District Commons

Washington Circle, Foggy Bottom

Lebanese-American poet Khalil Gibran once said “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” We should all take solace in this thought, that the sorrow and disappointment to arise from the premiere Brunch Quest outing of 2014 might serve to make all of the others that much better by comparison.

And just how bad was this first brunch to warrant such a judgment? I honestly think the comments from my own scorecard sum things up rather well: “Mediocre food, weak mimosas, and bad service.” But you don’t have to take my word for it: District Commons received an all-around score of 3.04, lower than that received by any restaurant we visited on Brunch Quest 2013. Let’s review each component of the meal to see how things broke down.

The Deal

Located in Foggy Bottom, District Commons offers bottomless mimosas or Bloody Marys for $16 with the purchase of any entrée. The plates themselves varied significantly in price, from $10 to $21, but they generally averaged around $15.  As neither of these numbers (especially for the drinks) is particularly low, it only figures that “Price” received the second lowest score of any category this week: 2.93.

Food

Among its few advantages is the restaurant’s array of menu options. Entrées ranged from brunch classics like Eggs Benedict and Huevos Rancheros, to southern staples like Country Friend Steak and Shrimp & Grits, to more unusual fare like Toasted Coconut Pancakes and Roasted Portobello Mushrooms. This variety, however, did not make up for the subpar quality of the food itself. While there were a few particular complaints (the salsa was very spicy, but lacking in flavor; the Benedict was bland), overall, there was just a general sense of being underwhelmed by the food. Given the price, this is a serious disappointment.

Easily the brightest spot on the menu was the Hot Pretzel Baguette. These delectable delights were served warm, fresh from the oven, with sides of butter and beer mustard. While it would have been nice to get them for free, $2 certainly wasn’t an unreasonable price for something this delicious. The only possible complaint is that the baguettes were too small and disappeared too fast! These things alone probably helped buoy the “Food” score up to a 3.43.

Drinks

An almost universal complaint among Questers was that the mimosas weren’t strong enough. I must say I concur with this assessment. Though not unpleasant, these drinks just didn’t pack the kick one would hope for from a brunch like this – especially considering how much we paid for them. The Bloody Marys also received mediocre reviews. These factors all contributed to an overall drink score of 3.36.

Weak drinks can be forgiven, to a certain extent, if the service makes up for quality with quantity. Unfortunately, this was not the case…

Service

Where to begin here? Despite our making a reservation, upon arrival we found that they had not prepared a table of adequate size for our group. We were forced to squeeze together, take extra chairs ourselves, and request additional place settings. Ordering and receiving food didn’t take exceptionally long, but it certainly wasn’t speedy either. Additionally, when someone in the group ordered oysters, she found that some of them had been crushed with the metal condiment cups they were served with – unacceptable!

However, the real disappointment when it came to service was the drink refills. Rather than mixing pitchers of mimosa to bring around to the tables, servers would collect glasses individually and replace them with full ones the next time they came around. If you’re wondering how this turned out, know that words and phrases like “poor,” “very slow,” and “eternity” were bandied about by our Brunchaneers. One participant claimed to have received only three mimosas in the course of the (roughly two hour) meal – ridiculous. Thus, it should be no surprise District Commons’ lowest score came for “Service” at 2.36

Atmosphere/Ambiance

Though the atmosphere wasn't noticeably unpleasant, this place is LOUD. This is likely due to a combination of the layout – one large and open room – and the plethora of hard, flat surfaces which seemed to comprise everything in the restaurant. While some of Questers complimented the music selection, this too served as a loud impediment to pleasant brunch-time conversation. Though we've brunched in less pleasant places, this one did nothing with its atmosphere to improve our experience, earning it a 3.14.

Despite District Commons' shortcomings, we had a pleasant day in the neighborhood and continued our merrymaking at a local bar.

District Commons
2200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20037
tel. 202-587-8277
http://www.districtcommonsdc.com/district.html

Photo credit: AgnosticPreachersKid Licensed Under CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons