I noticed the exits for National Harbor are now open. Looking at their website, it appears a few restaurants are now open.

Looks like there's a steakhouse, seafood place, sports bar, and Italian place. A Potbelly is coming soon.

Just last week, they started water taxi service between National Harbor and Old Town, Georgetown, and Mount Vernon.

It looks like Old Hickory Steakhouse is the stock steakhouse for Gaylord resorts, they also have one at their other resorts. But I really want to hop the water taxi for what I imagine will be a delicious "Italian Market Buffet."

From a WaPo chat last week:


and...

Oh Joy, Ketchup. Just a few lovely nuggets from their menu:
SCANDALOUS LOBSTER WRAPS - Two iceberg lettuce cups, chunks of lobster , mango KETCHUP
PARMESAN-GARLIC RING TOWER - thick-cut sweet vidalia onion rings tossed with parmesan & garlic
BARKING DOGS - two mini kobe beef hot dogs

And the pretentious claptrap continues after the "Shared Credit" appetizers.

Congratulations to our own Little Wing - the Maitre d'Fromage at the Old Hickory Steakhouse. The list of her offerings looks interesting. You can check things out in person at a wine and cheese tasting next Saturday that is part of the Food & Wine Festival.
Best of luck to her in this new endeavor!

Thanks goldenticket! That list is the core of what I'm carrying, but I always have some that aren't on the list, too!

Since I've spent most of my restaurant life at places like Palena and Komi, and my cheese life at Cowgirl and Cheesetique, it's definitely different being at a huge place like Gaylord/Old Hickory. But I was convinced to hop aboard when they told me about the cheese cave they built. And it's a pretty amazing thing to spend every day picking out whatever cool cheeses I want and aging them in the cave, then spend every night with a fully-stocked cart, talking to our guests about cheese and introducing them to all sorts of new deliciousness.

I would love love love to see any fellow rockwellians come in for cheese - just let me know!

And thanks again for the support

Looks like one of the bars is getting the kind of attention that they don't want.

I went for a work function 2 weeks ago and it was as bad as expected. Not as bad as the Pizza Hut lunch buffet, but in terms of value (PH is $8.99, this place was $30+/person with wine), I would probably choose it over this "Market Buffet". Everything was bland, it had the crusted-over feel of sitting out for too long, and the pasta/pizza station choices (the only food that was being made semi-fresh) were incredibly underwhelming. I really love what they have done with the Harbor, but I agree with Tom, they should have consulted some food/restaurant people to give them some thoughts on unique places to give it some character.

We're doing the same on Sunday. From the website there isn't much else, yet.

that clambake looks good but my wife's not gonna want to eat outdoors....

If it stays as cold as it was last night, pobably a good move to avoid.

FYI, there's also a thread on dining at National Harbor, though not too many reports. Sauciety may also be open.

Some restaurants are offering specials if you show them your Kooza ticket on the day of show.

http://www.nationalharbor.com/consumer/ent...ment.htm#cirque

What a monumental cluster f**k!

We went to the 1:00 show of Kooza yesterday (Sunday) and wanted to grab brunch somewhere beforehand. So, we made 11:00 brunch reservations at the Pienza Italian Market at the Gaylord Hotel figuring that would give us enough time to hop on the shuttle bus and head over to the show. When we arrived at 11:00 for our reservations, we found out that they don't open until 11:30. Their website - http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-natio...ffet/index.html - clearly states that they are open at 11:00. And, they even took our reservations for 11:00. Knowing that it would be tough to eat and get to the show in enough time if we didn't get seated until 11:30, and not trusting the restaurant at all at this point, we decided to call Rosa Mexicano to see if they were open. So, I called, they said that they opened at 11:00, we hopped into our car and headed over there, we were there by 11:15. But, when we tried to walk into the restaurant, we were stopped at the door and told that we could not eat unless we had a reservation because their system was down. Not having any clue what the hell that meant, and telling the poor hostess that we had just called five minutes earlier and we assured that we could eat there, she just reiterated that we couldn't go into the restaurant to eat unless we had reservations, which we didn't, but they couldn't check that anyway because their "system was down." Being completely confused and frustrated for the second time that day, we walked to McCormick and Schmick's, grabbed some food there (food was average, service was perfect) and got to the show just in time.

