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Category: American (Traditional) [Edit]
1306 G St NWMetro Center (Red, Blue, Orange)
Tue-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
"Probably one of my favorite dive bars in DC. It's teeny, but that kind of adds to its appeal. I hate crowded bars, but somehow it works…" read more »
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I read the reviews and was weary but still wanting to check it out b/c of its location and curiosity.
It's much nicer on the inside than what I expected. The staff was exceptional. Truly. The host was SUPER attentive and listening to all my random questions about "Law firm appreciation" Night which gets you 20% off the WHOLE tab. The happy hour actually goes through 8 pm, another awesome feature. And they've got quite a few tv's. We stayed upstairs - so i didn't get to check out the downstairs. Our waitress was pretty friendly, attentive and on the ball as well.
I only gave it four stars b/c the food could have been a little better - but i'm also very picky. The sliders (chicken one - and i dont like chicken very much- and pulled bbq one) were AWESOME. The taquitos were lacking. and The spinach dip was average. The Calamari was good.
I'm going back and may try to make this a regular hang out - the location is key - long happy hour, great service and decent food makes it a four star.
It would be nice if they had the NFL package but they are closed on sunday! The location would be excellent for some Downtown/PQ/Chinatown residence to go and watch that may not be too crowded!
Totally underwhelming. I went here for a friend's birthday, as he's a regular. I'd never been, but was intrigued to find a bar in the middle of Metro Center (I didn't really know that existed...)
Beers weren't even really cheap. A Miller Lite (which tasted more like pisswater than usual) was like $4.50. WHAT? I've NEVER paid so much for that. It was kind of horrifying.
Tablemates ordered the crab mac and cheese, which I didn't try, but to be honest, it looked awful. Probably boxed macaroni noodles with the thinnest of cheese sauce and no discernable bits of crab. Our waitress, was, to put it lightly, a bit of a bitch. I get it, you're a waitress, your job sucks, but your job is also to pretend that you're happy and serve your customers.
Needless to say, even though it wasn't terribly busy, I probably won't be back. I guess I won't be becoming a regular anytime soon.
I was part of a group event last night here. To start, it was a decent looking place, with a good atmosphere and had plenty of happy hour specials, which to me earned them a plus.
We sit as a group in their private dining room at 6:30 pm. Happy hour ends at 7pm. I order a beer that is still on special. After taking the order of the entire table (there's about ten of us), 20 minutes goes by and still no beer. I decide to go out to the main bar and get the drink instead. I am not trying to be petty about this, but if you have a happy hour and specials, it is the kind of thing a server should be cognizant of.
I ordered the thai chicken flatbread and it was actually pretty good!!! Just the perfect kind of light, flavorful thing. It came with a side of french fries, which were very average.
On balance, it was an average place. Wouldn't recommend it or recommend against it. Hence the three stars.
Based on the name, I thought this place was going to be lame, but each time I go I really like it. It's big so it's never crowded, and the food is mostly regular bar food, but it's all really tasty stuff. I've had and like the southwest Tex-Mex rolls, grilled chicken sandwich, burgers, fries, and mac and cheese. Good place for happy hour, though there aren't any spectacular beer deals. Friendly and attentive waitstaff too.
We work close to Laughing Man so it is easy for us to run down for take out or eat in. We love their Buffalo Chicken sandwich (special on Thursdays) it does come with toppings though (cheese, bacon, lettuce & tomatoe) which I am not a fan of just give me the Buffalo Chicken. Loved their pork sandwich as well.
When I look at 3 stars i translate it to: "average", which to me is slightly less then the yelp-defining "A-OK".
Part of me wants to add another half star for the great service we got from our waitress, (who brought out free food for us during the Penn State football gathering I was a part of); and for the atmosphere, which was great for the game, with nice HDTVs in view of all seats; and for the bar that was sufficiently covered in dark woods that added the right amount of "nice-bar" feel.
But part of me wants to subtract a half star for the extremely bland taquitos that looked great on the plate but disappointed my mouth (even at the reduced happy hour price), or the free mozzarella sticks that ended up being a parlor trick for "where's the cheese?" instead of a meal (I must have bit into 8 sticks with the same result). Those were embarrassing, though the flat bread with fries that was ordered across the table did not disappoint its predator.
So as we meander to the end of this review, it is found that 3 stars actually does fit the bill (my definition, not yelp's). Imagine that. Now, if I find cheese where it is supposed to be in future visits, I will revise my 3 star definiton to match yelp's.
