Copycat Co

The reason behind the tree stars instead of four is because of the food. I tried all three baos: beef, veggie, and scallion. They weren’t that great however the skewers were pretty good. I had the beef and spicy pork skewer. They had a kick to them – super spicy but good. The dumplings were crispy but a little oily.
The best part of this place are the cocktails! I got the piña colada and it was amazing! I look forward to coming back and trying all the other cocktails.

Drinks here were good, but a little pretentious. The food was also okay, but minimal. Don’t come here expecting dinner. There is a chance that I might come back if I am in the area, but overall not overly impressed.

I went here off of a recommendation from a acquaintance. When walking in it looks like a carry out but you can order food to go downstairs. If you look to your left there is a set of steps that leads to the bar area. When you sit down you don’t get the normal nuts or chips but goldfish… so cute. This place is tapas… pot stickers, skewers & bao. I got the chicken and veggie pot stickers & the lamb and chicken skewers. The chicken potstickers and skewers were my fav. The veggie potstickers & lamb skewers both were just OK. The lamb & chicken were both very tender.
The staff is very friendly and service is fast.
Drinks were very good.
Prices $ 1.50 for 2 potstickers/​$ 4 for skewers.
The place is meant for a quick drink and some food since seating is limited.
Since it was late I didn’t want to get too much so I’ll be back to try the bao.

On a recent cold winter’s eve, my favorite H Street takeout spot (Dangerously Delicious Pies) turned out to be closed for renovations, and after considering a few other familiar locations, I said to myself, «no, this was an omen, a sign that it’s time to branch out and find something new.» After ending up at Copycat, I feel like I may have interpreted the omen incorrectly.
Walking in around 7:30pm (dinner rush in a big city, no?), the first floor was deserted, nobody even manning the counter at first, not usually a good sign. Guy comes up and takes my order, but no activity ensues in the kitchen, also not usually a good sign. Finally after a surprising wait considering that there was no line and no other food being cooked, I leave with my food hoping to be wowed when I get home and dig in. Nope. The dumplings, while very tasty, are tiny, really one bite each, and while the skewers are a decent size and the chicken is reasonably tasty, the beef is chewy and completely unseasoned. The final insult was that this meager repast, which left me hungry a couple of hours later, cost $ 12, for which price I could have gone home with much more food from either Taylor Gourmet or &pizza on the same block.
Apparently the upstairs is a cocktail bar, so maybe that’s their forte. For Chinese street food takeout, despite the deliciousness of their expensive dumplings, they leave a lot to be desired, and I can’t imagine why I’d come back here.

Opens at 5pm until late, but no happy hour. All cocktails are $ 12 and snacks range from $ 1.50 to $ 4 for potstickers, baos, and skewers. The grilled spicy pork cheek skewers are delicious to gnaw on while you sip your fancy cocktail. When I went, they were out of gold fish and slim jims… Boo. However, the cocktail made up for it. The menu can be overwhelming, so I just told the bartender what I liked, and he whipped up a yummy citrusy bourbon cocktail for me. My bf also really enjoyed his whiskey sour with egg whites.
Copycat has 2 floors, the first being the eat-​in, a bit more dingy area and the upstairs is the lounge, where you can also order food. The lounge filled up by 7pm, so it may be difficult to snatch a seat after that.

I’ve been to Copycat a few times before and from experience, I know the food has great potential to really taste amazing. Tonight in particular, I didn’t enjoy my purchase. I ordered a pork cheek skewer, which was overcooked (I cringed with each bite, as I got a mouthful of char), and 1 order each, of the different potstickers (minus the veggie kind).
Although the potstickers were golden brown and delectable looking, the taste was less than impressive. The filling was extremely salty, making the potstickers hard to eat. I thought if I kept eating, I’d find a better one in the bunch. Unfortunately, they all turned out to be way too salty. Being the penny pincher that I am, I couldn’t let my $ 10 go to waste, & elected to finish the potstickers & burnt skewer off. I gave three stars, based on past, better meals I’ve had here.

Been here twice now and its official I’m in love! The bartenders are amazing and will deliver your hearts desire. But that’s not all the meat on the stick and beef bar are a perfect accompaniment. The meat is tender and flavor is always just right. If you haven’t been here your missing out!

I love this place. Craft cocktails, great atmosphere, knowledgeable bartenders, plus extremely cheap small bites — 2 pot-​stickers for $ 1.50, a bao bun for $ 2 (if I’m not mistaken), and savoury, delicious skewers for $ 4. Every time I make my way to H St I stop by this place for a drink as they always have a new concoction for me to try. The only downside is that the upstairs bar is not good for big groups, but it’s great for a nice date.

