The Greenhouse — Restaurant in Washington

I made reservations for 1:45 PM at the Greenhouse in the Jefferson hotel and was running late so I called ahead of time to let them know I would be there around 2 pm or after. I also let them know I'm coming from far away and wanted to confirm id still have my reservation. Karen picked up my phone call and said that would be okay. We get to the greenhouse around 1:57 and I'm rudely told by the man at the front that their kitchen closes at 2 and we can't eat there. He informed us that their other restaurant at the hotel 'Quill' features exactly the same menu. I insisted that I wanted to eat there because of the ambiance and was told it was okay if we were late. Literally no indication was made beforehand that we would lose our reservation. The man insisted we go to Quill so we went. Upon getting to Quill, the host took a while getting to us and handing us the menu. Literally nothing on the menu was the same and the entire ambiance of the place was completely different (dark, dreary looking room). We go back to the greenhouse and now a different woman is at the front. I informed her everything that happened and this lady goes 'sorry ma'am your reservations were for 1:45 pm it is now 2:30, you're way past the kitchen closing had you arrived at 2 maybe something could've been done'. I look at my watch and it's only 2:10 pm and I tell her we got here around 1:55 then this lady starts being rude, completely making it clear she's not even listening. She ignores everything I say with no tone of empathy and tells me she can call her manager. The manager arrives and is just as rude and basically says the same thing as I heard before and leaves us standing at the lobby. First off all. Who would have reservations for 1:45 PM if the kitchen is to close at 2 PM? Makes absolutely no sense. Even if we were to arrive at 1:45 it would take a couple of minutes to sit down at a table and take at least 15 minutes to order....and the kitchen closes at 2. I explained this to both the manager and the lady and all I heard back was 'I knowwwww' their tones felt condescending. Had we been treated with some sort of respect I would have returned at another time but due to our horrible experience I will never be...

We have had fairly good dining experiences in The Greenhouse.The food is consistently okay — not great. The main reason for dining here is the atmosphere. Excellent. The big disappointment during our most recent visit was Service. Our reservation was at 1:00 PM. Soon after being seated, the server told us that the kitchen was closing at 1:30 PM. He said to hurry and place our orders or else the kitchen would not honor them. We received our food @ 1:35 PM. Afterwards, it was difficult to find an attentive server anywhere. When we did see one, we had to vigorously signal for help. At one point, one of our party had to leave the table to get the server’s attention. About 2:10 PM, the absentee wait staff reappeared and began swarming around everywhere. Twenty minutes before closing at least 5 different wait staff began hustling us to hurry. Eg., one came over and wanted to clear the table even though we were obviously still eating. Another came over asking if we wanted to have our food boxed to go. Forks in hand, we were still dining. Another came over and without a glance or word, just swiped the salt and pepper shakers. It’s was tiring and very obvious that they were hustling us (no finesse) to get out on or before 2:30. This was annoying and disrespectful — particularly as staff had been so inattentive during our entire brunch service and, we were only served our food about 40 minutes before. The aggressive hustling of the customer to get out before the meal is finished and before closing time when the only agenda is to accommodate the wait staff, not the customer, has no place in a fine dining...

I didn't think I'd like this place, but I did.

upon arrival, it seems there was a bit of confusion. they had mixed our reservations up with someone else's. when we were seated, we received a nice table, but it was next to the front door. we could feel the literal draft of wind come in. and this was an extremely windy, cold day. they were nice enough to move our table, thankfully.

we ordered their fresh squeeze orange juice, chicken and waffles, blueberry french toast and avocado toast.

at first, they brought out grapefruit juice & had to change it out. orange juice was good, definitely fresh squeezed quality. for $8, I probably wouldn't get it again though. my friends seemed to enjoy their food & after my daughter kept demanding for avocado toast, it arrived. for $30, I was hoping there would be...idk more? haha I don't know why my expectations were so much higher. I don't think it was worth the price tag, but it was good. my daughter ate half the toast!

the customer service was pretty amazing. I didn't expect them to have little stools for your purse. they'll take your coats in the beginning if you have one. they gave my daughter a complimentary beenie baby & a coloring book! she was so happy! surprised as to how accommodating they were with children. I'd recommend this restaurant if you have children, but not very young children. don't come too hungry, because the avocado toast definitely won't do it for you. but come for the beautiful skylights...