I will return to this bar for future game watching, and we should all hope the search for cheese and flavored taquitos will get easier in subsequent visits.
I have not eaten anything other then appetizers at LMT. But I will counter the charge of mediocrity. As a nearby federal attorney who takes advantage of the 20% off for attorney Tuesdays, I've been three or four times. On my last trip to LMT, it had been several weeks since I'd been in due to travel. The downstairs bartender remembered my name and my drink of choice. That is hardly the epitome of mediocrity. That is the hallmark of a good bartender, and I will be returning there this evening.
It's clean.
It's new.
It doesn't have Verizon BB service in the basement so I can drink in peace from work.
And the waitstaff is friendly and courteous.
If your office is like Dunder-Mifflin and you need a place to host the Dundies, this is it. It's oddly...undecorated? Like they were going for a "Shenanigans"-type feel, but didn't have a big enough tchotchkes/flair budget?
Happy hour here was nothing special. $4 Blue Moon. $4 (small) spinach-artichoke dip with a few gummy bread slices. Not crowded. Bartender/manager was friendly and outgoing, but table service was slow and unfriendly.
I guess if you work locally, this could be your spot, but I wouldn't specifically recommend it or go out of my way to return.
This place is the epitome of mediocrity. It felt like Bennigan's and TGI Friday's decided to collaborate and open a bar together. The space is nice enough but not memorable or unique, the menu is boring and the waitstaff was plain bad.
Was it terrible? No, not really. But nothing was spectacular. We came here after our softball game got rained out, and it was pouring, so we ended up spending two hours here waiting for the rain to die down. I was with a big group, so I got to sample the taquitos, quesadillas, wings, thai chicken flatbread and calamari. They were discounted during happy hour, which was probably their most redeeming attribute. Otherwise as a whole they were greasy, bland and dry.
I guess I'd come here again for a drink but I wouldn't go to far out of my way to pick this bar, and I'd avoid the food.
Above average food. Nothing special though. I had the drunken salmon sandwich. Decent variety of beers. Reasonable prices
This review is only for the bar at Laughing Man downstairs. This place is a good option for a low-key happy hour. The beer selection is good, the food was decent and the bartender was attentive. I only give it 3-stars because there doesn't seem to be the critical mass to make this place a "must." It's A-OK.
But I'll revisit again for the convenience and be satisfied. I wouldn't go there to linger though.
Shrug!
That pretty much sums up my opinion of LMT. I give it the benefit of the doubt in 3 stars simply because in this neighborhood happy hours that don't require you to mortgage something or sell your first born can be in short supply.
But that being said - this place fails to inspire me to ever want return of my own choosing. (I might get dragged here from time to time.) Have been here for HH with the crew from work and to catch up with a friend on occasion after a long day. The biggest thing the place has going for it is its proximity to Metro Center. I just find it lacks character.
Of note - If you're the type who likes to hang out at the bar for happy hour, LMT is not for you. The bar is impossibly small and LMT is more the grab a table/booth and get wait service type of place. Still trying to figure out how service works if you choose to stay at one of the standing tables (there are a few stools) in the front near the bar. I've either had the random server or the over-worked bartender taking care of us and in either case service has been... Meh.
Each time I've been all the HH specials were beer related (useless as not a beer drinker), they don't have cider (in bottles or on tap) and if the HH noshes were any worse I'd be the poster child for the rebellion. At least they were only $4.
But $4 for excessively oily taquitos filled with flavorless,dry chicken or marginal fried calamari isn't really any type of bargain. Dipping sauces can be a little roulettish. One one visit my table spent a considerable time puzzling over the strange combination of sour cream and corn kernels that was the taquito sauce. Sad when the plate garnish is the high point.
They also serve lunch so I might drop by to try that and see if the food is any better. That is if I can shake the overwhelming apathy I have for the place.
Wow, this place was completely sucktastic. It started off when my friend and I ordered vodka sodas with lime. Not terribly complicated, right? But they came back as vodka tonics. Alright, I don't care for the taste of tonic, but I sucked it up, both literally and figuratively.
Time for the next round, we again asked for vodka sodas with lime. The waiter repeats, "Ok, two vodka tonics." "No," I correct him, "vodka sodas." "Ok," and he's off to get our drinks...