Cocktail galore.
Eli and Sarah are killing it behind the bar.
Started with Dont mind if i do Julep. Uses applejack, strong delicious julep!!!
I had the Monte Carlo next, an old fashioned with a twist using lemon and benedictine. Absolutely fabulous. One of my favorites. The ice served in my Monte Carlo was crystal clear! Appreciate the clear ice guys :) Good job!
Got the Mint mule!!! Delicious, minty and heavenly! One of my favorites.
Pisco smash, another delicious drink, it has pineapple and one of my favorites of the night. Pisco sour! Another fabulous drink. Made with egg white, Foamy and delicious.
Bourbon lemon honey fizz, another amazing drink, also uses egg white! My gf’s favorite of the night.
Palabra, the last word drink made with mezcal instead of gin. Other ingredients are Lime, Maraschino, Delicious!!! Must buy mezcal for the home bar now! Another one of my gf’s favorite.
Tried all of their skewers. All heavenly. Lamb skewers taste authentic! (Having tasted it in China) The cumin and spices flavor, YUMMY!
TL;DR: cocktails = best ever. Skewers are authentic. Must come here!!!

Great hipster spot in DC!
Food — dumplings are a bit expensive and small, but still flavorful
Drinks — well mixed, great bar staff. Prices on the drinks are $$
Atmosphere — better get here early if you want to grab a seat. Small space upstairs. You can definitely eat at the bar though!
I would definitely come here again for the drinks, food not so much.

Open late. Tasty snacks. How can you go wrong with delicious pan fried potstickers filled with pork? Or beef or whatever. 2 for $ 1.50 if memory serves me well
Or how about a skewer consisting of Perfect chunks of lamb seasoned aggressively with cumin and ready for your teeth gnashing at it at midnight when you’ve had too much to drink?
I will say the bao were my least favorite and had minimal filling.
Will return though to satisfy my Asian snack cravings at 1am

Deliciously handcrafted cocktails, complimentary Goldfish crackers, AND dumplings all in one place? Copycat Co is a win in my book.
My roommate and I stopped by to have drinks upstairs to kill some time. I absolutely loved the typography on the chalkboard with all of the different cocktails (kudos to the person who does that) and the male bartender who takes pride and effort into his mixology. We ordered four orders of the dumplings (an order of 2 for $ 1.50) and devoured them.
There are two levels — the bar upstairs (you can still order food) with plentiful bar seats and several bar tables, and the downstairs portion with food. The ambiance upstairs is chill, casual, and trendy — exactly what you would expect from a H Street bar.
I’d love to come back again soon to try more dumplings, take a chance at the bao, and have more tasty crafted cocktails.

I wanted to like Copycat, I really did. But it just didn’t live up to its reputation.
It wasn’t clear when I first walked in where the infamous chalkboard was suppose to be. I started ordering and then asked. The nice guy taking my order suggested that I just order upstairs. So I headed up there and took a seat at the bar.
I ordered food but no drink as the board is a bit overwhelming and the price of their drinks is even more so. $ 12 for a cocktail is crazy, particularly if it is not good. But the bartender kept coming back and asking me if I had decided yet. I ended up ordering one. It tasted fine, but wasn’t out of this world. AND she only filled the glass a little over half full. Uhhhh if you just charged me $ 12 for a cocktail, that glass should be full.
My food was good and reasonably priced. I tried the chicken & mushroom dumplings ($ 1.25 for 2) and the vegetable bao ($ 1.50/ea). My only suggestion is that they lay off the salt or worcester sauce that they put inside the bao. I will likely be back for the good eats, but I never plan on going back upstairs.

This review is long overdue. This place is simply a gem on H St. Downstairs it is a take out (with a small eat in area) Chinese street food eatery. Upstairs it is a classy cocktail joint. Combined they make for a fantastic place to visit.
I’ll start with the food. Simple menu consisting of bao (made by the Chinese couple who seem to always be here) and meat skewers. The bao comes in meat and veggie versions. $ 1.25 each. I’ve only had the meat version but it is good! The skewers come in classic lamb, beef, and chicken. $ 4.00 each. They also have a rotating special skewer, it has been spicy lemongrass beef the last few visits. I get it extra spicy. Mmmm.
They serve soda and cans of beer downstairs. Nothing fancy, Natty Boh, PBR etc.

One of the best late-​night gems we found in DC. Don’t be fooled by the entrance — it’s a takeout place for food. Head over to the stairs and find yourself in a completely difference place — a stacked bar and lounges.
Copycat Co does Asian-​fusion cocktails and potstickers. What more could you want from a place? There are also vegetarian options of the food as well as skewers, so people of all dietary restrictions are welcome here.
Great, great, great.

i found this place to be very interesting… i stumbled in after drinking at the bars located on H street and found that this place opened up until 3am on friday and Saturdays. perfect for the late night munchies.
the thing was super interesting was that, there was an old asian couple working on making the dumplings and baos, and there were black guys who operate the front and cash registers.
i guess in California it’ll be rare to see that symbiotic relationship… lol
anyways, we got 2 baos and 2 dumplings. the beef baos and triple delight. (all dumplings come in orders of 2 for $ 1.50)
we wanted to get skewers, but opted out.
the baos/​dumplings were delicious with the sauce they provide.
they also have a bar upstairs… i wanted to check out, but had a flight early the next day. if i stop in dc again, i’ll come by and check this place out.

