Hominy

I’m going to start this review with this… I didn’t know your name but I didn’t have a bad time or a bad beer while I was there?! So I can’t give you anything more than 3 stars! The Parlor, Hominy, Next to Liv, the place on the corner of 11^th and U whatever it is and whoever you are… we are cool!
I had a good belgian bottle of Delirium and Charity and a bottle of Chimay before we ventured over to Liv to see Hip Hop Karaōke last week and were surprised to see such a packed house that wasn’t packed. We had an easy time finding a place to sit and talk and not have to scream at each other to hear eachother! The beers were what we expected and the priced accordingly. I am pretty confident that we will be back soon to taste the grub as we were asked to do so by the bar manager and a few people we talked to while there so hopefully in the near future we will be back and I can upgrade you to 4 stars!!!

Is this place still open? Its awful. Bad service from bartenders, waiters, even the barbacks had attitudes, etc. Not to mention it physically looks like its falling apart. I’ve repaired drywall guys. Its not the easiest thing the word but not hard enough to justify the holes in your ceiling. Ugh.

6:30 Friday night. Empty, except the flies buzzing around. several items «not available» on the limited menu, including marachino cherries and essential ingredients for the cocktail. the owner came out to try to explain in his soiled shirt. the appetizer dish was sparse, lying on a couple of wilted greens. the collards were overly spiced. a large fan contributed to the lack of atmosphere and a/​c. windows were filthy. hmmm. why would anyone go to this place?

some restaurants sucessfully morph into busy, fun, bars/​lounges/​clubs a few nights a week. hominy is NOT one of those restaurants. not for lack of trying, though.
after a late friday dinner @ busboys & poets with some friends, we decided to do a little U-​street bar-​hopping. it sounded like a good idea at the time, but after a few hops i quickly remembered that i am over 30 and under-​stocked when it comes to patience w/​bad service, crowds, and the AdMo overflow that makes U-​street less pleasant as the night progresses. we started @ marvin (bad) and left there to go to hominy (much, much worse). now, i’ll admit that with the noise and confusion of trying to navigate U-​street w/​a group of 10+ people that i thought my friend said, «let’s go to harmony.» i’d never heard of harmony (or hominy), but i liked the sound of the name — i was presumptuous and thought it would be a nice lounge. that’s what i get for thinking. *eyeroll*
as we approached, i was glad to see no line/​crowd out front (just a couple of bouncers or ID-​checkers or whatever) and the adorable piano decoration on the side of the building contributed to my thinking this was going to be a nice lounge. i guess the nonexistent line should’ve been a clue. and, how we didn’t hear the music from outside is beyond me b/​c when we stepped inside it nearly blew us back out the door. holy hell this music was LOUD. i mean, even if i were going to a club knowing full well it was THE big, poser/​trendy, over the top, hip hop club in town i still would’ve been overwhelmed with how freaking loud the music was. that loud. remember how bugs bunny used to do the cartoon where he took the orchestra conductor’s job and at the height of the performance the volume was illustrated by how contorted bug’ face got and his little shirt-​bib thing rolling up and smacking him under the neck? yeah, like that loud. maybe louder. really. i couldn’t believe it.
maybe the sound was also so loud b/​c the place was almost empty so it was just bouncing off all the walls rather than being absorbed by patrons? IDK. but including our group there were mabye 20 people in there, tops. the chairs and tables had just been pushed to the sides/​up against the walls and no one was on the dance floor though a couple of dudes who needed belts were doing their best to look hard while head-​bobbing to the music and occasionally throwing their arms up/​rapping along to the song. a few elderly hoodrats (seriously, older than me but sporting forever 21/​wet seal hooker-​ish outfits) were sprinkled around these wannabe thugs, giving off a sad groupie affect.
i don’t think i lasted 3 minutes before i told my friends i couldn’t take it and was leaving. my head was starting to hurt from the sights and sounds of hominy. all but 2 followed suit, and the 2 that remained only did so to get and finish the drinks they’d ordered. when they re-​joined us later they said hominy didn’t improve for their stay and they wouldn’t go back. my friend who’d suggested it in the first place apologized, explaining he’d only been there to eat/@ restaurant times. i was just glad we were down the street away from hominy @ ben’s CB. and if you know me, you know that my being happy to be @ ben’s means the alternative must be pretty bad.
even w/​all the bashing i’m doing of hominy, i might give it a second try. but NOT in the evening/​as a club. there’s no way in hell i’ll subject myself to that again. now, brunch? that’s worth a shot at least. i love me some grits, so i at least need to give a place named hominy a chance.

