Meh, I've experienced better. Located smack dab in the middle of GW campus, it's not a typical undergrad bar - it's a bit more trendy. In a tall, skinny, brink building, Tonic has a tiny outdoor space as well as 2 indoor levels. My boyfriend and I went there for happy hour/dinner one night. The space in the bar was very tight. Once we did find a spot however, we ordered some drinks. The drinks during happy hour are ok: $4 beers and wines. The food, however, leaves something to be desired. The tots are on the spendy side for just tots. Not to mention the rest of the dinner menu is on the spendy side too. $15 for a burger or salad? Not terribly worth it in my opinion. I'd say stick to the happy hour. The waitstaff I am indifferent about. We were served promptly but sort of emotionless. There was no chit-chat or smiles - just business. Overall, great location and happy hour, but slightly overpriced and apathetic waiters. read more

I didn't order any food on this visit, so I suppose I can't really rate that. But my friend and I stopped in for a few late afternoon drinks, and it was all just fine. I was disappointed in the Boxcar Pumpkin Porter, which tasted nothing like pumpkin. The porter part of it was fine, though. Overall, it was a decent experience. It started getting pretty crowded when we left, and I was grateful for that since we were already getting asked for our seats at the bar before we even had our checks. Sidebar: Why is the bathroom 73 steps away upstairs? Bizarre. read more

Tonic - Pumpkin porter. - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Tonic has a perfectly fine happy hour M-F from 5-7 pm and is located conveniently to my work. We enjoyed happy hour on the heated patio in February. I ordered a few rum and cokes (HH $5), and we all split an order of Totchos (HH $7.50), Old Bay Wings, and Hot Wings (HH $.75/wing). The food was all fine but nothing special. Across four people, this was plenty of food for dinner, and the prices were super reasonable. The hostess forgot about us, and we almost missed happy hour because we waited 45 minutes before checking where we were on the list. Once we were seated, a group behind us kept dragging more and more chairs to a table, which led to them spilling way too close to us. These things took away from the experience. All in all, a perfectly acceptable happy hour. read more

So we walk in and get told to sit anywhere which is fine and we were given 1 menu for 2 of us. My daughter grabs another menu and that one has the same menu on both sides - no drink menu on the back. So we get up and get another menu. Someone comes and drops off 2 waters. Never see a drop of water after that! We order 1 drink each and for the price and the size, they were a rip off. Then our meal and our appetizer were delivered at the same time! Not cool! We had no silverware so we had to ask for that. Sincerely that is the only thing that we asked for that we even got. Empty ketchup bottle on the table and asked for a cup to put ketchup in.... crickets! Had to get up and get the ketchup and a small cup to put it in. The appetizer was delicious and the burger was delicious. The steak salad had so much arugula and not so much steak that it was pretty weak as a menu item. Will not return anytime soon. No one there really cared about anything and if they did, it didn't show AT ALL! Steer clear people! read more

Brunch review: I only venture into the city for brunch if I can be completely convinced it's worth it. On that note, this place was really great! We specifically came to try the "brunch tots" and they were as good as they look in the photos! The dining room was nice, we got a spot by the window and had a lovely, quiet, casual brunch. The brunch tots were delicious & very filling! I couldn't get halfway through my plate. The spicy Bloody Mary was perfectly prepared and was a nice compliment to the tots. Overall, I bookmarked this place to recommend to my friends who are visiting and looking for something different for brunch. read more

Tonic - Spicy Bloody Mary - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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I have avoided Quigley's for several years after one of those awful work-related goodbye lunches there. So wouldn't you know it, I've been there twice in two days. I think I have solved the Quiggle challenge: eat at the outside tables and it's actually pretty good. The inside is loud and the place is just sticky everywhere you touch. Outside it was relatively clean and I could hear my friend talk. The sandwiches -- I had barbecued salmon burger, my friend had the grilled ahi tuna sandwich -- were pretty good. If it's cool enough to eat outside, give it a try. Quigley's is one of the few places to eat in the Bottom. read more