Love this place!
Service: Service was good in the cocktail bar even though it was super packed. We shifted towards a corner after awkwardly standing in the entrance and luckily, we got bar seats after 15 minutes. The bartenders were very attentive and kept on asking if we need another drink.
The service downstairs for the food was not so good. We decided to take out some bao and potstickers after drinks and we waited over 40 minutes for it. While I understand that they probably made them fresh, we had to constantly ask for an update because we thought they forgot about us. But they did end up giving us 2 extra baos. So I guess it made the wait a bit better! I wasn’t sure if was a mistake or that we bugged them too many times oops!
Ambiance: Love it! This is my ideal date-​night ambiance. It was pretty noisy but it was expected anywhere on a Friday night. Everyone else seems to be enjoying themselves so the atmosphere was very pleasant!
Drinks: Between the two of us, we got 5 cocktails. The pan galactic gargle blaster (cocktails of the movies — it’s green!), cucumber cooler (we just asked the bartender for something cucumber-​y), pisco punch (there was a very strong soy sauce after taste which I found very interesting. But it does go well with the potstickers haha), a cinnamon-​y drink, and a pink fizzy drink (this is the part where the night got a bit fuzzy so I don’t remember the names). All the cocktails are 11 dollars — such a great deal and all of them were super yummy besides that soy-​sauce after taste one!
Food: We literally tried every flavor of the bao and the potstickers and I enjoyed every single bite even after a full dinner. We even got another full box of takeout after finishing our first order at the bar. I am a big fan of bao, and after moving to the states 10 years ago, I still have not had decent bao. BUT, I think I may have the place after my visit! We also tried one spicy combination skewer. It was very spicy and the flavor is a bit too strong for me but it seems like everyone else was enjoying it very much.
I would definitely go back for both the drinks and the food. Only if the places was more accessible, I would probably go back there everyday for the bao. Besides the wait for out takeout. Everything was pretty perfect!

I truly cannot complain. Had great authentic Chinese food for a good price. Friendly environment, and I conversed for hours with a group of people who I didn’t know! Dope music selection on a Friday night (Eminem, bone thugs, wutang and even Outkast). You order downstairs and there is a bar upstairs. Cool vibe, great late night place to eat.
Special thanks to all the pics posted of the food at this place, because when I got their I literally showed the cashier a picture and said, «I want that» haha.

Open until late night, copy cat co has a small menu, but just enough to fulfill even the slightest of Asian food cravings.
From going to copy cat co after a long night out on h street, i am always impressed. For small bites around 1 – 2 dollars each and spending usually only 8 to 12 dollars, it’s not bad for a late night spot. Do I wish they had heavier meals and offered more than just 2 pieces of Bao or dim sum for each order? Yes, but their dim sum and Bao are good and have tasty delectable fillings to them! The Bao is a little doughy, but guess that’ll cure your drunkeness if you’d like!

l o v e
l o v e
l o v e
l o v e
l o v e
l o v e
l o v e
spicy lamb skewers /​spicy beef skewers … the most friendly & the coolest bartenders on H … great to finally have an Asian speakeasy here in DC (beside 2birds on 14^th) Hails to the fabulous Gin Fizz & the Daiquiri shooters!
see you soon copycat!
cheers!

Craft to perfection cocktails, cheap fulfilling eats, and a dim lit vibe on the upper floor made for a good night at my happy hour I held here. Copycat really spoiled us with their food menu offerings which might I add everyone enjoyed and appreciated.
My group sat in the corner on the couch seating right at the top of the stairs. The lounge was intimate with seating around for about 30 people. It’s a small place, but the space was wisely utilizsd.
One thing my group discussed and agreed upon is that some of their drinks were pretty worth while. They served up the classics along with their own creations. Better yet, they even put a spin on some of the classics. They change their drink menu weekly while keeping another classic drink list in tacked.
For food, we dined on beef and veggie boa, assorted dumplings, and varied types of meat skewers cooked over a charcoal grill giving all meats a bit of smokey flavor. We had several rounds of food that filled us to the brim. My favorite items were the lamb and beef skewers along with the beef bao.
Rob was an amazing bartender. Everyone seemed very happy with his service and his drinks! He served us and created the cocktails.
Moreover, thank you Devin, the owner, for allowing us to congregate at your lovely establishment. We truly enjoyed ourselves and we are looking forward to returning for round 2.