I went there on a wednesday night and apparently they have a wednesday night happy hour because the bar was pretty crowded and they had a DJ playing great reggae music, but that also made it impossible to hear my table.
This is what I ordered off the menu:
Mesclun Mixed Salad $ 7
Lentils, Artichokes, Mushrooms, Tomatoes
with Chicken or Salmon $ 14
Judging by that, you would think I would get a mixed green salad with Lentils, Artichokes, Mushrooms, Tomatoes. No. I got mixed greens with the tiniest pieces of tomato and cucumbers. I asked where the Lentils, Artichokes, Mushrooms were and the waiter said I didn’t order that, that costs $ 14. Um… no, the chicken or salmon makes the salad $ 14, it’s on a separate line. The tomatoes were on the 2^nd line.
He said he would talk to the chef after he brought out everyone else’s food, which took a long time. Service was super slow for our table! Yes we were a large group, but many people waited longer than others for their food. It was very disorganized, the waiters didn’t know who ordered what and would walk around the whole table with one plate at a time asking each person if it was theirs.
The waiter comes back and said that he «didn’t think they had the other items or they would have put it on my salad.» What kind of answer is that? Either they have it or they don’t, you don’t take a guess. Sorting out my salad took 30 minutes which was just ridiculous.
My friend got the lobster mac and cheese and only tasted one small piece of lobster. The a/​c wasn’t on and with only one window open it was rather hot inside.

The only thing worse than the food at Hominy is the service. The place was empty on a weeknight and it took 20 minutes to get our waiter, 30 minutes for 2 cocktails from the bar, and our food was served with no utensils.
That was OK with us because the food was inedible. The «Jumbo Lump Crabcakes» was one cake that was 90% filler with frozen veggies. My date’s fried chicken was tiny and mostly gristle (I didn’t even know that a chicken had gristle… turns out it does) and the mashed potatoes tasted like instant!
The lobster mac and cheese was an insult to Eazy-​Mac and there was no lobster to be found. I told our waiter that the food wasn’t good and he just walked away and shrugged. Okkkayyyy…
We went here because we had a
gift certificate and it wasn’t worth it. STAY AWAY!!! This place is a foul disaster.

So I went around 10PM on Saturday night. This place had the weirdest vibe, I guess because they were switching from restaurant to lounge. Over ¾ of the people in the place worked there, and there were just a few customers seated at the bar and in bar stools along the wall. The tables had been cleared away and we had to sit at the bar to eat. I had spinach gnocchi to start, and filet mignon with salad on the side as my entrée. The food was on-​point, and not excessively expensive. I would go back to eat but earlier, when they are still in full-​on restaurant mode.

I suggested dinner here for a date, and honestly apologized to my date afterward. The food was okay I guess, the music was way too loud (it was an early dinner too!), but all in all, it was just such an unpleasant atmosphere. As for service, my date got a beer on tap, and it tasted really strange. When we brought this to the waitress’ attention, she explained (without having to ask about it, meaning she knew) it was because there was a problem with the tap line in general and all the beers tasted off. A bottled beer was ordered, but never brought, and that was the last time we saw the waitress until the check. We were planning on dessert, but took off for another restaurant to have that.

Sunday Brunch at Hominy
Being that I was in no hurry, Hominy delivered exactly what I was looking for last Sunday… Good food and a relaxed atmosphere.
Twenty-​five dollars for brunch seemed a bit steep at first but one walk through the buffet line and a quick look at the entrée selections quickly eased my mind. There is a selection of all you can eat southern favorites including grits, greens, bacon, eggs, coconut french toast, turkey sausage, and my favorite lobster macaroni and cheese (believe me, it’s good)
On top of the buffet line you also select an entrée and a dessert. I chose the crab cake and the peach cobbler. By the time I had put in an order for my entrée I had already had more than my fill at the buffet. I brought the remainder of my meal home and it was enough to make dinner out of it.
Pair all this food with bottomless mimosas, bloody marys, and black kurrant martinis for an additional $ 10.
Hominy is definitely laid back so maybe it’s not the best place to go if you’re pressed for time. My experience here was excellent. The only complaint I heard from anyone in our large party was that they would next time pass on the Blue Crab Bloody Mary. EIther way, I’ll be back next weekend :)

Many may remember Bohemian Caverns’ half price Belgian Beer happy hours. Well, the days of sitting in the atmospheric basement «caverns» on tree-​trunk stools at communal tables, sipping half-​price bottles of Kwak and other Belgian delectables while eating Middle-​Eastern fare are over. New owners have apparently decided that it isn’t the best use of the space (can’t say that I disagree with them on that count), but I was interested to see on their website that they had seven Belgian drafts and numerous bottles in the upstairs Hominy (formerly Mahogany) restaurant AND drafts were only $ 5 during happy hour. So I stopped by after work recently only to find that they had scrapped draft beer altogether and only retained bottles of Heineken, Amstel Light, Corona and Lite. Talk about a huge disappointment! The new restaurant menu serves upscale takes on southern soul food, which may well be good, but from a beer drinkers perspective, this place is no longer on the radar.

