The Brixton

I’ve been to Brixton many times and I’ve always had a great time. For the most part the bartenders have been friendly, although like anywhere that is hit or miss. This weekend, however, after 10 – 15 minutes of waiting in line I was denied entry. The bouncers were extremely rude and disrespectful in their handling of the situation. I had begun walking into the bar, without realizing the bouncer had asked my group of friends to stop. When he told me to stop, I handed him my ID and he began rudely asking me questions and told me to step out of line while the other bouncer looked at my ID. As soon as I questioned why I was told to get out of line I was told that it was my attitude and I was too agitated to come in. The bouncers had absolutely no respect and were on an obvious power trip. I doubt I will be heading back anytime soon, which unfortunate since it has been a favorite place of mine for awhile. Outright disrespect is not something any establishment should tolerate from their employees.

It was a pretty building and the bartenders were on top of their game, but the bouncers were dicks. I had just exited the bar and realized that I forgot to close my tab and they refused to let me enter, so they made me wait in the line for an hour in 38 degree weather to get in for just my card. Then, as we waited in line, the jackass bouncer tried to take bribes to get people to move up in line. Also, to make the night worse, the guy in line behind us tried to use us as bargaining tools to get himself in… («I’ll give you $ 5 and bring three girls if you’ll let me in») it was degrading and frustrating dealing with the jackass bouncer.

Great place!

11 pm on a Saturday And the dj isn’t playing recognizable music. Doesn’t take requests (which fine), but no one is dancing. Everyone just swaying to unknown songs and mixes. Here now.
Drinks fast. Bartenders good. Dj bad.

Just left. Low energy. Bad scene. DJ sucked. Between 10.30−1am, the DJ was playing unrecognizable music that no one was dancing to… and yet still didn’t change it up. Few good songs in-​between but not enough to sustain a high-​energy dancefloor.
That said: bartenders and bouncers were great, but the point of going out to the Brixton is to go dancing on their second floor – otherwise, why not nearby El Rey, Dodge City, Satellite Room, or American Ice Co? Disappointing. Opposite of fun.

We scheduled Brixston for our company’s after party event. Overly aggressive security staff and under prepared for the party. Hard pass on this one friends.

Dear everyone who wants to go here on a weekend to have a super awesome night and maybe meet the *~*~* luv of ur lyfe *~*~
Please don’t. You won’t.
Bittersweetly,
Me.
—
While The Brixton had something good going for it about 2 years ago, it has since become another overcrowded DC bar where you have to promise your first born child to the bartender in order to get a drink. If you plan on arriving at 11pm or later, you will be greeted with a nice long line than follows a strict «one in, one out» policy. Meaning you will wear off your buzz by the time you get inside, and will feel more peeved than pleased that you came here.
My best advice? Skip over The Brixton as you and your buds plan out your weekend itinerary. While it has a nice rooftop and two floors where you can shake your bon bon, it is far too crowded for you to really have a good time.

Fun roof, intense dance party on the second floor and a more chill crowd on the lower level.
Super rude bartender working last night who took forever to serve me (to the point of ignoring me it seemed like), then served me a drink literally 30 seconds before closing the bar. If you’re closing the bar, make a last call announcement or tell patrons that they only have a minute before being kicked out of the bar! When I asked him why he bothered serving the drink, he was extremely rude and unapologetic. Yeah, I should have checked the time but there’s this thing called common courtesy that this guy is clearly lacking!
I’d rather spend my money at other bars in DC than be treated so rudely!

Much better bars with much better looking crowds and shorter lines in the area. Brixton is part of the new DC circa 2010. If you want to deal with pedantic bouncers and rude staff, at least pick a place that has a good crowd with more modern taste. Will never try again, as there are much trendier places on U St. The staff straight up mocks you to your face, and who needs that when you’re trying to decompress from the work week? Have given the place multiple chances at different times of day/​days of the week, but not worth the effort. As a woman, I would not return.

i’ve only been here once, and not sure i would come back. i can’t remember if it was a good looking crowd (probably not), but the crowd seemed to be young, frat/​sorority types which is not my thing, so we ended up leaving after buying a few drinks. it was really packed when we went on a Saturday night after a show.
Not much is worse than a group of inebriated frat guys and sorority girls.

