busboys and poets

met friends for breakfast on a sunday morning, sat on the patio. wonderful area, lots of dogs joining their owners. food was excellent, and prices reasonable. service was prompt, despite our server being overtasked. will be coming back again!

great food - horrible service & management. the server knew nothing about the artisan beers they carried. i watched our server and manager chatting as our food came out incorrect. this is of course after he had forgotten to order our appi... server fail!

i would like to preface this with saying i am usually very patient and understanding, i don’t like complaining when it’s unnecessary.
i didn’t even complain when i had to wait for my food 20 extra minutes last night, when i had already ordered ahead 30 minutes prior.

but the hostess’ attitude was like nothing i’ve ever come across before.
she was snapping at almost every single person that approached her for their order. she acted as if we had all come in to personally annoy her and talked like a fed up preschool teacher.
i was honestly amazed that nobody snapped back at her, this was the most well behaved group of customers i’ve seen in my life. the food was obviously running late so the crowd was starting to grow. instead of trying to get a handle on the situation, she’d snap at customers telling them they couldn’t stand/wait in certain places, even though there were no signs regarding where we were supposed to wait, and again not our fault the food was running late.

standing there waiting for my food i had more than sufficient time to observe her and i was shocked about how her attitude changed when it came to the person she was talking to.

to the delivery guys she was super aggressive. they were very quiet older middle eastern men who spoke very little english, who she knew couldn’t defend themselves. all they did to warrant her attitude was say “please, pick up” and show her their phone screens, but obviously this was too much of an inconvenience for her. then when it came to people of color, she would turn it down a notch but still had an unnecessary amount of attitude.
but i was shocked that when white people and white couples approached her, her attitude would magically disappear and she would suddenly become attentive and helpful. i have been fortunate enough to grow up in northern virginia which is a very diverse area, so i’ve never personally experienced anything like i did last night, which is why i’m honestly so taken aback.

in summary, the hostess needs better training or simply not have a position that involves directly working with people. also the sweet potato fries were stale and the food was ehh, but regardless i left having lost my appetite.

what a cute, artsy spot. we ate on the lounge on stage and absolutely loved the french toast and sweet potato pancakes!

definitely not under $10

eclectic atmosphere with not your average menu and drink options. fantastic place for dinner with foodie friends.

disappointed. i'd heard good things about this restaurant and really wanted to try it out. my son and i were meeting our family in shirlington and we went in to get a table. well, the host was not capable of making decisions and had us standing there waiting until he finally said we needed at least one more person from our party before they could seat us! well, the rest of our party was arriving together and there was no way that was going to happen. we were going to eat first. needless to say, the customer service and problem solving skills were significantly lacking! we ate at another place in shirlington which ended up being pretty good, medi. we've been back there since. no visits to this place any time soon!

one of my favorites! go out of my way when in the general vicinity to scarf down the vegan quesadillas and salmon (on spinach wheatberry salad or as an entre). always great, attentive service even when packed. love!

don't go with parties over 4. i had a birthday party with 11 people- waited 45 min after the manager said they would have a table for us- which was a lie because we got there an no one knew anything about it. could not get the check at the end of the night- half the table left leaving money on table. even after half the table had left no one came over to give a bill for 30 more min. staff offered to seat the group at 3 different tables rather than together... great idea.... except we wanted to be together as it was a party. food was excellent, but it is difficult when you have service people lying to you and refusing to accommodate people. a horrible experience for what should have been a wonderful night.

no service in shirlington. honestly, when the wait staff takes on the attitudes created by the hippy decor, its downhill all the way. no smiles, tables ignored, people walking out when no one comes to take an order - more like dead poets society then busboys and poets. much better choices in shirlington over this poorly managed restaurant - 3 strikes and we are out.

expected more, but enjoyed breakfast. after some reviews on here and elsewhere, i expected a great brunch but bad service. what i got was decent service and a fair brunch. i expected more breakfast selections, but i enjoyed what i got (a mimosa, the french toast, and hash). the people with me enjoyed their meals as well.

good food, poor breakfast selection. found this gem at random thanks to urbanspoon. we were looking for a place with pancakes and other standard breakfast items. the food was cooked very well and tasted great but was not really what we were looking for. subject says it all.

great place, can't believe i haven't been here before. the reviews nailed it - this place is a real find. i loved everything from the casual atmosphere (even the furniture is an eclectic mix of dining / living areas) to the refined presentation of their dishes. the waitstaff were friendly, the service was prompt, and the food wonderful. on top of that, around half their menu is vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, or a combination. they're a short walk from the main garage in shirlington, so parking isn't an issue. all in all the best dining experience i've had in months.

brunch. don't bother for any other meal. but this will be one of the best brunches you ever have. just order the french toast, iraqi hash, peanut butter and jelly ... order anything and it will be fantastic. but expect to wait 30 minutes.

great food and good service during a very packed lunch time rush. we had to wait about ten minutes to get a table and were seated a bit close to the front door, but our waitress was attentive and engaging so it balanced out. she made a point of bring our four year olds food early so she knows how kids can be. definitely an amazing experience.