Andrew W.
Yelp
Wow what a situation. I've never experienced this before. Disclaimer, I used to love this spot. But, They "apparently" have a low threshold for dealing with buzzed people here. I decided to come here to show my girlfriends the place and buy them a drink after 2 AM, after most of U street closed. No big deal, right?
So we're having a good time until my friend, who is getting married in 4 months, and was admittedly was a "bit deep" in the endeavor of drinking, I guess looked a bit toasted, so they decided to act at a bartender level to "cut her off". If they said "no she seems a little off" and denied it would have been ok. If they let me keep her drink so I could drink it myself it would have been ok, and if they let her speak for herself, maybe, it would have been ok. But INSTEAD, the bartender thought it was okay, while looking at me in the eye, to angrily grab her drink, pour it out immediately (15$ drink), and because of my "indignance", (For Defending her?) they explained to me that they poured it out because they didn't want to hear me vouch for her. I complained again in response to that aspect of the treatment and the waste of my money! So... they didn't like that! After I reiterated, why would you do that, as I'm not okay with them pouring drinks out that I paid for, but in response they grabbed MY drink and POURED IT OUT TOO! No explanation. Aggressive behaviour. At this point, it's the first time in my life, at 30 years of age, that I've experienced such non-verbal, power-tripping treatment, at a bar. Great.
Basically, what I glean, is that this bartender with a black beard, said that I wasn't allowed to "complain" about it because they decided I was "being aggressive" even though I was simply responding to their treatment of my friend. I never left my seat, never lifted a finger in defense of my friend, who is tiny, and I never really raised my voice at these folks. But eventually more bartenders start surrounding my "belligerant" self, sitting in my barstool, complaining about the service in "too-real-of-a-time".
I've seen a lot on u street, but not this kind of prejudice. What a power trip! Why would I, or anyone, try to fight with bartenders? Who cares! So, poured all our drinks out in front of us, 30 dollars wasted, and soon the bartenders sic'd each other on me, getting near me on the front of the bar, in my face, saying I wasn't welcome back, ever. Look, I get the reality of mob-think, or backing up your coworkers, but it was such that I called them back on their phoneline, as I STILL dont know what I did, because its inexcusable that maybe my friend 'needed' to be cut off, and I was being too 'belligerant' because while not touching or insult anyone, and you know, I paid I full with 20% tip.
I called their number back, maybe a few times, trying to figure outwhere things went wrong and get an explanation for their treatment of me. Don't get me wrong, if I was belligerent I would have accepted that. Just say it. But, the calling was more on the level a teenage prank-call bullshit-off, with name calling, "f*ck offs" and the like. Hanging up on me. They told me to "get a life". They left me on speaker and laughed at my anger. Ok. Can't even explain themselves? Can you explain why we customers were made to feel like f**kheads by your "skilled" and vetted mixologists? Why its worth coming to your bar ever? I've never felt more threatened at a business for saying things like "Why did you do that?" on a stool! My friend was freaking out! I thought the blonde-bearded guy was going to punch me.
Anyway, we had a good time until you poured out our two drinks that were worth 30 bucks, directly in front of us, and kicked us out before we finished the third. So I guess get your drinks at the bar and try to avoid the server for the rest of your time here. I'm writing this immediately after the fact. Thanks for the Customer Service. 15$ for cocktails and d*ckheads isn't worth it.