styled" bar would be adding gratuity for a walk-in deuce sitting at the bar, but...

Well, Well, Wellllll !!

This place has been on my radar for at least a year now. It ended up being everything I wished and more.

I must admit, I couldn't find the door for an extra 6 seconds, but it worked out. Haha

Walked in, and it was aesthetically perfect. It looks just like you would expect "The Alchemist " to look !! Symbols everywhere like art. Larger than most speakeasy's and better lit than most without running the ambiance.

I had a reservation, but I was super early. Hubby and I teamed up w another couple and grabbed a table for 6 once it cleared.

Aakash initially gave us beverage menus when we entered and assisted us throughout our visit.

The menu was quite impressive. I saw the menu online (Yelp), and it was 4 months old. Of course, they still have the same selection. Nope, 25% or more of the menu had already been updated, and the selections were just as great.

We ordered an LA Passsion and an Alchemist Old Fashion. Both beverages were amazingly great and full!! AMAZINGLY!!

Our guy Aakash made sure we wanted for nothing and provided wonderful customer service. I highly recommend this speakeasy to anyone looking to hang out in a chill environment. They can seat up to 7 comfortably and have the best beverages to date !!

THANK YOU The Alchemist for providing such a great experience as hubby and I was celebrating...

Overall the place just felt a bit gimmicky. The whole “smoked” drink presentation ends up just being them blowing a bunch of artificial smoke all in your drink that smells like a shitty fruity vape smoke. You get served a drink with a smoke bubble or a flaming desiccated orange but once that’s all out of the way you’re left with a pretty okay, overpriced drink with a sickly smoke odor hanging around or a slightly burnt piece of fruit floating in your drink.

Also not super important but as a trained chemist the whole chemistry vibe they’ve developed is absolutely laughable. Two of the “elements” they use to spell their name in the logo are not real (no such thing as Mi or T) and some of the decorations on the wall look like they just asked a hallucinating ChatGPT to design chemistry themed bar. Overall just develops this facade of intelligent artisanal design that once you look behind the vape smoke and questionable chemistry knowledge, you’re left with an expensive cocktail the same quality of which you can find for cheaper prices other places...