Tony and Joe's Seafood Place — Restaurant in Washington

For a Sunday Brunch, we came here because the Founding Farmers' brunch was a buffet style. I'm not a big fan of food that everyone is breathing over, licking their fingers and then touching tongs or food, etc. I wanted a seated and served brunch.

We came to Tony and Joe's, not knowing what to expect. It exceeded out expectations. It wasn't too crowded (which is a shame because the food and drinks are good). We were seated by the window, where we could watch the passersby, the boats, and all the happenings of the Potomac and the Georgetown Waterfront. [For those that play PokemonGo, it's a great place to lounge for Pokestops]

We started with the Ivy City Smokehouse Smoked Fish Board. We should've just ordered this with a side of fries. It was so much food and very delicious. He ordered the Crab Cake Sandwich. I had the Smoked Pepper Salmon Salad Sandwich. Our drinks were a Bourbon Smash and a Habanero Margarita.

Let me tell you about this margarita. I love spicy, but this was a perfect blend. I hate when bars try to make the habanero margarita as spicy as it can be, seemingly as a joke on the customer, and slack off on the margarita part. When you are trying to burn the palates of your customers and not concentrate on the total flavor, your bar loses. Whoever was working the bar at Tony and Joe's that Sunday, knew what they were doing. This margarita tastes like a margarita. It was sweet, sour-ish from what seemed like fresh limes in the mix. The sugar rim began the journey, the acidity marched in tune, and instead of a mouthful of heat, the flavor of the habanero wasn't lost. This was the best damn habanero margarita I've had in the DMV area.

The food came to us at a great temperature. The fries! I'm a big French fry fan, and when the cook holds them down just a little bit longer so they have that crisp to them ... yeah, these guys adored these potatoes as much as I do. The sandwiches were delightful and so filling. I ended up having to take half home. The smoked fish plate will always be my favorite brunch item now. The smoked whitefish salad was not too mayonnaise-y. The smoked salmon was tender and not turned into jerky like most restaurants murder salmon. Tony and Joe's really stood out and up for us that Sunday. I really appreciated the friendliness of the wait staff, the cleanliness of the dining area, and the beautiful view. This restaurant is totally going in my brunch rotation.

Pros: The food The view The waitstaff That habanero margarita

Cons: I'm mobility-challenged. It was a good day, but it's a distance from parking and it was icy, with construction going on, and ice rink traffic. Pay Parking, but I can't hold that against them. It's in DC huge laugh because GPS hates navigating DC and it was steadily trying to get us to do massive U-turns on the Potomac river itself because it didn't understand that the place is on the banks of the river, near an overpass. I just happen to know where I'm going. And I still can't hold this against them.

Overall: It was a slow brunch on a slow Sunday morning. I could loaf, eat and drink, and get some PokemonGo in for the morning/afternoon. Beautiful site. Staff was pleasant. Food/drinks were excellent. I'd go again. It's not that expensive, unless you're Mothy...

5:30 afternoon on Saturday. Crowded and touristy. Went to the bar for a drink while our table was readied. High marks to the bearded bartender we had. He was efficient and made good drinks. Seated, we ordered the crab dip and meatballs as appetizers. It took awhile, but it was a Saturday and both were delicious. We were two couples and both women had the crab cake dinner. He had the low country pot and went with the baby back ribs. Our waiter, we believe his name was Matt, was average until then, but hence became unattentive and spent much of his time chatting behind the bar. Eventually our food came, again, no fault of the kitchen but we hadn't seen our waiter in quite a long time.....well, that's not correct. We did see him several times chatting behind the bar. Eventually we had to ask a waiter serving an adjacent table for drinks and he was wonderful. In fact, every person we met here from hostess to busboy was fantastic......except for out waiter.

Food, one crab cake was excellent. The other, which being a Marylander I had to taste, had a nice flavor profile with a mild hint of something saffron-like. It was mid-April so the crab wasn't local, but still of good quality lump. The portion size wasn't large, but acceptable. The problem with my wife's was that it had numerous pieces of shell. One was fairly large. The low country pot may have been the winner. It looked and smelled good and my buddy ate it right down and said yum. I'll give the ribs and okay. They needed more flavor and could have been cooked a little longer. Good for a novice, but a true 'cue connoisseur won't be that impressed. But hey, it's a seafood place. In retrospect, I probably should have ordered the halibut, which was the catch of the day.

We'll give the atmosphere a 3. At that time of day on a Saturday the ambiance was modern-American happy hour. The food gets a 4. Ribs get a 3. Crab cakes we'll give a 3.5, but they seem to have scored with the low country pot.

Our waiter rated a 1, but the rest of the staff was great and stepped up to cover him for the most part, so 3.

So overall I'd give 'em a 3.5. Usually I'd break a tie with the bathrooms, but here I'll give them a 3.5, so you can round up or round down as you see fit.

Some suggestions, if you are driving leave extra time for the last few blocks in Georgetown. Stick with the seafood. Ask for a professional server. Do that and it's a round up.

Happy...

I have never left a One Star Review for any establishment even in light of inadequate service. However Todays experience was so overwhelmingly disrespectful that there was no way to avoid immediately writing this review. I was so purposefully ignored by not one but two bartenders at the outside bar today. It was so disrespectful that I had not one party but two parties of guests apologize to me for the outright lack of respect and acknowledgment of my presence at the bar. The only acknowledgment was from the barback and even that was out of pity from the display of disrespect and in attentiveness I received on display in front of all the other guests. I was overly polite and courteous when I finally received minimal service from one of the two staff bartenders as they had noticed and overheard other guests commenting out loud about how unacceptable it was. A quick camera review by management would corroborate my testimony in this review. Not only was I disrespected but during my time she communicated to some her regulars that she had recently been chastised for the same behavior on a prior shift bad mouthing the guest that had reported it and using profane and obscene language as she replayed the incident to them in her discussion. This is one of my favorite establishments to frequent and it comes with much regret to even write such a review , but my experience was deemed both egregious and absurd by strangers who I had never even met before. I hope management/ownership takes this review seriously and investigates the validity of my experience because not only does it reflect on her but the establishments disregard for guest feedback as she had already been counseled prior. Not that my tab can affect the bottom line of such an establishment but her lack of professionalism and attentiveness over time is cheating both the staff and business of...