J K.
Yelp
Yikes. I'm generously giving them a 2 because their food and drink was solid... once we received them. But you can get solid food anywhere. I just don't want to pull the chef into this abomination of an experience.
I'm an Equinox member (one floor below) and live in the Palisades nearby so I'd been curious to check this place out since the photos online intrigued me. I've been eating and drinking in DC for the last 16 years and The Ridge Club bar and restaurant provided the worst service I've experienced anywhere.
I came in with two other female friends around 7pm on a Saturday night. There were 4 people at a bar, and 1 table of 4 in the entire restaurant. Pretty quiet for a Saturday night, to say the least. We waited at the bar for 10 minutes (not an exaggeration) while the bartender ignored us, it appeared he was working on a tab. He looked up for a second and I asked if we could have a drink menu, he looked away. There was no hostess at the entrance of the restaurant to ask for anything, and no menus just laying around for us to grab. 5 more minutes passed, and my friends and I tried to figure out what to do. It was a last-minute choice to come to The Ridge Club, so we knew all decent places wouldn't have reservations available, and I didn't feel like getting back in the car and driving us elsewhere, so we decided to try and stick it out.
Two more people came in, and the bartender went straight to them, and asked if he could get them anything to drink. This now brings the total at the bar to 6 people. Still very empty. I ask him again if we can have the drink menu and he lightly tossed it to me, still with no words, then disappeared. It was shocking, and at this point, laughable. What was going on?! The behavior felt downright snooty, which is not a common experience I personally have in DC, but the air of ... I can't really put my finger on it.... distaste (?) for us was reeking from the bartender. We had just been silently standing there, and for lack of better description, it felt like he didn't want to serve us specifically, which I can't say is an experience I've had before.
The bartender then was nowhere to be found, and another man came out and asked for our drink order. He took our order and the drinks were handed to us a few minutes later. This is after 20-25 minutes waiting. This man made a comment that we could use the little straws they just got in for our drink, but "don't worry, they're not little coke-type straws or anything [not something that had crossed my mind, that I'd be using the straws for cocaine that night, but I digress], so you should try them out." Is it not common to use short straws with small cocktails...? Just added to the weirdness of the place.
We had our drinks outside, which despite it being a super-beautiful location, was totally empty (can't imagine why! had others experienced the same service we had?), and since we'd already told a friend of ours to meet us there for dinner, we committed to the dining.
The same original bartender was also our server, so he had to acknowledge us! Success! The food itself was good. The service left much to be desired. It felt as though we were an irritation to him (and as one of three tables with people at it, in an empty restaurant), I'm having a hard time understanding this.
This place is gorgeous. Beautiful rooftop, nice ambience. Good food, good drink, TERRIBLE service. I frequently upper NW DC restaurants and bars and have a lot of friends who do, as well, and I was especially hoping for a positive experience since I workout at Equinox several times a week and thought this could be a great place to go afterward occasionally. I have several friends considering joining the club (for the pool). I will advise them otherwise, if the service does not change. Not that I'll be coming back any time soon to try it.
If City Ridge Club wants to be a presence with those of us in Upper NW DC, the server needs to drop the attitude. My friends and I left after dinner, laughing about if maybe he just didn't like us (?), was he just in a bad mood? Did he not feel like working that night? It became an ongoing joke, because he was just SO rude and I still am appalled that we waited nearly 20-25 minutes for a drink.
Not sure there's much else to say... hope this changes. It's too bad. Had a lot of potential. Don't be so snobby.