Kingbird at The Watergate Hotel

Review summary

1. A

   Anna Marie

   West Palm Beach

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 20 January 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Our Steak came out under cooked, then upon request came back over cooked. The service was horrible with almost 15 minutes pass before the staff came back to the table to check on our meal. Lack of attention to fill/ refill our water and address our concerns over our meal. Staff didn’t even send the manager over as a courtesy. Very disappointed especially given the money we spent and the expectations and excitement we had for this meal.
   

   Is this helpful?

2. A

   Anna

   Jacksonville

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on 19 January 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Excellent service, beautiful decor. Loved the oysters and squash soup in it edible acorn squash bowl.
   

   Is this helpful?

3. J

   Julia

   Washington DC

   52 reviews

   3.0

   52 reviews

   Dined on 18 January 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Kingbird is a convenient place to have a quiet dinner before attending an event at the Kennedy Center. The restaurant has a good wine list offering a variety of interesting choices. I think the quality of food is very good - but it's a bit pricey. I would say that one pays for the ambience than for the food - but good ambiance is rare these days. I really appreciated a low noise level that enabled me to have a very nice quiet chat with my friend.
   

   Is this helpful?

4. S

   Sharyn

   VIP

   New York City

   129 reviews

   5.0

   129 reviews

   Dined on 18 January 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   What a wonderful restaurant. We were well taken care of Our food was delicious and when two of the dinners came out cold, they graciously replaced them and removed them from our bill. The service was excellent. Great wine list.
   

   Is this helpful?

5. S

   Sandra

   VIP

   Washington DC

   5 reviews

   3.0

   5 reviews

   Dined on 18 January 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   They made a big effort with afternoon tea - the staff was very accommodating, and the desserts were lovely. But the sandwiches were on stale bread and tasted like they had been made the day before and the scones were both stale and tiny. Afternoon tea should have big fluffy scones, and these were a disappointment.
   

   Is this helpful?

6. C

   Cynthia

   New York City

   30 reviews

   5.0

   30 reviews

   Dined on 4 January 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The entire high tea experience was perfect and ideal. Everything was perfect! The foods outstanding. The tea selection was so many it was hard to choose from. We each were satisfied with our selections and recommendations from our server. It was a wonderful afternoon and I would highly recommend this for a special afternoon with friends and family. Plus they have a no cell phone use policy. It was nice quiet conversations, exactly how dining out should be. Thank you to everyone who made our cold afternoon a delight.
   

   • 
   • 

   Is this helpful?

7. S

   Sharon

   Pittsburgh

   2 reviews

   3.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 2 January 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 2

   The club music while dinning was really not welcomed and the food was over priced. Kingbird appears to be holding on to the early 90’s when it comes to the decor. I feel that it’s not rude to state these facts when the food is so over priced.
   

   Is this helpful?

8. J

   Jamie

   Washington DC

   8 reviews

   3.0

   8 reviews

   Dined on 1 January 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 1

   We had to move three times because their lights were flickering and my wife is photo sensitive to strobe lights. The service was so slow, after 2 hours we still had two courses left, which we had to take to go. The kicker: when we got home, we didn't get the quail that was promised or the 2nd creme brulee we asked for. Way over priced, too slow to reliably go before a show and the lightening is a hazard for photo sensitive people.
   

   1 person found this helpful

9. m

   maddy

   New York City

   2 reviews

   3.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 1 January 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 4

   We were excited to attend the New Year’s Eve event at the Watergate Hotel and had high expectations, especially as VIP ticket holders. The event was advertised as a five-course meal followed by dancing in the ballroom, but the ballroom dancing was later relocated to the Kingbird restaurant—a detail we were only informed of after purchasing tickets. I had made prior arrangements with the F&B Manager to accommodate my husband’s dietary restrictions and was assured this would not be an issue. However, when our server arrived, she was unaware of these accommodations and informed us there would be no substitutions. I showed her the email correspondence with the manager, and after checking with the chef, she confirmed that the dietary restrictions were noted. Unfortunately, resolving this took over 30 minutes, causing a significant delay. While the food was good overall, it was extremely rich and overly reliant on butter, which made the courses heavy. The champagne flowed freely throughout the evening, which was a nice touch, and the DJ provided adequate entertainment. That said, the overall experience did not live up to the billing of the event. The miscommunication regarding dietary accommodations, the last-minute change to the venue for dancing, and the richness of the meal left us feeling that the experience fell short of what was promised.
   

   Is this helpful?

10. P

    Patrick

    Washington DC

    6 reviews

    3.0

    6 reviews

    Dined on 31 December 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 3

    Not happy. They gave us a limited choice 4-course $150 each prepaid menu. This is particularly not good for someone like my wife who is vegetarian. We barely ate what was given to us after spending more than $350 for our meals. We will not be eating dinner at the Kingbird on NYE unless they change their menu.
    

    Is this helpful?