If you are new to kink and the lifestyle in general, here's what you need to know: this place is…read morealways supervised by monitors who make it a nice safe venue. No participation is required; you can grab a drink and sit somewhere and take in the sights. There's a pool table in one lounge area. They have a dance floor and a stripper pole so it's always entertaining. As others have said, it's not necessarily a great place to pick a new partner up. If that's your goal, go to the new-to-kink type events consistently. They often have vendors there. The bathrooms are large and clean. You must be a member or a guest of a member to enter. To be a member you must go to the Crucible website ahead of time and complete the form and payment there. Save yourself some annoyance and take care of that well in advance, folks. You will be required to present ID every single time you visit. If you are a veteran: this joint is fully equipped with a variety of furniture for standing, sitting, or kneeling/bending over. It has a bunch of hard points. If there's a huge crowd, they will protect your scene with monitors. (Honey and I felt like celebrities that time for sure.) Sometimes there's a DJ so check the event listings if you don't like it loud AF. There are a couple of private aftercare rooms which is really a fantastic perk. Parking is awful so plan to arrive early. Park on V st uphill from the club or else around the corner past the club. If you are handicapped, call ahead and have them reserve a spot for you. Be aware that there's a hefty step up into the venue but after that, it's fully accessible including the restrooms.

The Crucible Flimflam on a Double-Throuple Date Night…read more So we met up with a dope ass Throuple at BAMM's Karaoke night last Thursday. All six of us caught a vibe but it was a vanilla event so the plan was to go on a double-throuple date Friday night. Not sure who picked it but we decided to meet up at the Crucible. I'm pretty sure it was the first time for all of us so we were excited to try a new place together. According to the event's fine print, the educational talks and demos were scheduled first but then "The Exploratorium" would be open after 11 p.m. I remember specifically reading, "More experienced folk come on out after 11:00 PM for open play." Well like I said, we had already caught the vibe the night before so we were ready to ride the wave the next night. We arrived at 11:15, dressed to impress and ready to party. The six of us stood in front lobby for a while. Apparently, no alcohol is allowed on the premises so the men had to run the drinks back to the car. I should have been paying attention to the faces of the people exiting or even the fact that folks were leaving soon after arriving. I guess I was so full of anticipation about the good time that I didn't notice. Well after we finally checked in, we were free to walk to the back. There are lockers and a changing area to the left. The restrooms are co-ed. The main hall opens into a large room with a bar and stage. There are several stations scattered about the room. A couple Saint Andrew's crosses, a horse, a canopy bed, a few overhead hooks, etc. To the right, there is a large open "theater" area. I think there were couches in there. And finally in the back left corner, there is a room with a swing and a couple fuckable chairs. I don't recall any music. It was eerily quiet with a weird mix of cocktail hour chatter and whipping noises. The lights were ON! Waaay too bright for an LS environment if you ask me. In fact, the whole setup wasn't really conducive to the type of on-premises fun we were looking for. The open floor plan makes it impossible to have an intimate experience. We walked around but it was difficult to find a place to get comfy with our party of six. I don't know if it was just a feeling we got or the fact that we were just in a new space but it felt like the entire couple watched us walk around and were waiting for us to "go." The crowd was almost entirely white. Maybe 30 people in the room. And we were six tall, sexy, Black people striding around the room in out panties and heels rubbing and groping each other. Even the men were shirtless and glistening! We looked good enough to eat and the crowd was drooling. We made our way to the room on the left with the swing. It's not at all private but at least we could get nasty without being on full display. The six of us started to "go" but the gentleman in the other couple was a little hesitant. He said that something was off so he wanted to check to make sure we could indeed play. He went to find an attendant to confirm that open play was allowed. Well, thats when they hit us with the flimflam. As the tip of my husband's dick just touched the lips of one of the young ladies, the attendant informed us that "absolutely no oral" was allowed on the premises. According to her, while sex on the premises is typically allowed, this was the one night that it was not. I went back and checked the fine print: "More experienced folk come on out after 11:00 PM for open play." Did I miss something? When they said play did they mean we could have play sex on their equipment? Were we really the only people who expected to "play"? Was there something particularly offensive by our half-naked Black bodies that prevented us from playing? Whatever the case, the Crucible is not swinger friendly at all!! Total waste of money. Date night killer. So basically we paid $100 to look at their equipment and pantomime sex. The shit almost blew our whole double-throuple date. We left for Shadows about 15 minutes after getting there. (The Shadows ripoff story is for another day.) Next time, we'll just go to a hookah lounge. Dance a little. Sip a little. Then we can just get a room. Unless you really really just want to attend educational event, stay away from the Crucible. It is an overrated waste of money.