Stumbled over this place walking around the GWU area. HH was 4-7pm so we sat outside at the patio area. Shared the beer cheese nachos and tater tots. Stellas were only $3? Nice. The beer cheese nachos were so delicious. Taters were crisp and the sauces were yummy. Overall, a good place to hang out with friends. The service here was atrocious so I am docking a star for that. Read Kevin C's review- he tells all. read more

Shots and tots: That's what you come here for. I've come with classmates to celebrate the end of finals, for social gatherings with a campus org I belonged to, and a few times to meet up with friends. It's a cool place to hang, but don't expect too much. The bartenders will get you whatever you ask for, but don't expect much in terms of conversation or personality. The food here is pretty damn good for a bar. And besides, who doesn't like tater tots? The beer list is pretty decent too. This isn't the kind of place to go and unwind after a long day, but it's a great place to come hang with friends. read more

Come here for happy hour! It's not the cheapest place I've ever been, but the food (really just the totchos) make the price-quantity-quality ratio fantastic. Let's start with those totchos: imagine a big ol' bowl with a little mountain of perfect, crispy little tater tots. Then imagine that someone's dumped heaps of salsa, guacamole, sour cream, melted cheese, ground beef, grilled chicken, and jalapenos on there. SO SATISFYING. I could probably sit and eat the whole plate by myself, but as a poor, underpaid summer intern, I have typically opted to split them with a friend. Luckily, half a portion is plenty tots to satisfy my post-work hunger pangs. And at $3 per person ($6 per bowl), totchos are a great deal. Draught beers are also $4. I hate cheap, watery beer, so Tonic is a total win. My fave? The Purple Hazeeeee. :) The restaurant has 3 floors. For HH, the first floor gets pretty damn crowded, so if you've got a decent sized group, I'd recommend heading up to the third floor and snagging a lounge table/sofa. It's a comfortable space! read more

Worst management that I've ever seen at a restaurant. I have never left a Yelp review for a restaurant before, but after my experience here, I needed to say something. Went to happy hour on their patio since they've got such great drink and food deals. However, the mobile platform that they use to take your orders is so faulty and 4 of our 8 total drinks that my table ordered during the happy hour time never arrived at our table. When we asked our waitress about the missing drinks at 7:15 (15 min past the happy hour time), she said that she had never received the orders through the mobile platform even though we had each received text confirmations on our phones after placing the order. Instead of owning up to their faulty platform, the manager disrespectfully told us that we should have ordered everything much earlier and walked away as I was explaining the situation. You would think that they would have at least offered for us to pay for the 4 drinks that never came at the discounted happy hour price, but nope. They were super rude and disrespectful. Never going back to this place again. If you want a great happy hour around Foggy Bottom, I strongly suggest that you choose Circa over this place read more

Being lost and wandering the streets alone without my GPS because my phone's battery died, I was looking for a place of refuge and found it at Sonic. First, some guy who worked there went to his car to get a cable that would charge my phone. That was pretty cool. Second, about three minutes after sitting at the bar it started to pour. The sky dumped buckets for about thirty minutes. Missing that was cool too, but Sonic maybe does not get credit for that. Third, Lauren F was super helpful. She recommended a great IPA but I don't recall which it was. If you go, ask her she'll knows. And when the pizza I wanted was not available, because Sunday, she recommended the wings which were great. So getting two perfect recommendations from Lauren was also cool. read more

Chloe was our server tonight. Service was excellent. She was friendly, and extremely helpful with picking out what my girlfriend and I both wanted. Tonics stepmom can cook because that meatloaf was BOMB! Also the Memphis burger was AMAZING!! Homemade mash potato was great as well. Only thing to stay away from is the coleslaw. Hard to mess up but had no taste what so ever. Last but not least the tater tots was the main reason we came here and don't regret it at all. THEY WERE GOOOOOODDDDD!! Would definitely come back for the burger, meatloaf, and of course the tater tots. read more

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These guys sure made a good gin an tonic (two of them actually) with my favorite gin, Bluecoat from Philadelphia. I had a blackened burger and some tater tots. Sat outside at their patio bar and it was a wonderful night to be outside and enjoy a simple meal. Definitely can see why this is a popular place in the Foggy Bottom / GWU neighborhood. The one annoying aspect isn't about the restaurant but about the people. It's not OK when people are sitting and eating at the bar to just mosey up to the bar, stand next to them (i.e. me) and holler your drink order to the bartender. Nor should the bartender think it's ok while people are eating to be taking and passing drinks back and forth between me and the person next to me. read more

