The Alex at the Graham — Restaurant in Washington

Unpopular opinion alert. This place is everything you don't want it to be. The staff in the lobby greeted us like we were breaking into the hotel. A warm welcome would have been great - it's free, too. It goes like this: "Hi, welcome, how can we help you?".

Anyway, we get the code to the door and walk downstairs to the bar. The hostess unwarmly greeted us with: "just so you know, you are limited to 90 minutes". Again, a simple "Hi, welcome to The Alex, hope you have a great evening! FYI - we limit reservations to 90 minutes" would have gone much better. It's like everyone is doing us a huge favor by accepting our business.

The server was no better. She got our first order of drinks wrong (we ordered directly from the menu, nothing special or fancy). The second round of drinks took 26 minutes to show up (remember, they were going to throw us out on the street in 90 minutes, so 26 minutes is a long time to wait). Also, the second round of drinks was just "vodka on the rocks", so how hard can that be? The place wasn't even that busy. Anyway, after 26 minutes we had to rush out to make our dinner reservation, and instead of a simple apology for the delay, the server got in our face and started to tell me this long story about why the drinks were delayed. I couldn't understand half of what she said because it was super loud, but honestly, I didn't care. Just be nice! I don't need an excuse.

The cherry on top is that they added 20% gratuity to the bill. 20% for what? No wonder the staff is not nice. They don't need to be. They are guaranteed 20% gratuity. They can be completely rude and provide the worst service with no consequence. Way to go, folks! Worst $60 on 2 drinks...

Cool newspaper menu with subpar drinks and poor service. I was pleasantly surprised that the friendly bouncers in the lobby typed in a code and let my husband and I in without a reservation.

I had high hopes for this speakeasy with its prohibition cheek vibe and intriguing black and white newspaper menu. The service is really disappointing as the waitress refused to seat us and pointed to the bar even though there were open tables. A few small tables had Reserve signs, but no one sat there from the time I came to when I left. When I saw a small open table that didn't have a Reserve sign, I asked the waitress if my husband and I could grab it, and she grudgingly shrugged, so we took it.

After waiting for another 20 minutes, we finally got our drinks. My husband got the iconic bathtub gin & tonic while I got the One Man Band pisco passion fruit cocktail and Brown Derby. While I enjoyed the creative presentation of the bathtub cocktail, I wasn't impressed with the overly sweet taste.

The Brown Derby was hands down my favorite cocktail with Bourbon, grapefruit and honey. Great complementary flavors that blend well together. I would get it again!

The craft cocktail cellar is pretty cozy with seating for under 30 people. It gets pretty cramped and some light background music would help. As it's tucked inside The Graham and hasn't gotten too popular yet, you might be able to drop in without a reservation.

Not sure if I would stop by again just for drinks. I would be interested in making a reservation and coming back for live jazz on Sat nights. Stay tuned! I kept the newspaper as a fun memorabilia...

This place is definitely a hidden gem in Washington D.C. The ambience was chill and cozy with a hint of upscale and sophistication. The decor was beautiful and Definitely put me in a speakeasy vibe. The Mixologist was Phenomenal, all of the drinks on the menu are crafted with pure perfection. I recommend the bathtub Gin and tonic as a must try! I also recommend a Riff on a Riff only if your into a smoky treat, Roosevelt Island if your into a sweet strong drink. I tried a couple others but these were my absolute favorites. The service was impeccable and with only two people working the small chic area, they were on top of your every need. The food was favorable I started with the Bruschetta as an app it was amazing and lacked nothing. I also tried the lamp chops they were the juiciest most tender pieces of meat and they paired it pickled onions (which I love) and a Thai chilly sauce that I wasn’t crazy about but it didn’t bother me. My date had Salomon which was amazing and they paired it with Brussels sprouts. I’m not a huge fan of Brussel sprouts but they chopped them down and I believe sautéed them into a buttery salad compote and it was unbelievably tasty 😋. What surprised me the most was the food portions, they where a very decent sized and very filling. Overall I had a magical time and I would definitely recommend...