This review is long overdue. I was invited to dinner here and this has to go in the Top Ten places…read moreI've ever dined at. Of course my friend is a member and if I'm lucky, someday I will be too. It started off as I walked up the sidewalk and approached the club, the doorman was standing on the sidewalk. As I got closer, the doorman greeted me by name! I was taken a back for a minute wondering how could he possibly know my name! I was escorted in and asked to wait in the main reception while they went to get my friend. I went into what they refer to as the "Correspondence Lounge" which is sort of a small library with some incredibly old literary works. They have very strict rules and one of surprise is no use of cell phones... period. How refreshing! You can go into the Correspondence Lounge if you need to use your phone but otherwise you cannot use while in the dining room or other public areas. So make sure you "check-in" on Yelp when you are outside. Naturally they have a dress code, but really, if you have to ask what the dress code is, you probably aren't going to this place. Another rule I was surprised is they try to keep business limited so you cannot bring out a bunch of papers, laptop, etc... The only papers you can hold would have to be a newspaper or a book. Once seated, the service is impeccable. Extremely polite and not overbearing. They knew when we were engrossed in conversation and didn't interrupt. I had the lump crab cake for dinner and it was without a doubt the BEST! I lived in Virginia for five years and went to college at George Washington so I'm quite familiar with East Coast seafood and I can honestly say the lump crab at the Metropolitan Club is the BEST! I could go on about this place but simply put, if you have the opportunity to go, don't pass that opportunity up for what will end up being one of the greatest dining experiences of your life.

This is a wonderful spot nestled across from the White House. The building and members have more…read morehistory in Washington, than just about any place in the capitol, or the nation for that matter. I have been fortunate enough to dine, party, and converse with some of Washington's behind the scene's power players. You can learn a lot, if you ever get past the door man, or Lily.

I was invited to an event at The Gathering Spot, and while the event itself was wonderful, The…read moreGathering Spot truly felt like the perfect place to host it. It was a happy hour and learning-style event, and the space worked incredibly well for both. There was a great balance between areas that encouraged socializing and connecting, while also having comfortable spaces where everyone could sit down and focus during the learning portion. The staff was phenomenal. They were attentive and proactive in a way that stood out. They seemed to anticipate questions before we even had them and made sure everyone knew where things were and felt taken care of throughout the evening. I also ordered the spinach artichoke dip during the class portion of the event and I need to take a moment for that because it was, without exaggeration, the best spinach artichoke dip I have ever had in my life. I'm still thinking about it. A few others at the event also commented on how incredible their dishes were, so kudos to the kitchen because clearly this was not a one-off experience. I'll probably be dreaming about that spinach artichoke dip for a while.

If you're looking for a great place to hold a meeting or a gathering. The gathering spot is your…read moreanswer it has all the chic pizazz of a lounge but the sophistication of an office setting. The happy hour menu is the best in the city and the staff is amazing. If you're looking for a membership hit them up and as for Mr. McCraw tell him Donica sent you.

We visited this well known institution as guests of a member and toured its various rooms. An…read moreimpressive photo gallery of its past and present very distinguished members lined the walls in the halls. The restaurant lacks what the other rooms feature: gorgeous period decor, in a dignified and distinguished quiet atmosphere. The menu was perhaps not as interesting as it could be-- nor was the food preparation and presentation memorable. We ordered three different dishes and they were solid 'good' , but not particularly noteworthy. I took note of some particularly southern or low country cuisine ingredients, like cooked kale, shrimp and grits... which I enjoyed. The recently redecorated restaurant appears a bit lackluster --perhaps too 'average subdued modern', neither in style nor in keeping with the vibration of its beautiful architecture and prestigious history. The service was polished, attentive and discreet. All together the restaurant and club presented a quietly elegant, welcoming and private atmosphere -- a refuge from the hustle and bustle of the busy capital.

The atmosphere was elegant and the service was good. There may be a secret passage to Narnia…read moresomewhere in this historic building, which can only be described as a cross between a museum and a funeral home. The food left something to be desired for the price and reputation of the establishment though. I had the salmon. It was an extremely small portion, cooked well with a little glaze. Nothing exceptional in the presentation. One could find equivalent fare at any average restaurant.

I decided to give it a try and so far I haven't been disappointed. I filled out a questionnaire,…read morethen spoke via phone with one of the matchmakers about my wants/needs, etc. As we were talking she already had someone in mind for me. After our convo, she sent me info on potential mates and stressed the ones she thought might be a better fit for me. She had one guy who she was really excited about. I had my doubts. Went on a date and turns out the matchmaker was right! He had all the qualities I told her I wanted. Where's the catch? Well, he was about a 7 instead of my desired 9 on the looks scale, but you can't have it all, right? Overall great date and great matching. I love the personalized service and their willingness to work around our sometimes busy schedules. Very patient and understanding. Give this a try. Don't think you'll be disappointed.