Didn’t even make it in to eat, but really don’t feel like returning. We had made brunch reservations with friends ahead of time. Received a call from the restaurant 10 mins before the reservation stating «oops, we forgot there was a private party. Your reservation is now cancelled». This came without an apology. Very unprofessional. Headed up to Tabac instead and enjoyed their surprisingly wonderful brunch!

My Boyfriend and I went to this restaurant last night. Let me tell you, We enjoyed it so much that I had to create a Unilocal account. The Chef is amazing. We had the crab cake appetizer. It was the best. And the service was good to. It did take a little while for our entrees to come out, but when they did, boy was it delectable and fresh. You can tell it was freshly made and not reheated lol. We will definitely be back.

Years ago, on a Saturday or a Sunday, I would stroll a few blocks up the street to a little-​known gem called The Tabard Inn. In the warm weather, you could bring your paper and sit in the lovely shaded-​by-​parachute courtyard and leisurely enjoy a delicious, serene brunch. Alas, gone are the days when one walks in sans reservation and quietly enjoys a basket (or two) of the area’s best morning breads over a newspaper or while catching up with friends. Refusing to surrender the dream, I maintain a quest for restaurants that offer brunches both delicious and relaxing. U Street certainly has its share of solid dining options, but it is irritating to be crammed around a small table positioned next to a gaggle of hungry patrons, eyeing you, vulture-​like, beseeching you to quickly finish and relinquish your table. Or, places that offer «bottomless» beverages with the catch that you’ll be lucky to flag down your frazzled server twice over the course of your meal (usually to place the order and receive the check).
Brunch should offer laid-​back savoring of a great meal, elevated by fine company and/​or delicious cocktails. Hominy delivers. Thanks to my friend Jules’ tip, I am confidently adding Hominy to the brunch rotation, especially on two occasions: (1) I am catching up with a long-​lost friend, free of timeframes, and desiring uninterrupted conversation, (2) It’s been a late night and only scrumptious Southern cooking (carbs-​aplenty) will restore me. Sure, the service is on the slower side, but I found it to be a refreshing change from the assembly-​line, hectic vibe that takes the fun out of brunching. Our server was friendly, our water glasses were constantly refilled (a nice touch if you are visiting under aforementioned Circumstance 2),
and we practically had the place to ourselves. If you need an in-​and-​out meal, find another restaurant, but if you’d like to linger over brunch, this is a pleasant haven.
After agonizing over the entrée selection (coconut French toast with turkey sausage; shrimp and grits with lobster curry sauce; a veggie omelet with pumpkin), I went with the eponymous chicken and waffles. The well-​seasoned (sage was used beautifully), well-​fried chicken was flavorful and perfectly-​textured; I would place it just above Oohs and Aahs and Crème Café – yes, THAT good. The ½ waffle came with an ice cream scoop’s worth of whipped cinnamon butter that transported me to another world. The portion control truly works in your favor — only ½ a waffle is necessary. I walked out comfortably filled, not painfully stuffed to capacity.
A nice touch: one of the cocktails featured ginger lemonade as an ingredient; my dining companion, in the market for a nonalcoholic drink, asked if it was possible for an entire glass – not a problem! It was spicy and refreshing. For those imbibing, the complimentary glass of champagne/​mimosa/​bloody mary is certainly appreciated. While I’ll avoid calculating the amount of butter consumed, I now have additional motivation to get up early-​ish on a Sunday for a long run: the chance to replenish my glycogen stores with the «macaroni and goat cheese,» sweet potato purée, and other tasty indulgences…

First off, I am planning on going back in a few months to see if this place improves. Went there on a Thursday night at 8:45 — the place was almost empty, not a good sign. We had reservations, but our table wasn’t ready. It took a few minutes to get seated, and then to our surprise, the hostess was our waitress, again, not a good sign. We were never offered bread, unlike another review.
After I ordered the lamb, I was told that they were out. Oh, and they out of the pork loin. Oh, and the steak. So I decided on fried chicken. Earlier in the day I was craving Popeye’s Chicken… I should have made that decision. The chicken was small (maybe it was a cornish hen?), over-​cooked, and pretty much lacking taste. I didn’t even get the (Chris Rock) big piece of chicken. At least the collard greens were salty enough to make me thirsty. My date got the salmon… I’ve seen shashimi sushi with more substance.
Finally, and this is where this place will sruggle, it sits right above the Bohemian Caverns, which means that you have to listen to whatever is playing in the club, but unfortunately, just the muffled, bass-​only version. We’d been better off to head downstairs.
So for a quite night out with good food, head somewhere else, at least until the food gets better.

