Open City

OMG freaking blah! 2.5 but I'll round them up to 3.

I drove all the way to Woodley Park for this place because it was named one of the best Brunch places in DC by the City Paper. Yeah, no.

Don't get me wrong, it's not awful food, it's just diner food. Plain and simple.

Just one tiny ity-bity step above IHOP. Seriously.

Their menu is simple, like you would expect at a diner and yes their prices are reasonable for DC but then again, it's a simple menu so fried eggs, ham and toast shouldn't be too expensive.

Also, charging for coffee refills! NO! Just NOT okay. I don't care if they cup they give you is ginormous, if you are a slow drinker like me, the coffee gets cold. Instead of being able to enjoy warm coffee during my meal I had to deal with cold, average coffee towards the end.

I was not a fan of this place and really wouldn't come back. I really don't understand the hype at all.

Great food! Fun people watching! Always busy and loud. Hard to hold a conversation at an inside table without yelling. Who cares when the food is so good. Never had a bad meal. Great spot for lunch!

For a long time Open City was my favorite restaurant in the neighborhood. It had consistently good food, quick service and an awesome mix of locals and tourist. Unfortunately, things started going downhill around 3 months ago: wait times for food started getting longer, the kitchen has been making more mistakes and many of the local patrons have moved to other places.

Open City has always been my go to place to bring out of town guests for a nice patio lunch. Our last meal there started out great but itook 45 minutes to get our food after ordering (2 salads, 2 burgers)  when it did arrive 2 of the 4 meals had something wrong, which was disappointing. Now, everyone has a bad day but unfortunately this has been representative of my last 3 or 4 visits. The wait staff is really friendly and helpful when you bring things to their attention but sometimes they seem overwhelmed. It can get really busy here during nice days and if your server seems inattentive it is generally because they are handling a ton of tables. They do a nice special on Monday nights where a burger and beer is only $10 (the normal price of a burger). A word of warning they tend to overcook burgers a bit so I recommend ordering with that in mind.

On the plus side they still do an awesome breakfast and it is served all day. While the lunch and dinner meals have been mediocre recently breakfast is still great. Their OC Royale is a bit of everything and enough food for two people. The animal crackers with the coffee will make you smile no matter how tired you are. The omelets and French toast are great options and consistently delicious every time I go. I'd recommend ordering off the breakfast menu any time of the day if you want to make sure you're happy with your meal.  If you're going for breakfast or brunch on a weekend either get there early, before 8am, or expect to wait for a table.

Hopefully the recent decline has more to do with new help still learning the ropes than declining standards. With any luck in a few months they'll be back on their A game.