Mark Dedrick Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Not sure if they ever get completely "full", but I know walking through the Hamilton at lunch (I work in the building so I'll enter through the back) that it certainly looks full, or at least very close to full (not counting the downstairs). And I know that's the case often on weeknights as well for dinner. All three bars will get slammed, and reservations can be impossible to get. I essentially never seek out dining at the Hamilton, but it's extremely convenient, it is way better than the other option in my building, and the food is acceptable to a wide range of diners, which makes it work well with clients. The half price sushi from 3-6 is also a fantastic deal, and is great if I had to skip lunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraB Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 I recently heard that someone couldn't get a weekend reservation at Range. The only possible thing I can think of is that they just don't have the staff (either BOH or FOH) to handle it, despite empty seats in the house. I can't picture either of these two restaurants actually being "full." That might explain the really lousy service at Range -- not enough wait staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dedrick Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Given that the World Cup has started up, I'll recommend the Hamilton as a place to eat lunch (or a late lunch or early dinner for the 3 pm or 6 pm matches) at watch the games. It isn't ideal viewing, but particularly if you're able to enjoy half priced sushi it's not a bad deal at all. Also, in cases of emergency, like last night for me, it's substantially less crowded than more traditional venues, and as a result can work as a place where you stand perfectly still and have trouble breathing for 80 minutes of game time while Ghana places the American goal under siege. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibbee Nayee Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Enjoyed The Baseball Project at The Hamilton last night. The food was pretty good -- leaps and bounds over what you can get at the Birchmere, and the venue is a lot nicer. Started with the special -- gazpacho. Really delicious, with chunks of lump crab. The edamame was a generous portion, with ample sea salt sprinkled all over, and the bento trio featured beautiful sashimi. Also had the pizza carbonara with an egg, and it was better than you would expect from such a venue. I was surprised that the full menu upstairs wasn't available in the music venue. That's unlike most Clyde's, where everything is usually available everywhere. The upstairs bars were hopping on a Thursday night, so between the Old Ebbitt Grill and The Hamilton, Clyde's is rolling in revenue along this little chunk of F Street territory... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithA Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Enjoyed The Baseball Project at The Hamilton last night. The food was pretty good -- leaps and bounds over what you can get at the Birchmere, and the venue is a lot nicer. Started with the special -- gazpacho. Really delicious, with chunks of lump crab. The edamame was a generous portion, with ample sea salt sprinkled all over, and the bento trio featured beautiful sashimi. I agree. I went to the Hamilton for the first time several weeks ago and pleasantly surprised by the good quality and tastiness of the bento box. The desserts were decadent and good too. Nice venue and pretty good food for decent prices - definitely worth a visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genevieve Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 May be going to The Hamilton for concert this week - has anyone had the crab cake? I would normally avoid it in a music venue, but since they're a Clyde's restaurant, I'm guessing it will be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genericeric Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 May be going to The Hamilton for concert this week - has anyone had the crab cake? I would normally avoid it in a music venue, but since they're a Clyde's restaurant, I'm guessing it will be good. The Crab Cakes I've had in the past here have been as good as the other Clyde's, and I've found the presentation/sides are more interesting than the standard Tom's Potatoes and Corn Chesapeake at many other locations. Side note - I've been told they recently started doing crab cakes in smaller batches to avoid what had become a problem - the fresh cakes were great but many tasted a bit stale. Hopefully that will rectify the problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genevieve Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 The Crab Cakes I've had in the past here have been as good as the other Clyde's, and I've found the presentation/sides are more interesting than the standard Tom's Potatoes and Corn Chesapeake at many other locations. Side note - I've been told they recently started doing crab cakes in smaller batches to avoid what had become a problem - the fresh cakes were great but many tasted a bit stale. Hopefully that will rectify the problem.  Thank you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWBooneJr Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 May be going to The Hamilton for concert this week - has anyone had the crab cake? I would normally avoid it in a music venue, but since they're a Clyde's restaurant, I'm guessing it will be good. The music venue has a much smaller menu than the restaurant. The crabcake sandwich is on it, and it's fairly typical of a Clydes. The maki sushi actually isn't bad, though I wouldn't send anyone there for sushi. You can skip the pizza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweaked Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 It also my understanding that the restaurant and music venue have separate kitchens, with the music venue kitchen not as good as the restaurant kitchen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genevieve Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 I knew the music venue's kitchen had a much smaller menu. I've heard the sushi is actually pretty good, but I only do California rolls or things with cooked shrimp or eel, so would probably go for the crabcake. Blackberry and peach salad with spinach and goat cheese and marcona almonds sounds good to me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dedrick Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Most of the food at the Hamilton looks better, both on the menu and on the plate, than it tastes. That said, you won't get anything actively bad here. If you like the crabcake at Clyde's I'm sure it will be basically the same, whether downstairs or upstairs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibbee Nayee Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Most of the food at the Hamilton looks better, both on the menu and on the plate, than it tastes. That said, you won't get anything actively bad here. If you like the crabcake at Clyde's I'm sure it will be basically the same, whether downstairs or upstairs. Mostly true, although way out in front of other music venues like the Birchmere. When the same quality of act starts coming to the Hamilton that currently goes to the Birchmere, the Birchmere will likely be marginalized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr food Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 The Hamilton was very nice last night. We were quite impressed with the limited menu. Our 3 cheese plate and especially the carbonara pizza were excellent and after requesting the much larger upstairs wine list (excellent!), managing director David Moran