When they come back, guess what. Vodka tonics. This time, I'm not drinking it and I tell him that it's a vodka tonic. He yells over to the bartender, who insists it's a vodka soda. For fuck's sake, man, I can tell that this sugary monstrosity is a vodka tonic. The waiter shrugs and brings us back, finally, vodka sodas.
Ok, I'm hungry. Let's order the seared ahi tuna appetizer. When it arrives, guess what. Vodka tonics. No, ok, but the nastiest tuna I've ever tasted. This is not good fish. Not at all. I have one bite and we're done with that.
The manager-ish type, who was a nice guy, took it off the bill, but that's par for the course. A waiter who can't take an order and a bartender who can't make a simple drink are not.
My friends and I came here last Friday night around 11ish and closed the bar down. It's just half a block from one of the exits of Metro Center, so that was really convenient for us to just wander/stumble over. The bar is 2 stories, and we went downstairs to meet up with a couple others who had been at the bar probably since happy hour began many hours ago. The bartenders are all really friendly and the tap selection isn't too bad either. I think I had the "G St Brew" or whatever their house draft was... it was an amber beer of some sort. Pretty tasty though.
I work a couple metro stops from Metro Center, so I can definitely see myself going for HH here after work in the near future. Hopefully their HH specials and food keep me coming back in the future!
So great to have another good HH spot near my office for when we're sick of M&S Grill and tired of fighting crowds at Chef Geoff's. (This neighborhood is a bit dead on the weekends though, so I'll be interested to see how their business is on Saturday nights.) The HH was great, wait staff and bartenders were very friendly, and I loved the atmosphere. Will probably be a good place for a beer after a Caps game if places in Chinatown get too crowded.
Docked a point for the hideous logo - that laughing man graphic scares me. Seriously, its freaky.
My friend and I entered the bar area assuming we had to remain there to
benefit from HH specials, but no! we could sit at a booth and reap all
of the benefits of those standing at the bar. As we later
discovered, there was even more room to sit, stand or just spread out
around the bar downstairs to boot!
The service was chipper and attentive and presented us with a generous HH beer selection for under $4 (7-9pm). They also offered 6 or so appetizer specials, 2 of which we had - the chicken wings and the spinach dip. The spinach dip was rich and delightful, the wings were less so, but we gobbled them up all the same.
It wasn't noisy so my friend and I didn't have to yell at each other over a din for an hour and a half.
In sum, this is a fantastic place for HH, especially for larger groups. So much more space during HH than at McCormick and Schmick's or Ella's and good beer specials.
I just returned from lunch (with coworkers, once again) at the Laughing Man Tavern, and was very pleased with the meal. Our group of 8 ordered a wide range of dishes -- from a flatbread sandwich, to a veggie burger, to fish and chips -- and everyone was happy with their lunch. My grilled chicken caesar salad was just the right size for lunch.
We looked mournfully at the happy hour appetizer specials, and wished we could have a drink, but all in all, the price was right and the food was delicious.
My coworkers and I had just planned on having a drink or two after work last night at Laughing Man… Read more »
Laughing Man just about the only consitant happy hour group of local office types downtown. Lots of drink specials and I have never had a cold frech fry in this place. Mark is the tall bartender that remembers everyone's name and drops 20% off your check for regulars on special nights.
Two and a half stars. Seems like a perfectly acceptable place for an office happy hour: nothing too offensive on the menu or in the beer line up. Laid out on two floors that formerly housed Reeve's (I miss their strawberry pie), their dozen or so taps didn't hold anything too exciting (Fordham being the most interesting). The basement was way too loud, the upstairs bar smaller and quieter.
I went here on St. Patrick's Day for happy hour with co-workers. The location is great and right next to Metro Center. The tavern is very spacious and the service was excellent. The drink specials were a good deal too-$4 rail drinks and $4 beer specials. Certain appetizers were $4 also but I did not try the food. I definitely plan on going back.
I would have to agree with Lindsey R (see below). Big Carpool, Mackey's, Buffalo Billard's fan and a little let down when we visited for lunch. I would sell my soul to the devil for a plate of taquitos from Carpool/Mackey's/etc; luckily it only cost about $7-$8 for a 6 peice platter. At LMT, cost was higher and platter was smaller (4 peice). Their HH looked awesome, environment was great, and staff was very friendly/accommodating. I think I'll be more satisfied with HH.
An actual Happy Hour in Chinatown/Verizon Center/Metro Center area; now there's a novel idea.
Arlington, VA
Category: Pool Halls
Neighborhood: Logan Circle
Category: Pubs
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