The Brixton is ok, I guess.
It has a rooftop bar section, which I imagine keeps a lot of its business going as DC winds down its seasonable, rooftop-​appropriate months. I certainly enjoyed the fresh air as a breather from the smell of Axe cologne permeating the premises. Service was quick at the bars, if surly and not altogether delightful.
Drinks are somewhat reasonably priced, comparable to a lot of other bars I’ve been to and with a decent selection of booze. I really recommend you don’t try their «specialty cocktails» and stick to neat, simple drinks. They really fail to execute their cocktails. I tried their take on an old-​fashioned and it tasted like watered down orange soda with a hint of whiskey with somuchiceohmygod.
Altogether, it was a fun people-​watching place, a bit young, and definitely not a cheap dive. I didn’t explore the other floors, but people seemed to be enjoying them and I imagine having multi-​levels is nice to keep the crowding to a minimum when the weather changes.
Summary: avoid the cocktails, make sure you come to people-​watch/​mock/​judge, and don’t take the Brixton too seriously (even though it really, really wants you to).

*NIghtlife Review
This place turns into a madhouse around 11:45pm. There are three floors including a rooftop with a nice view of the city. The line is usually at least a 10 minute wait so come early or be ready to wait. This could be good or bad news considering the crowd outside always seems pretty good looking and I promise it’s not because I have drunk goggles. The first floor is more of a chill floor, they have tables and places to sit but you can still hear the music bumpin from the 2^nd floor. The 2^nd floor seems like the dance floor but honestly why hang out there in the summer, I’ve always made a bee-​line for the rooftop just like everyone else.
Brixton has a pretty nice rooftop and view of the city skyline, it’s also probably a great place to watch the sunset at the end of happy but that’s enough of that romantic sap lol. That being said the rooftop also is much less enjoyable when packed with people. It takes away from the ambiance, knowwhati’msaying. That plus a couple extremely pushy busboys that almost strong arm you out the way. The roof is packed, I literally have no where to go except to leave and that’s what I ended up doing.
*Open letter to rooftop busboy
Dear busboy,
I’m aware that I may be in your way but I promise it wasn’t by choice. I would have loved to be at a better vantage point to enjoy the great view but alas there was no more room. If the large security gentleman had the decency to tap my arm to move then I’m sure there was no need for all the aggression. I understand that people are messy, may have been rude to you and the rooftop was packed but does that really excuse the rude actions. Methinks no. Maybe next time move the random planter right next to the bar that would have allowed you plenty space to move. I have much respect for anyone in any food service job because it can get pretty bad but there was no reason for all the aggression and shoving. Here’s to wishing you a clear path because I promise I won’t be in your way ever again.
While Brixton is definitely a nice place with a rooftop and a chill vibe. ol boy from above pretty much killed my vibe that night and took Brixton off my normal U street bar hopping list.

I don’t drink so I’m always looking for happy hours with good food specials. The Brixton doesn’t disappoint. They have a variety of food including 3 types of wings, samosas, hummus, a burger, and a few other things. Sadly fries are not on the happy hour Everything we orsered was pretty good. The rooftop is a nice place to hang out provided it isn’t too hot or cold and the inside is pretty cool as well. The service is great as well.

