Your average 24 hour restaurant usually attracts a specific kind of clientele, namely truck drivers and inebriated twenty somethings. One of DC’s newest restaurants, The Hamilton, is sure to redefine the 24 hour crowd! Located at the corner of 14th and F NW, The Hamilton is a massive restaurant and live music venue which opened in mid-December courtesy of Clyde’s Restaurant Group.
Last night, my girlfriends and I decided to give it a try. While the service was less than stellar, the food was good and the 37,000 square feet of cavernous space makes you feel like the possibilities are endless. We were able to get a reservation last minute and I am still trying to decide whether this was due to the restaurant still being too “new” or the fact that it is just so darn huge! Once we arrived, we were taken through the main bar, a secondary bar, a ballroom-sized dining room, up a staircase, past yet another bar and finally to our table. These hostesses sure get their exercise!
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| One of the many bars at the The Hamilton! Picture courtesy of the Washingtonian.com |
We were greeted quickly by a very nice, but apparently nervous waiter who offered us water and returned after all of our guests arrived. We ordered two bottles of wine off the list, which is actually divided into the various types of foods that are served and paired accordingly. So, if you are ordering seafood, the Hamilton recommends about 10 different wines that will pair well with your entree. This is unique, but made searching for a specific wine like trying to find a needle in a haystack and it isn’t helpful if you want wine before you know what you are going to order.
The waiter brought fresh bread and butter and took our entree orders, clearly still feeling his way through the menu which I guess is to be expected as they have only been open a few weeks. The menu has a great variety of choices, ranging from burgers to pasta to seafood to sushi, without feeling overwhelming which I enjoyed. I ordered a salmon salad, which very tasty, and the other ladies ordered a variety of sushi. Everyone was very pleased with their meals and all plates were empty! Mission successful!
Overall, I’d say the Hamilton offers an extensive menu, good cuisine and a quintessentially “DC” vibe. The service still room to improve, but hopefully this will happen as the restaurant matures. I think the true niche for The Hamilton is going to be the combination of better-than-bar food with a live music scene. The fact that the restaurant is open 24 hours a day is novel, I will be interested to see how it ends up working. I can’t imagine there will be enough customers to support all hours and I can’t help but wonder if offering such a range of food will end up wreaking havoc on the restaurant’s identity and quality. I guess time will tell!