Station 9, 14th and U Streets - Chef Terrell Danley's Southern American in a 1912 Post Office Building - Closed

[New Foodie]

I tried looking for a topic on this place but wasn't able to search with a number in the query and scrolled back a bunch of pages and didn't see it. If this is a duplicate, please combine the posts.

http://www.station9dc.com/

Has anyone been to the new U St place? Tom Sietsema has apparently been 4 times and liked it but someone from his chat wrote in a pretty negative review yesterday. I am planning to go with a few friends later this month and just hadn't heard much about the restaurant yet.

[JLK]

I went (not my idea) and it was a mixed bag. Huge space that was mostly empty. A strip steak that was surprisingly decent. Shrimp that were not.

The service was not good. One example: I ordered a glass of Viognier and my pronunciation was corrected by the waitress.

[Pat]

I went (not my idea) and it was a mixed bag. Huge space that was mostly empty. A strip steak that was surprisingly decent. Shrimp that were not.

The service was not good. One example: I ordered a glass of Viognier and my pronunciation was corrected by the waitress.

Different restaurant, but this reminded me of a comment Tom made yesterday. (Search for Viognier in the page and you should find it quickly.)

I guess some pronunciations are pet peeves of servers, but there's a time to bite one's tongue.

[JLK]

Here's the thing: my pronunciation was correct. I know how to say Viognier. The server did not, but seemed to think she did. My two friends cracked up when she left our table.

By the way, the menu is all over the place. Asian-fusion in one dish, Mexican in another and then pasta too.

[Dave Pressley]

The server did not, but seemed to think she did. My two friends cracked up when she left our table.

All right, I'll bite. What was the server's pronunciation?!

[DonRocks]

By the way, the menu is all over the place. Asian-fusion in one dish, Mexican in another and then pasta too.

Sounds like Tor Johnson might like it!

[JLK]

All right, I'll bite. What was the server's pronunciation?!

vwahn-YAY.

[MeMc]

I do like Terrell Danley, the chef behind Creme on U St; he's the exec chef in the kitchen. It is a huge space that in the first couple of months, might be tough to fill. Hopefully, the service will be ironed out. I want to go back to see how things are working out. I haven't been since the summer.

[TedE]

2 stars

[New Foodie]

Went to Station 9 on Tuesday night and enjoyed it. The service was spotty (having a few different servers, brought the wrong wine at first, little bit of a wait between salads and mains, etc...but since it's new and the food and company were good, our meal wasn't negatively affected).

Two of us started out with the Caesar Salad which was nothing out of this world, but was good. The other two got the "Simple Salad" which turned out to be not that simple. It was mixed greens and veggies in a vinegrette piled high into a crispy dough bowl. A little difficult to eat without making a mess, but the reports were that it was good. We actually ordered Mo' Rockin' Beef Rolls that never came to our table, but we were so full by the end we were thankful for this little mishap.

I had the Chipotle Shrimp (with Jasmine rice, sweet plantain and baby bok choy) and boy was it spicy! Good spicy, but definitely not for the faint of heart. The rice had a nice, subtle flavor and the plantains helped to mellow the spice of the sauce. One friend got the BBQ chicken (with grilled veggies and potato salad). This was seriously an entire half chicken on the plate! The taste I had was good, but BBQ chicken is BBQ chicken. The peanut chicken got good reviews but since I'm not a big fan of peanut sauces I didn't really venture into that dish. Last was the scallops with potato, broccoli rabe and bacon. I think I'd try this the next time I went back. Five good sized scallops and a big pile of potatoes and rabe. Well-cooked and seasoned and a good overall dish.

Desserts sounded good, but again, too full. Obviously some kinks they're still working out, but I think a good addition to the city's dining scene. I love the interior space and the fact that it's fairly quiet despite the high ceilings. It was about 3/4 full when we went and the server mentioned they had been getting overwhelmed since the review.

Bottom line is that I'd definitely go again!