Stopped in for lunch I got the fish tacos they were very good. The fish was freshly fried in a pan not a deep fryer which made it more crunchy. The coleslaw I was not a big fan of it only tasted like vinegar and the water from the slaw made the taco shells very soggy. read more

Tonic - Heat on the porch - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Tonic has just served me the most disgusting pulled pork sandwich I have ever had in my life. The bun was greasy, the meat was over cooked and the put coleslaw on the sandwich. Why would anybody screw up pulled pork like that? Yuk! They didn't have Captain Morgan's spiced rum, but instead Johnny Sailor. Sounds like and tastes like a crappy knockoff. Honestly, I'm surprised the ice cubes were cold. I will never eat here again! read more

Tonic - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Great outdoor space in a quieter area with awesome happy hours specials. Probably some of the best service we've had in the city in a long time! read more

From the outside it looks like a fun Hipster spot I happend across, from the inside I don't know what to say. The first floor looks like a regular bar, high tops and of course a bar. The second floor where my companions and I ate at was different. There was something at odds when most of the clientele were in suits, the largest table is adorned with pots and pants hanging above it and the cup of crayons sitting next to the salt and pepper shakers that were just begging me to use them (that elephant in the pictures is my lovely creation). I just didn't get what you were trying to go for. The whole "cures what ails you" theme you have going on was definitely not coming across in your decor. As far as food went/l BOO. The thai steak salad was bad. While I do enjoy a medium-rare steak every now and then, at that time I was looking for something that couldn't moo at me. To add insult to injury, the napa cabbage pieces seemed like the worst pieces of the cabbage bunch and the soaked noodles were not good. I made great pains to eat around it. I was thoroughly disappointed. For a $20 meal (half soup and salad) I was expecting something faaaaar better than the what I was served. The only good part of my meal was the csuper cheesy, hearty broccoli cheese soup I had to share. Well the soup and my lovely drawing of Howard the Elephant. Yes, I named my elephant Howard. read more

Tonic - This is what happens when you give me a paper tablecloth and crayons! - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

I came here for brunch with a few friends yesterday. I was starving. After looking at the menu I knew I had to get tots in some form. We got tots for the table which were really good. They were crispy and soft in the inside... everything that tots should be. I then proceeded to get the brunch tots which were tots with cheese, hollandaise sauce, bacon, and two fried eggs on it. It was wonderful, but I definitely advise getting the hollandaise sauce in the side, it was a little overwhelming at the bottom and made my tots soggy. Also, there is a lot of tots in this meal. I love tots... like a lot, but I think with the table tots and this platter.. it really may have been too much. I actually couldn't finish at least half of it and I believe pretty strongly in leaving no tot behind- *sigh. Good place and service. Definitely try the tots;). read more

Tonic - Brunch tots minus the bacon. Should have gotten the hollandaise sauce on the side. - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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After walking close to 7 miles all around DC, Tonic was EXACTLY what my friends and I needed. The outdoor seating arrangement is great. we were seated in the back garden area. Service was great. Fast and friendly. I ordered the wings (hot sauce). They came out perfect. I believe they double fry the wings here, but they were crunchy on the outside and perfectly moist in the inside. my friends loved the idea of tator tots instead of fries. Its cute that Tonic has a 'thing' to call their own. read more

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There's no way I would have come to this location on my own devices, but it was a work happy hour that dragged me over... and I was pleasantly surprised. We scored a large picnic-table styled table for our crowd of maybe 10(?) adults, and were immediately provided with drink orders and appetizer offerings. Our waiter was always prompt and ensured that no one at the soon-to-be-rowdy table was left with an empty glass. We all raved about the nachos and the buffalo tots. Absolute heaven! There were several orders of the chicken wings as well. The appetizer sizes are more than enough to feed several people, and no one left hungry. I think we ordered 2 of each (tots, nachos, wings) for the group and it was more than enough. I also split some heavenly quinoa / avocado salad that tasted AMAZING. I would definitely come back for that... and the tots... More than 'just ok' for a college campus bar! read more