This is a service that took me by surprise. I didn't know what to expect and didn't think that it…read morewould actually help me that much, but no, was I wrong. This is a very personalized service that really try to shape up my online dating profile by getting to know me. In addition, they are also very focused on providing feedback after dates that they have arranged for me, which I thought was a time saver. I don't have to figure out whether my date liked me or not, but will actually receive honest feedbacks. This feedback system helps me to work on what I may need to do for my next date. They have arranged 2 dates for me so far. One unfortunately did not work out. However, unlike online dating, where I don't really know what happens when my date does not want to be in touch anymore, in this case, received some positive feedback as to why that is the case. The other one is going well so far, already on the 4th date!

I can't say anything bad about this place. Don't get too excited though, it's a private club and if…read moreyou're not a member or don't know one, you can keep moving! The staff were all wonderful, helpful and just plain glad to be there...and it showed! Everyone we encountered simply enjoyed interacting with members and guests (I was a guest). The food was DELICIOUS. I mean simple but flawless. The steak was incredible and the appetizers were really enough to satisfy any appetite. An incredible evening. Nothing fancy and I'm sure there is a rich history. Make friends with a member and go here if you can!

We did a cooking class/competition at City Tavern Club through Mangia DC for a work event, and it…read morewas so much fun! The space was perfect to fit several different team tables but still have everyone all together in one room. It was also really cool to be in a location filled with so much history. The event itself was super fun (we made gnudi in a brown butter sage sauce) & a great way to get to know coworkers that I hadn't previously met. I was also pleasantly surprised by the wine offerings (rarely is the one red option something interesting & delicious like a montepulciano, yay!). I would definitely go back for another event again!

Great vibes. DJ is amazing. Interior is intimate and chic! Customer service was amazing!read more

Oooo this place is very cute and has some great great great specials. Thursday night was a hit…read more Might have to be my new spot. But one of the bartenders has the worst attitude - like omg yall know them bartenders where it's like why did you choose this job? Yeah that kind. But the dj they had? Bring me anytime DJ FLOW is djing I wanna be there bc he was able to keep the pace ALL NIGHT. Even as the population shifted from an older crowd to a younger crowd he had a great blend that kept the momentum. When I do go back I'll avoid that particular bartender since honestly she was the only issue. And then my time there will be a much better one. Because child no one goes to a bar to get no sass from no meanie. Like I just worked all day and came here to pay for your attitude waaahhhhhhhh

This was an opportunity to eat here while making some visits on the Hill…read more The staff is experienced and the level of service and attention The food was good as you would expect. Healthy portions as well Go if you get the chance

We used our reciprocal club membership to visit Capitol Hill Club. The location was great, right…read morenext to the Capitol. We took an Uber, so I can't tell you about parking. We initially had a reservation in the Presidential Dining room, but it was closed that day, so we ended up visiting the grill. We were greeted by a very nice woman who gave us our guest pass, and layer checked in on us to make sure everything was great. Then the service at the Capitol Hill Club was amazing! The night we went, they were having a happy hour with a free appetizer buffet and discounted beer and cocktails. We really liked this, and I recommend the Pina Colada. Another cool thing was that they had a basket of popcorn on every table. I don't know if they do this every night or if this was part of the happy hour, but I love popcorn, so I was thrilled. After the drinks and appetizer buffet, I was really full, so I ordered the guacamole and chips for dinner. It was a really great night, and the club was not crowded.

The vibes here don't miss. From bottle service, music/hosts, drinks, and hookah. We visited twice…read moreprobably within a month and had a great time. Entry tickets include a buffet and bottomless mimosas which the servers keep flowing. The food in the buffet to me is just okay but gets the job done when the drinks start flowing. On busier days, I recommend arriving early for the buffet as the line can get long. They come around and take pictures which you can purchase for $20 which I personally like when out with the girls. The staff has always been friendly and responsive and I will definitely return

Went to focus for their brunch on a Sunday and honestly was not impressed for real. The food was…read moreserved buffet style, which isn't an issue really, but the line was so long and the food was not good enough to at least make the wait worth it. The service was solid though, I will give them that, and the food AFTER brunch was much better, if I do come back it would just be for the after brunch day party.

If you are lucky enough to get invited here, accept. This is everything you think it should be,…read morewith carved wood paneling and old world furniture and an interesting assortment of characters as members. The food was fantastic and the staff are top notch people. Drinks downstairs, dinner upstairs, then back for drinks downstairs. Fantastic.

The food here is really not what you would expect for a fine dining experience. While the…read morerestaurant itself is very pretty, and the staff are incredibly kind, the food was meh. The chicken was dry and the spinach was very bitter. The vegan pasta was ok and the apple tart was also pretty dry. I expected a lot more given this is a private club.