decanted the Priorat I ordered. This was a first in a concert setting. My spouse ordered one of the sushi offerings-Yellow Tail-which tasted just ok to me as it could have been fresher. However, this is a minor quibble. Eliane Elias put on a brilliant performance so an extremely pleasant evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopsing Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 I want to give a shout-out to Hamilton management for dealing with my alleged food poisoning incident in January. Â Somebody contacted me a few days after - they have a food safety consultant. Â She had discussed my case with the kitchen and although there were 30+ servings of my dish the same night, nobody reported being sick. Â She chalked it up to norovirus. Â I was impressed with their follow-through after an email I sent. Â I think many other restaurants would have just ignored me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Is it just me or is the lunch menu not popping up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Is it just me or is the lunch menu not popping up? I can't get it to come up either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Thanks for confirming Don. That makes my conversation about avoiding allergens just a little less efficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 The lunch menu comes up for me. Â Maybe it was just offline for a while? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 The lunch menu comes up for me. Â Maybe it was just offline for a while? Yes, it comes up for me now, too (the dinner menu wasn't coming up for me before, either). Hopefully we pointed out a problem and helped them; most likely, the website was simply being updated or undergoing maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 About once or twice a year I end up at a large business lunch at the Hamilton and today was the day for 2016. I have food allergies and I like to look at menus in advance to either pick something allergen free, or so that I can call in advance and get something altered (if it's an easy thing to do). Because I could not see the menu before I went, I opted for sushi (no allergens there, ever) and i really liked it! And yes, I was surprised. the name of the place is "Hamilton" like American Leader Hamilton. Anyway, it was fresh, interesting, had some fun flavors and the coke was good. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 And yes, I was surprised. the name of the place is "Hamilton" like American President Hamilton. Is it time for me to be a pedantic douche? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhollers Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 And yes, I was surprised. the name of the place is "Hamilton" like American President Hamilton. Is it time for me to be a pedantic douche? I mean, he's on the ten...same thing, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodeats Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I mean, he's on the ten...same thing, really. Not for much longer.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 What are you guys talking about? Look at my original post. Don was messing with me because I did a un-detailed review. :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 What are you guys talking about? Look at my original post. Don was messing with me because I did a un-detailed review. :-) Hamilton was never President. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyrotica Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 But he did get shot like one. Too soon? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 HA. Not too soon. I will admit ignorance, and Don, I edited my original post so in an attempt to hide it. Clearly I had a humor fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatruneat Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 I met with a former co-worker for a pre-job interview lunch at The Hamilton earlier this week. I had only been here twice before, once for a lack luster post Cherry Blossom Ten Miler brunch and once for a raucus happy hour, so my expectations were pretty low. There was a lot to choose from, but I ended up going with the Blackened Blue Catfish Sandwich ($11). I was surprised sides didn't come with the entree but I would have rather saved a few dollars over getting some fries I didn't really need. The sandwich itself was a substantial size and was quite filling. The catfish was seasoned cooked well and served on a potato bun with lettuce, "pickle back" mayo, red onions, and tomato. The only unfortunate part was that the catfish did not stay inside the sandwich and made for messy eating. I ended up using a knife and fork. Fortunately, I was with a friend and not on a business lunch or that would have been embarrassing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Wells Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Just had a very nice interview lunch at The Hamilton. Shaved brussels sprouts salad (in a mustardy dressing) and sashimi bento box for me. Both quite good, as was the bread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibbee Nayee Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 I had not previously been to The Hamilton for lunch, but I was invited there today....I have been on a search for the best octopus in town, and the lunch appetizer was surprisingly good. I accompanied it with a wedge salad, also good, and I can safely assert that I will enjoy both again. Hopefully soon. The octopus did not appear to be the scant tentacle that most places offer as the appetizer. There were several meaty char-grilled chunks, assembled with fingerling potatoes and a tangy tomato sauce. The wedge had nice chunks of bacon and a very rich blue cheese dressing. The lunch crowd was on the massive side, and service was sharp. This lunch was a solid B+ on a scale of 10. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 4 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said: This lunch was a solid B+ on a scale of 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 President Biden had lunch at The Hamilton today. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 It's a good spot for private events, FWIW. I went to a birthday party there in December, one of the few times I've been in the presence of a lot of people at one time without masks on in quite a long time. Food (buffet) was fine. Service was good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibbee Nayee Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 Steak Frites at the Hamilton last night was about as good as it gets. Very nicely executed for a place that does a few hundred covers every day. The strip steak was a perfect medium rare, and the fries were right out of the fryer crispy. Not sure what to make of the clump of cress that accompanied the dish, but I ate half of it and it provided a palate cleanse between bites. For a cavernous restaurant such as this, I'm surprised at the quality of individual plates. Around our table was a strip steak entree, with a side of brussels sprouts, a few sushi rolls, and plenty of beverages. Pretty good meal, all in all. At the front of the house, we had a bit of an issue as I arrived and asked for our reserved table....the deafening noise at the bar inside the main door was headache-inducing, and the hostess' attempt to stuff us into a booth was thwarted by my protestations. She wanted to wait for our party to arrive before seating us at a table, and I told her I couldn't wait right there and have my eardrums shattered by the jet-engine-level noise. Luckily, we were seated before I lost my hearing and my temper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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