I've been here several times during an internship in D.C.... and I must say, the new chef turned this place around! Don't get me wrong, it was always a good place to go -- whether for the tots or just a drink, it's a happening spot. This time around though, I was moaning over the food. I got a deliciously fresh and large cobb salad. They didn't skimp on ANYTHING, and the dressing was definitely full of fresh bleu cheese. I hear they're creating a new menu, so I can only imagine how much better it's going to get! read more

Tonic - Cobb Salad - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

The Special Mac and Cheese was very good! Big fan. Didn't take a photo because my phone died. Tonic is a few blocks north from the west end of the National Mall, and right on the outskirts of the university with no walls, George Washington University. For some reason, the tap water or ice was terrible. Not sure why, but it tasted rancid. Other tap water in DC was fine. read more

I love potatoes. A lot. Baked, mashed, fried, whatever. If a dish is made with potatoes, chances are I'll eat it and love it. But that's exactly the issue I had with Tonic. Considering all of the hype that their tater tots get...they're just that. Tots. On par with the kind I could buy from Orida frozen. For half the price of what I paid at dinner. Mind you, all of the entrees I've had at Tonic have been decent, & their happy hour specials aren't too bad either. But for a place that's recognized largely for their tots, I just wasn't impressed. read more

Great place to have a Cold Beer and to grab some wings. Great location and great staff. Make sure to try the local beer selection, Floyd had great knowledge of the local beers and very helpful. read more

This restaraunt was great! I wasn't expecting fast wait time since there were 7 of us however they were very quick. We ordered tator tots, and while it was more than we expected, those tots were good. The pulled pork sandwich I ordered was delicious too. Our waitress was very kind about being out of asparagus, and that I didn't want coleslaw or honey mustard. I loved her yellow nails. Bonus points for the cute boy that cleaned our table! Service could have been slightly better, it just seemed a little scripted. read more

Five star. My girlfriend and I had a delightful experience at tonic on Saturday. What a cool building. The exposed brick and the bookshelves look amazing. The tater tarts were awesome and the food was delicious. I've walked by this place 15 times, and I am really glad we went in to enjoy lunch. FYI. Server Mckenna Is absolutely fantastic and should get a raise. Definitely worth checking out read more

Desperation usually produces bad dining experiences. That was the case with Tonic. We were in the middle of a busy Sunday hustling around D.C. doing the tourist thing, and were starving. We jumped off the Metro at Foggy Bottom, planning to visit the Lincoln Memorial and assuming we'd easily find a suitable late lunch stop right by the GW campus. No dice. After several blocks of surprisingly fruitless out-of-the-way wandering, we saw the inviting patio at Tonic and made a bee-line for it. But seeing waitstaff t-shirts bragging about Tonic' s tater tots, though, ought to have been a tip-off. I like tots just fine, especially when they're fired up in the deep fryer at home. But having them as your calling card?! Tots are apparently the new mac-and-cheese or chicken fingers: culinary manna for the arrested-development set. (Seriously, what's next? Frigging juice boxes?) And these tots, as far as I could tell, were straight from the freezer bag into the fryer, and nothing special (even if there was a big pile of them on the plate). The sandwiches we ordered were mediocre, too: Chicken was pretty badly overcooked. Our server out on the patio was overworked--she plainly had too many tables to juggle, and while she was pleasant enough when she stopped by, she didn't stop by often enough. My sandwich arrived without the salsa I had ordered, and even though I asked the (different) server who brought it out to take this extra condiment off our bill, that didn't happen until I asked our original server a second time. Overpriced, too. The only saving grace was the very pleasant patio. 2.5 stars. P.S. We did find out that DC Brau is a nice product! read more

Loved the atmosphere. Food was good - tater tots are their thing and they were quite tasty! They came with three sauces and the curry ketchup was surprisingly delicious! Fish tacos were very delicious though I would've preferred the fish to not have been breaded and fried but the sauce really made it. There are delicious looking Mac and cheeses (pulled pork, buffalo chicken, and others) and while the flavors really work, he Mac and cheese was a tad bland so I wouldn't get it plain. Lastly, had a good list of drinks and it was a fun time overall! 4 stars because it was good but not mind blowing! read more

