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The Hamilton DC - Good food and Entertainment Venue

A trip to The Hamilton is the latest in our "experience more of DC" experiment.  This place is run by the Clydes Group and should be getting more positive buzz. It has a lot going for it.  The restaurant is spacious.  The bar is big with several sections.  The downstairs entertainment venue is one of the nicest in the area.  The upstairs loft is small but has the advantage of often having live entertainment. They also have a small sushi bar.The food is delicious.


Location

The Hamilton is located on 14th street between F and G. The main entrance is in the center of the block on F.  You can use the Metro.  Get off at Metro Center and come out the 13th and G exit. Walk the 1/2 block to F Street.  There is a bar entrance on the corner at F and 14th.  Walk past that to the the entrance on the middle of the block if you are going for the restaurant, basement entertainment or the Loft.  You can walk through the bar from the corner entrance to the center atrium but that path can sometimes be crowded.

Hours

The originally ran 24x7 but have have since reduce hours.  The Hamilton is normally open until 2AM or 3AM so this is the place to get your late night food fix.

Dress Code

The place is a little more upscale. Men should probably wear a nice shirt and at least Khakis. I wore khakis and a sport coat since it was cool and fit right in.  Ladies can wear what they want since they normally dress better than guys do anyway.  My wife wore pants and later said "I could have worn a dress". I think she was surprised I took her somewhere she could wear a dress and I wouldn't wear jeans.

Layout

The entire building has a very nice high ceiling feel to it. The main floor has marble floors.  The loft has carpet.  The main entrance is in the center of the block. There is an atrium in the middle with the host's stand to the right.  The main dining area is a large room to the left with some division to keep comfortable.  

The bar is to the right consisting of 3 main rooms that run full length from front to back.  The room closest to the center entrance and the room at the corner entrance have bar seating plus tables.  The room between them is all tables.  The sushi bar is against the back wall behind the the bar closest to the main entrance.  

A wide staircase leads down to the main entertainment area. That area has its own bar service and bathrooms. They have a limited bar menu.  Order early. It can be difficult to place table orders once the music starts.

The Loft is a small upstairs bar that tends to have free live entertainment on the weekends.  Talk the hall way left at the back of the atrium.  The stairs to The Loft are on the right near the end of the hall.  There was a 3 piece string group playing when we popped in for a look. It was half full at 10PM.  I have no idea how crowded or lively it gets when the night crowd gets there.

Entertainment

The Hamilton web site has a good live entertainment page. Entertainment happens downstairs.  The acoustics are much better than some other venues.  The bands we saw didn't have to crank the volume to make it so everyone could here.  It was loud enough to be hard to talk but not so loud that you needed ear plugs or your head hurt.  The room has a "big enough" stage that is low so you can see what is happening from everywhere in the room.  The sound is good everywhere in the room. I was surprised how good the sound was. It is way better than some other venues. It is an old building with posts so pick seats carefully if you want to see the acts. There are probably 200 good seats on the main floor occupying the area in front of the sage and just to the left.  Tables are set up longways to the stage, like at the Birchmere. They don't all point exactly at the stage. You'll want to pick the side of the table facing more towards the stage if your first at your table. Let the folks who come after you have to turn their seats to look.  There are 4  main table arcs in front of the stage and to the side. Mezzanine seating is available up 2/3 flight of stairs behind the main area.  The front part of that has good views. Folks in the back will be more there for the "ambiance" of the live entertainment than for what they can see.  There is also a row of bar type seats in an arc behind the tables to the left of the stage.  You can see them on the Hamilton web site on the private events page. I really liked this room. We tried the Hummus and the Sushi.  Both were good. The sushi was outstanding. The coffee was also good.

Food

I haven't yet had full table service since we've only been to the downstairs club/entertainment area. The sushi was delicious and reasonably priced for DC.

Pictures

There is a good picture of the stage in this article.

Here is a good view from the stage from the dc live music venue site










You can see a good view of the stage in this article










A picture of the bar entrance can be seen here. 


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