Listen, everything at the National Harbor is brand spanking new. When things start to open, it looks like it is going to be a pretty cool place to hang out. I just don't recommend heading over there this early in the game and expecting it all to work out without any issues. Then again, it is not National Harbor's fault that Pienza and Rosa can't get their crap together, but it leaves a bad taste in your mouth nonetheless.

It also appears that they have a concession tent at the show that opens at 7 p.m. if you just want a panini. Might be easier, if not tastier.

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSole...ntro/bistro.htm

You are correct, if you want to eat on the grounds, they have all the usual fair - hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, etc. - and they had at least one stand that sold some sandwiches/paninis and maybe some salads.

We had our own problems attendng a Sat matinee. I posted in the Rosa Mexicana thread since that's where we went to eat.

We're seeing Cirque du Soleil later this month, and I'm planning on eating an early dinner somewhere in Old Town Alexandria beforehand instead. It's on the way for us since I'll be coming down Route 1 to get on the Beltway in Alexandria, and even before these reports, it didn't sound like there would be that much of an advantage in the way of convenience by eating dinner at National Harbor since you have to take a shuttle (or a taxi in Ericandblueboy's case) anyway.

I'm leaning that way as well. We have two events at National Harbor the weekend we're going, and having one hotel/convention meal is more than enough for one weekend.

My husband and I are planning to go tomorrow and we were thinking about hitting up Hell Burger instead since it's kind of sort of on the way.

WWMeade and I have tickets to Cirque this coming Sunday at 5. I was thinking of stopping somewhere in the neighborhood afterwards for a glass of wine and a light supper of some sort. I'm thinking of oysters and other apps at McCormick & Schmick, or cheese and something else at Old Hickory.

Should I try to make a reservation or just hope to be able to sit in the bar? If a reservation, about how long is the show? I'm guessing we'd be out by 7:30.

I went this past Thursday to the 4 pm show - I got there late because of traffic (so do leave yourself enough time!) but the show, with intermission, ran 2.5 hours. My friend parked near Rosa Mexicano and I parked at the event ($10) - if you park in National Harbor proper, you can take a shuttle to the event, and save money on parking. We ate at Rosa which I would not recommend, except for the guacamole. And, yes, do make a reservation at McCormick's - you should also check the website to see if the restaurant is running any specials tied to Cirque event (i.e. we got free (bad) dessert at Rosa). One more tip - use your Amex card if you buy anything in the Cirque gift shop, and you'll save $5. Enjoy!

Thank you for extremely helpful and detailed information!

We had a time crunch so we ended up going to Mia's since that is close to where I work. We had the devil of a time trying to find the stupid big top, the highway was kind of confusing and then I forgot about the shuttle services so we ended up paying 10 for parking. Still worth it, as every cirque show I've seen has my completly enthralled.

The advice/information given earlier in the thread was extremely helpful to us tonight! We went to the 5:00 show of Kooza, planning to stop for dinner at National Harbor after. After deliberating over all of the information about the open restaurants, I selected McCormick & Schmick, mainly because I wanted some oysters on the halfshell, and I had happy memories of such a treat at the Reston M&S about a year ago. We parked near M&S and took the shuttle to the Plateau. The show was fabulous! But our dinner at M&S was a disaster! They were out of oysters (except for the fried oysters, which were decent), and many other menu items, including fish & chips. I ignored my first instinct, to order the cheeseburger, and went for the "Maryland" crabcake instead. One word: Don't!

If we ever go to another event there, we'll plan to eat elsewhere.