This was the venue selected after my photo tour event. There was a reserved area hosting our large 50+ group of photographers. Services was ok. We had to walk up to the bar to order and eventually they were delivering our drinks and food. The ambiance was nice, very trendy and private for our group. We got the standard burger and fries, not much damage you can do with that standard bar fare. Would I come here on my own, probably not but it was a good spot for an event. read more

Tonic - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

PROS: Went for lunch on a weekday. We didn't have a reservation but we were quickly seated at the bar. I'm a fan of fish tacos so I decided to give theirs a try. I was quite pleased. CONS: The bar tender was very, very, very, very friendly and energetic. Initially it was cool but after a few encounters it became too much. He clearly loves his job but needs to take it down a few notches. read more

Overall I was disappointed with this location. Some friends and I went to the happy hour here for the cheap drinks, and it quickly became apparent that the staff is instructed to take a long time on each drink so that the happy hour prices run out and guests need to pay full prices. In fact, one waitress even informed us that we couldn't order any more drinks because they have a 3-drink-maximum per person (despite other servers giving some of our guests 5+ drinks). One round of shots came precisely at 7:01pm when happy hour ended despite being ordered around 6:40, which I can only imagine was intended to cost higher prices. The drinks were watered down and each took at least 15 minutes to arrive (even when someone just ordered a plain shot of liquor in a glass). Not only that, but each cocktail of the same type that arrived was prepared completely differently; I could only imagine Jon Taffer busting in to chastise everyone on their inconsistent training. At the end of the night, our party of seven had to split our checks four ways--which would be fine, and standard, except that the waitresses had no idea what any of us ordered, so we had to individually repeat what we each ordered at the end and pair up to get our checks. Even then, the checks that came were incorrect and we had to send them back--not once, but twice--before we finally got the right drinks on the right checks. Ultimately, most of these problems seem to be issues of management rather than mistakes by the servers, so I wouldn't punish them with low tips (though an 18% gratuity was included automatically by the restaurant). But I certainly wouldn't come back here again. read more

I came here only for their Tater Tots, and boy was I happy :) The tater tots were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and were perfectly golden brown. The sauces that came with it were awesome too! They were some sort of ketchup, [Dijon?] mustard and some type of Thousand Island type dressing. I also got the Totchos, which is basically Nachos, but instead of chips, you get tater tots. BEST IDEA EVER. I'm drooling right now just thinking about it.... yummmm Oh and I came during Happy Hour, sooo half-price tater tots!!!! :) We also came on a really nice day, so we sat outside and watched the World Cup, it was also pretty busy. When I come to DC, this definitely on my list of places to always come back to :) Plus our waiter was really chill and nice ^_^ read more

Tonic - Tater tots for days!! - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

College restaurant bar located conveniently on GWU campus. My friend told me this used to be a pharmacy so we had to check it out! 3 floors. Patio. Each designed differently. We sat on the third floor where there were lounge couches. Great setup and great food. I had the bloody tonic and the buffalo chicken sandwich and I was very happy with both selections. I'm a big connoisseur for Bloody Mary, so any chance I get, I'm all for it! The flavor was right and the drink was so spicy!!! So good! The buffalo chicken sandwich was delicious as well! Their Aioli spread was so interesting, it gave the sandwich a unique spicy kick along with the buffalo sauce. A little spicy as it has grilled jalapeños also but so good! Recommended with tater tots!!! read more

Tonic - Bloody tonic & booooozy coffee!!! - New American Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Great tots and great brews, what else could you want? Service is always friendly and the food meets expectations. If you don't make a reservation, expect a bit of a wait! read more

Visiting out of town and decided to check this place out. We were immediately greeted and taken to our seats. Menu is pretty interesting with incorporating tater tots. We tried the tater tot basket, which was pretty good and the sauces went well with it. We also tried the wings, nice and crispy. Cool thing about this place there's books along the wall you can take one and leave one read more