[SCinDC]

Went to Station 9 on Saturday before heading to the 9:30 club for a concert... put me in the "not pleased" camp.

The good: the space and location are excellent. It really is a pretty spot, and (I now see why) wasn't crowded. From the outset it looked like things would be good... then, all downhill from there.

Once we were seated (at 7:40pm) it took 10-15 minutes before a server showed up to take our drink order. We ordered our drinks (beer and wine only--they were out of my first beer choice) and then started waiting. Another 15 minutes or passed and a somewhat apologetic server returned to take our dinner order. As was the case with the beer, they didn't have my first choice entree, so I settled on the burger.

Another 5 minutes (about 30 minutes, perhaps even later -- I wasn't waching the clock at this point, after we sat down) and the drinks finally showed up. (I will admit I get especially irritated by this -- it should never take 30 minutes to DELIVER beer and wine).

Thankfully I was with a fun group, because it took almost another solid HOUR for our food to arrive (it came, I looked, at 9:25, a good hour and a half after we sat down) -- and this in a restaurant that did not have every table full. Hilariously, every time food came out from the kitchen, you could see numerous tables looking at it, wishing and hoping it was their food. When it did come, my (second choice) burger was charred to a crisp and completely flavorless, my wife's peanut chicken was so overcooked it was like chicken flavored gum, and my friend's salmon cake was blackened to a crisp. Everyone else's food was okay to poor at best. There's almost no sense going into details here -- were ordered 7 dishes and none were remarkable.

The waitress came to ask how it was, and I told her -- and I told her I did NOT want send the burger back as we needed to get to the club by 10pm. Nonetheless, the waitress TOOK my friend's salmon cake and replaced it with a (burnt) chili cheese dip she didn't order. We assumed that meant she would show back up fairly quickly (as she didn't even ask my friend if she wanted to send the salmon back) with the salmon cake, but no dice. We never recieved the salmon cake (and, they at least didn't charge for that).

There wasn't a single apology, I'm sorry, or anything for the incredibly long wait (if you're wondering we left, after a delay with the bill, at almost 10:15 --- two and a half hours after we arrived -- which isn't long for dinner, if you, say, have appetizers and desert, but way way too long for one course), poor food prep, or failure to replace the salmon cake. We did however get an $8 free dish that no one ordered or wanted.

I wanted this to be a good place -- the menu was interesting, and the space great, but it turned out to be far and away the worst dining experience in terms of quality of service and food I've had in DC. It's a shame that a great spot like Creme is associated with this disaster.

On a positive note, we went to Ben's Chili bowl after the show and had a wonderful dinner.

[rbh]

I was there for the first time on Saturday night too... before going to Black Cat. I have to agree with SCinDC's about the slow service.. we were probably seated about the same time... and were only a bit more fortunate to get our food about 9pm... probably aided by the fact most of us got drinks at the bar before proceeding to the table. The most odd thing was that 3 people got their food first (the salmon dishes and the steak), and then about 8 minutes later, the two roast chicken dishes and a veggie dish show up. The last did not show up until some prompting... and she ordered two apps for dinner (grilled calamari and the simple salad). So the dinner entrees showed up over a 15-20 minute period. We finally prodded the folks that got their dishes first to eat lest it get cold... though apparently the salmon had been sitting out a while. The salmon folks declared the salmon itself good... but everything else about the dish not so much. The roast BBQ chicken was tasty... me and the other person that got it were quite pleased... it's not necessarily that it has a "wow" factor... but it was well done dish... half a chicken served on grilled peppers and onions... served with a nice dallop of potato salad and grilled corn on the cob. and at $15 I think a good value.

The space really is very nice though the split bars up front is a bit odd. I'll go again... I'd like to try the brunch... it probably won't be a place in the regular rotation... but I think it's a nice addition to the neighborhood. Hopefully they can get their service times down... I didn't pay enough attention to see if it was a lack of wait staff problem... or maybe a kitchen backup problem. I'm sure (hope?) there will be some menu tweaking also as they figure out what works and what doesn't....

