Some places were only meant to serve one purpose.
The Reef is one of them.
The Washington Post writes about The Reef:
There are many reasons to like the Reef: 14-foot-high windows overlooking 18th Street, the enormous rooftop deck, an outstanding all-draft beer selection, the lack of a dress code or cover charge.
Another reason to visit The Reef is that they “plan [their] menus with a few principles: organically-grown seasonal vegetables, free-range poultry and meats, and fair-catch seafood.” Eating/Drinking with a conscience. Nice Touch.
However, I can safely say that “breakfast” is a reason to not like The Reef.
Having been to the Reef, located in the heart of the bar district in Adams Morgan, many times at night for cocktails, my friends and I decided to give it a shot for brunch one Sunday morning. After trying to get in to The Diner (also in Adams Morgan) and being told there would be a 90 minute wait, the huge “BRUNCH” sign in The Reef’s window looked pretty tempting. I distinctly remember asking my friends “Hey, it’s only brunch. How bad can it be?”
I quickly realized that I never should have asked that question. As it turns out, brunch can be pretty terrible.
Before I begin ranting about my terrible breakfast experience at The Reef, I have to note that the place is a pretty cool nightclub/bar. Decorated with massive fish tanks everywhere, The Reef boasts a great selection of tap beers and tasty cocktails. The roof deck is fantastic in the summer, and overall I would say it’s a fun and trendy place to go on the weekend for a couple of drinks. The fact that there’s no cover to get in is also very attractive.
That being said, DO NOT GO TO THE REEF FOR BRUNCH. This was by far the worst breakfast experience I have ever had in my entire life. I didn’t know that it was possible to significantly screw up an egg sandwich. But believe me, eating at The Reef made me wish I had stayed home and cooked myself.
My 3 friends and I walked into the restaurant and were seated at a table. There were a couple of folks sitting at the bar, and maybe one or two other tables had customers. Otherwise the place was empty. Maybe we should have taken this as a sign to leave immediately. Unfortunately, we stayed.
It took at least 20 minutes for anyone to come over and bring us menus. The menu only had a couple of choices on it, and none of them sounded great. I opted for some sort of egg sandwich with eggs, cheese, and taylor ham. The menu said it was served on french toast with syrup. That sounded pretty gross to me, so I asked if I could substitute plain toast. the waiter said it was no problem. My friend ordered the same thing as me, only without meat.
Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. It took at least an hour (I think maybe longer) for the waiter to come back with our food! When the food arrived, everything was wrong. My sandwich came slathered in syrup on french toast, and my other friend’s meal came covered in bacon when she’s a vegetarian. When we told the waiter we were unhappy with our meals and with the amount of time we spent waiting, he didn’t even apologize or offer to fix it. I believe he just said “oh” and walked away to watch a game that was on TV.
The food was terrible. The service was beyond terrible. I don’t know what else to say about this place except don’t go there for breakfast.
Grades–
For breakfast/brunch: D
For a nightclub: B
I will never go back to this place.