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It's interesting this place advertises Totchos and is a highly recommended on Yelp. Don't expect Tonic to serve them anytime during lunch on Sundays!! Apparently their brunch menu of bougie eggs and quinoa is more important than focusing on a true dish that works. Congratulations DB read more

Tonic: A slightly better than average pub that tries to cater to families, students, and workers without being outstanding in any regard. Tonic is a little bit of everything: part family restaurant, part college hang out, and part after work retreat. The decor and food is better than other nearby pubs, but at the end of the day it's still just a pub. I recently dined in Tonic's second floor casual dining room (the first floor is a bar, and the third is for larger groups and live music). The hostess has apparently lost our reservation, and although we were a few minutes later than our expected reservation time, no table was ready for us. We waited for about 5 minutes before being seated. We were clearly not a priority to our server. He was slow to get to us and, once there, never stood still long enough to make us feel like we were anything but an afterthought. He would drop off drinks or say a quick word and then skirt off to another table. During our long wait for our entrees (without bread or an appetizer), we had ample time to appreciate the noisiness of the dining room. As appealing Tonic's hard wood floors and exposed brick walls might be, they do a poor job of dampening sound. The menu was completely average, with a smaller selection than expected. A number of dishes sounded satisfactory, but none especially appealing. I settled on a pizza, which is probably the best value on the menu. Everything is about $3 overpriced, a symptom of being on GWU's campus with a captive market. It was a solid BBQ chicken pizza about 9" in diameter, cut into six slices. An average person can expect to eat four slices. My companions ordered a sandwich with tater-tots and the daily special Asian Noodle Shrimp Salad. Tonic's tater-tots are supposedly a signature dish, but I failed to appreciate their specialty. I've tasted a great variety of French fries in my life, but in my experience there is only one kind of tater-tot: the one from the frozen food aisle. Tonic's are no exception. As for the Asian Salad, the noodles were well prepared and the sauce appropriately spicy. The shrimp, however, were completely bland, were not de-veined, and one still had some shell attached to it. De-veining is a must for a featured shrimp dish. There isn't much to say about the bread pudding dessert I ordered. It was bread pudding, and it was fine. Tonic serves conservative, average food with no shtick or ethnic flair, so I doubt it could ever earn more than three stars. The service was poor and one dish was improperly prepared, but the most disappointing part of our visit was that we forgot to crayon on the tacky white paper table covers. read more

Not a bad place, and it definitely satisfies your brunch cravings... but I found it overall to be more pricey than I wanted (for what I was given) and the service was mediocre. No water refills. The bathrooms were downright filthy. The waitress messed up our order a few times. But to be fair, she seemed new (otherwise there's no excuse, really). The french toast portions are huge. They were a little stingy with the berries on top. The french toast is nothing you can't make at home yourself. The homefries were bleh. Flavorless. Just sliced, fried potatoes. Where's the flavor? For $3, the OJ glass was small. My friend's cheeseburger was tasteless and burnt, so she only ate half. The only cool thing was tater tots! Woo tater tots! But it's a pretty pricey place just to get tater tots. Just sayin.... Also, they stopped serving brunch at 3pm. Meh. Come on, it's the weekend! So I'd give the food 3 stars-- it's decent. But overall, meh. I'll prob try other places for brunch next time. read more

One word: Tots. Best tater tots I've ever had and the 3 sauces they serve with it play a large part in that. Bacon ketchup? Everything is better with bacon. I've been here for Happy Hours and corporate events and they are good about service in these aspects. The best area is the third floor, and that's usually where those events and large reserved parties are held. read more

We got there around 8:30 on a cold windy night and my fiancé just said yes to engagement in front of the Lincoln Monument and it was a long walk back in the wind. Needless to say we were hungry and excited. I read the reviews about the totchos (Tater Tot Nachos) and how they were gone but were pleasantly surprised that they weren't. We ordered those and regular nachos and some drinks as there was the big florida college game on TV so they were open with specials. The negative was the food was on the verge of bland and the bar tender/manager closed early by 2 hours even though they said they would be open later. Kind of a negative end to the night but it was a good experience overall. Will try again maybe it was a off night for the kitchen. read more