[Tujague]

After rejecting our usual post-Happy Hour spots Friday night, Bob and I headed to Station 9 to see if we could snag an 8 PM table without a reservation. Most of the booths on either side of the huge space were occupied, but the middle section was nearly empty, so we were seated immediately. The staff was friendly, but not overly so as Tom Sietsema's review implied, so apparently they got the message to tone it back. Bob went for a "Special Delivery" cocktail which was extremely pineapple-y and foamy, served in a tall stainless steel martini glass; I stuck with what turned out to be just an okay glass of cabernet. Overall, the service was a bit leisurely but not objectionably slow, marred really only by a bit of confusion about who should take our orders.

Started with the "Mo' Rockin' Beef Rolls" that were much less lame than their name implies--in fact, they were quite tasty, though not very large, served with a sort of tabbouleh, a bit of salad, and a relish. Good beginning. Bob had the peanut chicken, which seemed like a respectable variation of a Thai dish, not overly sweet (ironic, however, since he had rejected the other Thai restaurants I had suggested for dinner!). My scallops with potatoes and rabe was nicely executed overall--five large bivalves, maybe cooked just a hair too long--though I wasn't convinced that the varying tastes and textures totally held together. It was the sort of dish that succeeded in spite of itself, which is maybe a good description of our overall meal: at any point, I had the sense the food or service could have easily fallen apart, which leaves one with a bit of dis-ease, but all in all it wound up being an enjoyable experience, and I'd be glad to give it another try.

[DonRocks]

I stopped into a bar on my way home this evening, and ran into brian. We chatted a bit, and I told him about an unbelievably bad meal I had at Station 9 last week.

"Tim Carman just wrote about that place on his blog," he said.

"Yeah, well ... that must have been the same meal - I was there with him and his wife."

I just found what he wrote (click), and it was too gentle, in my opinion. This meal at Station 9 was the worst semi fine-dining experience I've had since I went to Overwood in July. To put it in perspective, that's 150-200 restaurant visits.

After reading Carman's rant, I suppose I could add some depth and perspective, but he said it more than well enough. And when he pulled that screw out from under him at the end of the meal? The irony and the timing were perfect. And hilarious!

And look at the wine list!

Cheers,

Rocks.

[mdt]

I just found what he wrote (click), and it was too gentle, in my opinion.

That is a great read from Carman and if that is too gentle, well all I can say is yikes! Seems like they put just as much thought and care into the wine list as they do in preparing the food.

[Keithstg]

wine list

Dayum. Maybe they should take those five bottles I want to get rid of. Even those would be an improvement...

[Pete]

And look at the wine list!

Looks like they buy from my local Giant!

[JLK]

[dying to say I told you so]

This place, I have to say, was crap when I went there so I was stunned when Sietsema's review ran. The menu is all over the place and the food was not good. Oh, and need I remind you of the waitress and the viognier incident (see above).

[DonRocks]

The service was not good. One example: I ordered a glass of Viognier and my pronunciation was corrected by the waitress.

vwahn-YAY.

Oh, and need I remind you of the waitress and the viognier incident (see above).

Look at the misspelling on the wine list ("Voignier"). This would, in fact, be pronounced Vwahn-yay - don't blame your server for the mispronunciation!

[DonRocks]

I tried looking for a topic on this place but wasn't able to search with a number in the query and scrolled back a bunch of pages and didn't see it. If this is a duplicate, please combine the posts.

http://www.station9dc.com/

Has anyone been to the new U St place? Tom Sietsema has apparently been 4 times and liked it but someone from his chat wrote in a pretty negative review yesterday. I am planning to go with a few friends later this month and just hadn't heard much about the restaurant yet.

You know, I need to get on the ball.

I hadn't heard anything, at all, about Station 9 in so long that I can't even remember when the last time was. Today, I wrote a friend about it, and found out it closed about two years ago.