I went to Hominy for the first time last week because I receive a deal from
. I was really impressed by their food. I’ve never had Jamaican Jerk Skewers before and it was delicious. Now I heard that they are doing a deal with the crazy deal site
offering their $ 22 Shrimp and Grits entrée for just $.89. Yepper. I’ll be there, ready to try it out.

Hominy is very much so an unpolished gem. Not to say that once polished that gem would be a diamond by any means, but that at least it would be a more respectable restaurant.
Ambiance (4.5÷5): It has a cool vibe and a nice open lounge feel, which I believe is what they were going for, even though there really isn’t a lounge area. The table settings and room layout are decent enough– no one in our party of 9 that ate there felt squished together.
Service (0.5÷5): I’m not usually very tough on restaurant service, because I’m pretty laid back and I just don’t care that much, but Hominy really went out of its way to make the service unbearable. Sure, every new restaurant has its off nights, but this was beyond the pale. Firstly, our table bread was served piping hot… but with frozen centers– pretty terrible quality control I count as partially a service issue. Mainly however, my entrée course did not come until _​30 minutes_​after the rest of the party– and I had ordered 3 sides as my main. Literally my friends had finished entire steaks and our waitress had been to our table 4 times (each time to bring drinks– not to check if I got my food) before they could cart out the sides to me. The «surprised» waitress asked «Your food still isn’t here?!» to which I could only look and point at the empty white tablecloth space in front of me instead of saying something rude to her. The coup de grace: the waitress spilled two cups hot coffee on me and my friend– ruining my friends shirt– no offer of gratis cleaning or real apology was extended. Terrible, terrible, terrible, service.
Food (⁷⁄₁₀): I am mostly going with what my friends expressed, since there were no vegetarian entrees available– and the only thing I really had was the Gazpacho (not great, not bad, pretty standard) because it was one of two veg options on the entire menu other than sides. The steaks were «f’in awesome» according to my friends that had them, and lobster bisque was «amazing» and the beef shortrib was «alright». The favorite of the night was the shrimp and grits.
Adjustments: Value for money (–0.5), Not at all Veg Friendly (–1)
Overall (10.5÷20) Hominy really needs to address its serious service issues and consider lowering the prices. Their service is so bad it detracts from their sometimes great dishes and nice lounge feel. Its all we could talk about during and after dinner. Avoid at all costs.

Went to Hominy before a show at the 9:30 Club and I was very impressed with the restaurant. It is located in the historic Bohemian Caverns building and the interior is very cool. It has been completely redone in dark wood. The tables were a little wobbly which was annoying but the floor was uneven wood so it would be hard to keep it level. The cocktails were great and very strong, but not in an overpowering way. For appetizers we got 4 and split them among the table all were very good. I would not recommend sharing though (Like getting 3 for 4 people) as they are not that large. For dinner I had a country fried chicken with mashed potatoes and it was amazing. One warning is that the band started warming up above the restaurant and you can hear it. I though it was cool but not a quiet place.

Look for the piano keys on the corner of 11^th and U St. and you’ll find a restaurant once known as Mahogany, which sits above a lounge that can interrupt a nice quiet dinner on a Saturday night. The wine list includes a few by-​the-​glass options ranging from $ 6-​$ 10, cocktails for $ 11 and a variety of beers. I tried the Nugen Family Shiraz, which didn’t really go well with my meal but I enjoyed it more than the Merlot. As an appetizer we ordered the Seared Sea Scallops, on Pan Fried Hominy Grit Cake with Wilted Spinach and Smoked Bacon Sweet Cream Corn Sauce (10) The grit cake was a bit too salty for my taste (that’s saying a lot from a girl who drinks fish sauce), but I really enjoyed the texture of the scallops. As an entrée, the Buttermilk — Sage Fried Chicken with Porcini Potato Cake, Collard Greens & Giblet Gravy (19) did not disappoint. The greens were presented nicely over the potato cake which was a nice warm surprise. I find their menu to have a lot of options for gourmet southern comfort food, and the spread for the dinner rolls delicious! There was a bar, booths, and a flat screen tv. I had a pleasant experience and would consider coming back.