Level One, 17th & R Streets in East Dupont - Chef Mike Holdcraft in the old FoodBarDC space - Closed

[Tujague]

After being closed for a few years, this place is now known as Level One. I can't speak to the food here, but they served me the most gawdawful martini I've ever had in my life on Friday night. Bob and I had agreed to meet some friends at Cobalt for drinks, but we were surprised to find them sitting on the patio outside, so we ordered our usual Friday night happy hour vodka martinis. The waiter seemed barely of legal age, and terrified at that. It took a good twenty minutes to get two basic martinis, and they arrived served without olives or twist with two small jiggers of what didn't fit in the glass on the side. Everything seemed okay, so we clinked glasses, sipped--and said simultaneously, "This isn't vodka." We tasted the side jiggers--also not vodka. Our friends tasted the martinis and agreed, "That's not vodka." We got the waiter to take them back and said we didn't want them and to just take them off the bill (why wait another twenty minutes to get a lousy martini?). A bit later the manager came out to "apologize," said the bartender told her that they were all vodka and that he hadn't even added vermouth to them, offered again to get us new drinks, and then gave us a card for 10% off a future meal. The waiter came cowering back, stuttered out, "I apologize" (really, we weren't a scary group!), and handed us the bill: They had left the martinis on the tab, discounted by 40%, even though we hadn't drunk them. Paid cash, no tip, and fled--forever. Unbelievable.

[ElGuapo]

We went there recently for a brunch and had an excellent time. I'm sure the Unlimited Mimosas had something to do with that.