THRōW Social DC — Restaurant in Washington

I was super excited to try this place for my birthday, based off their Instagram feed.

I was able to find the location, and the parking garage easily (street parking is available but none were open). I was parked from maybe 10:45pm-1:50am and it’s was $4. Not bad.

My group of 7 went to Kick Axe throwing first to make a reservation for ax throwing (details on that in a separate review on their page). They told us they would text us when it was ready, so we were able to go upstairs to check out Throw Social!

Upon taking the elevator up the scene was really cute with plenty of picture taking backgrounds. However it looked like organized chaos. There was more staff than customers. We were greeted politely by the front desk staff, and we walked around to check out the venue.

We found seats at a cabana and waited as multiple pink pineapple shirts walked by us. No one else was at a cabana. After a while we figured we were supposed to goto the bar to order stuff, even though there were menus at the cabana.

Anyway we goto the bar, I order the pain killer in one of the pineapple cups I’d been eyeing from their feed. While she was making my drink I asked one of the other ...maybe 4? bartenders behind the bar that was just socializing with other employees not behind the bar about the food. She hadn’t tried one thing and was unable to recommend anything. We decided to order the empanadas anyway, and surprise... they were out..

While this was going on, an obviously drunk patron at the end of the bar was being aggressive with my friend.. the bartenders comment was “ooo I may have did too much with those long islands”. An untrained staff pouring alcohol is a no, it even took security a moment to intervene and he still wasn’t asked to leave WE walked away..

No top shelf liquors were available.

When the bartender passed me my receipt to sign on the pad she had selected the highest tip percentage, which if you aren’t paying attention you wouldn’t notice. However she did pretty good with my drink so I left it.

We went back to the cabanas and was just taking pictures. There was a few people doing football bowling and no one was doing curling. While the price was reduced to 19.99, it seemed like a lot per person for that lol. The whole place felt very stiff. There was barely any music, and employees were just standing around, both pink shirts and blue stripe shirts with the ear pieces (I’m assuming managers?) were congregated around tables with cups themselves.

Luckily we got our text that our ax throwing reservation was available.

Observations/Recommendations:

I understand that Kick Axe and Throw Social are the same company... HOWEVER. They share a kitchen. While this wouldn’t be a big deal normally, it appears the food running process is sketchy... several times that we were on the elevator we were there with employees carrying customers food uncovered from Kick Axe upstairs to Throw. That does not seem like proper food handling...

All employees should taste all of the food so they can accurately recommend to customers. And items listed on the menu should not be out.

Get top shelf alcohol, you’ll sell more drinks.

The managers should maybe see customers sitting around looking bored and gather the extra employees doing nothing and play a round of curling so maybe people could see it and want to play it. They should be able to create some excitement.

Kick Axe Throwing was the better of the pair in terms of ambiance and employees.

I know this place is new but some of these things with experienced management should not be occurring. We’ll maybe check it out again in...

So lets talk about it (sigh). Service was 100% trash! The bartender acted like she did not want to be there and had a very nasty attitude the whole time. Had to wait when the bartender felt like working to get any drinks. The bartender seemed to be more focused on talking with her friends then actually taking care of the bar at all. And for context i'm talking about the outside patio bar. I tried to engage in small conversation and just received very cold responses. Place was not that busy and staff were just lounging around and more focused on talking with eachother then paying attention to any guest. There was a male worker who was just boping around flirting with all the girl The whole staff in the way they were just being lazy presented that the place was not a professional establishment. The ambience is very nice. And it's a particular aesthetic depending on what you're looking for. But its not backed up in other areas. Restroom was disgusting, and they allowed teenagers and small children inside. As a secret shopper I would say any place that presents itself or is listed as a local bar. Should not be allowing children inside the establishment for a day party. To include the way that the female staff was dressed was not particularly something you want your children seeing If you were to even consider the place child friendly. It was clear in a parent that the staff were more focused on some of their friends that came to the establishment to spend money rather than actuall guest. If the owner had cameras, I really think they should look back on today's service in the beginning and see some of the failures. Considering that there was more than one bar set up. There were plenty individuals there that all were drinking alcohol. So to allow small children and teenagers and kids inside is highly not professional. They had a very good DJ which I like. The food was pretty much mediocre not a place to go if that's what you're aim was. The manager on duty was just more walking around. Being friendly with everybody not presenting the perception that they're actually the manager. If one was present themselves at the leader on the floor they should not present the perception that their friends would all their staff and let them do whatever and hang out. I have work in the social entertainment industry for a long time and I will tell you not the way things should have been done. A boss is a boss not friends with their people when there is cutomers around. You would've stopped the manager was just one of the workers. Honestly, don't waste your time, and if you're looking for a vibe on brunch or any type of roof top establishment just take yourself to elsewhere not worth the money. If i'm ever to return it would be just because i'm...

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would. DO NOT GO HERE. It is cute inside, but NOT worth it. (Please read it all)

I came with a group of 9 people for brunch, and we booked a cabana thinking it would be busy on a Saturday. First, you DO NOT need to do this; we walked in, and it was completely EMPTY on a Saturday afternoon. Paying a $150 fee for a cabana was NOT needed. It stayed pretty empty throughout our time. Also, the AC was broken. It was miserable, hot, and humid; we couldn't even enjoy sitting there because of the temperature. They had big fans on, but it was still unbearable with the summer heat. I was sitting in my own sweat. We asked them to move us outside because of this condition, and they accommodated us.

We ate our food and drank, meeting the $300 minimum we thought we saw online. Then the staff told us we needed to pay $450 in food. We were all confused because that's not what our expectations were, but they argued we booked an inside cabana, and it is that price. We didn't even end up sitting in there because they had no AC so we didn't even get to enjoy the benefits of a more expensive Cabana for one. And second for the price we were paying, that is ridiculous. Sitting outside was not much better at ALL. We showed them the website and our booking; nowhere did it say $450 minimum. Then they asked the cardholder to talk separately from the group, which we thought was weird. My friend came back and said they had stated they would do the $300 food minimum instead of $450 if we tipped well. We agreed and said okay (even though it should have been $300 in the first place because we ended sitting outside and the conditions were not up to standard). He went up to pay, and they rang his card up. This is where we messed up and should have asked for a receipt before paying. But usually, restaurants will give you an itemized receipt beforehand; you shouldn't have to ask. We got the total back, and it was $574. We were shocked! He went back up and asked the waiter, and she said, "Oh, that's after taxes." There's no way taxes are that much. Later on, he found his digital receipt (shown below), and they tipped themselves $150 PLUS gratuity, which is $85 (totaling $235). THAT IS AN 80% TIP OF OUR FOOD ORDER. Absolutely ridiculous, and we feel completely scammed by this place. The food was mediocre, and the drinks were okay. For the price we paid, you can get high-quality food and ambiance somewhere WAY better.

If management sees this, I hope you take action accordingly. This was a disappointing and distasteful way to run a business. I am not sure if it was because we were young adults that we seemed like a good target for this, but this whole experience...