This review of solely for their night time bar. My friends and I stopped by here for less than an hour. It was my birthday and the restaurant we ate at was close by. We came here on a Saturday night. The moment I walked in I was not too impressed. It was not as packed on the first floor and the first floor had low energy.
So we found ourselves on the rooftop. The rooftop was nice. It was open to the warm June breeze. The energy was much more upbeat and lively. However, there was absolutely no music playing on the rooftop, I thought that was no fun! I wish there was some music sort of music playing
Because rooftop was so nice. (Despite the humidity)
So in order to find some dancing music, we found ourselves on the second floor. The second floor was almost that of a «club» environment. There was reckless dancing and loud music. I noticed that the second floor was where most of the people resided.

This rating is only for the Sunday brunch.
The food is mediocre and the menu is not very accurate: for some items they specify that there are onions, for others they do not mention the onions but they actually do have onions. My friend who is allergic to onions had no idea and was upset.
All their «fries» sides are actually a weird mix of onions and jalapeño with cubes of fried potatoes.
I love their rooftop ambiance and the place as a bar but do not go there for brunch it’s really not worth it.

We had dinner before meeting some friends up on the roof deck and the food was ok. We had expected more after reading the menu. The roof deck is a great area, and very popular so it fills up fast as does the rest of the bar through the night. They have a dance area and a regular bar are on the first floor throughout the night. Nothing stands out other than the nice roof deck area and the fact it fills up much like every other establishment on U st during the weekends.

Staff was extremely nice. I have lost my sunglasses and the manager did everything he could do to find them. Rooftop is okay if you are smoking, but the humidity level of this area makes it unbearable for me, that’s why I enjoyed inside more.
The noise level was not much, maybe because I was there on a Tuesday and a Wednesday night. It has three massive floors, good for groups.
They have good cocktails, wines are not very cheap-​type as we are used to from the ordinary places.
I have tried Caesar salad with medium cooked NY strip steak, it was fine.
In general, this place is good to relax, not noisy. 4 stars is given because I think they should improve their music selection, it is important, also maybe a slight increase in volume level. If music is not good, you automatically hear the group near you. There must be a nice balance between hearing your friends and not being able to hear the group next to you.

My favorite bar in u street area. Massive space of three floors. 1^st more like a casual pub. 2^nd more like lounge. Top floor is rooftop, often with DJ. Laid out similar to public and other three floor bars.
Good events like Kentucky Derby day. Usually attracts a good group of people. Like any good place in the area it often gets packed. Especially Saturday nights.
Good selection of beers, efficient bartenders.

I was unexpectedly surprised with this place. I was meeting some people here on a Saturday night and had never heard of it. I took the metro and it was only about a block and a half away, which was great.
When I first walked in, it looks like a bar/​restaurant. It was dimly lit, but had lots of tvs all around the room. The menu is limited and only one page. We got the falafel as an appetizer and burgers, which were both very good. We also got cosmopolitans, which I have to say were some of the best I have had. The service was so so. We had to wait a little bit of time in between drinks, dinner, and getting the bill for the server. After we were done, the group suggested that we go upstairs. I had no idea that there were additional floors! Well, we went to the 2^nd floor and it was like a dance party. The room was a little darker but had a huge bar and a fantastic dj. We literally danced the night away! I had so much fun. The drinks were a little expensive, but very well made. We unfortunately didn’t make it to the rooftop, but I know I will be back, so I look forward to next time!

The ambiance was great. It’s right across Nellie’s which is an ultimate favorite of mine so the location is pretty awesome. The calamari was light so that was also great.
Food was not great. We went for happy hour so I don’t know if happy hour food is not as delicious as regular menu food. I ordered a Swiss burger — the burger was not good at all. I ate it cause I was starving. The sauces for the calamari was also not tasty. We also ordered cheeseburger sliders, but never received them. My wife ordered the chicken satay and she said that it was very mediocre. Nothing special — could’ve made it better at home.
The service was also eh. The bartender wasn’t friendly or rather approachable. There weren’t really a lot of customers at the bar to where I could make the excuse that he was busy, but it did seem that he wasn’t really feeling working that night. To me, it felt like he was kind of avoiding us. It was weird. Probably won’t be back. Glad I tried it out though.