Citizens and Culture

I really like this place! I went on a Thursday evening during happy hour and it was completely empty, which I was shocked about. Maybe it was just an off night or people were coming later for the Commanders game? A few more people trickled in closer to 6:45. It worked in my favor because everything came right away. I got two different flavors of margaritas, which were both good and solid pours. I also got the crab fritters and salmon sliders. Both were delicious! The salmon sliders were well seasoned, but I would have liked a little bit more aïoli. Although I'm not a wine drinker, I noticed two boxes of Franzia on the bar counter. I'm not so sure that would be what customers want to see.Overall good experience though, I hope more people support them.

So I came for brunch. The venue is very spacious. There are two components of the venue. They have a main dining room that you can book through Resy. However, they also a day party that you have to book through a phone number which is very inconvenient and annoying. I checked out the day party and it seems like it would be a good time. So will try to book it next time. For brunch they offer a buffet. The buffet menu consisted of pancakes, waffles, sausage, potatoes, fried chicken, eggs, collard greens, jerk wings, mac n cheese, grits, and Cajun shrimp. The food could've have been a lot better. Some of the food was cold. Some options like the collard greens weren't refilled in a timely manner. The fried chicken and jerk wings were probably best food options on the menu. They both had great seasoning and were at a good temperature. The vibes were great. They had a good DJ. He didn't interact with the audience but the music was good. A lot of customers were dancing and enjoying themselves. I am not sure how the atmosphere would be if the audience was different though.Overall, it was a good experience. Some improvements need to be made such as making sure the food is hot when served and make the day party more accessible when reserving a table. I would return to see how the day party is.

Came for happy hour, food at happy hour is very well priced & allowed us to try a lot of things.We got the sliders, the wings with Mumbo sauce, truffle fries & the beef empanadas. The sliders were the best thing we had, food was okay could've been seasoned better especially the empanadas.

I came here for a work mixer on a Thursday night. The place was relatively empty, with only one other party dining in. We decided to order apps & drinks. After trying to order, we were told they were out of Caesar salad (because the lettuce was frozen), and nachos. Pretty disappointing, but we made it work. We sampled all of the apps we could. Everything was decent, but nothing really stood out. The spinach dip was probably my favorite. We also ordered the crab balls, crab fries, steak frites, garden salad. The thing I enjoyed the most was my drink, which was the Sugar Daddy.

I came to an event here on a Friday evening. The event was in the bar area at the front of the restaurant. The decorations were festive and half of the very large bar was dedicated to the party. The restaurant allowed the event hosts to make a special drink menu and there were appetizers served. I felt that the service for a party could have been better, there were no plates, serving ware or silverware to get food or eat it. I ordered the French 75 and it wasn't good the champagne was flat and had a strong lemon flavor. My boyfriend had a margarita and said it wasn't great. The appetizers that were served were pretty tasty (beef empanadas, potstickers, spinach and artichoke dip and crab balls). Some live music started around 8pm but the light could have been dimmed so that the ambiance was right. Overall it wasn't a terrible experience but there are some service and environment changes that would make it better.

EHHHH. 1st time here. Made a reservation on RESY for a 2pm Sunday. Now, you could walk 10+ mins from the metro, or park for free in the lot behind Kaldi's.The restaurant was HOT for a 75 degree day. I was sweating lol. I don't think there was any AC. We sat in the dining room, downstairs where the Ravens-vs-Redskins game was playing on the TVs. Had a short wait to get shown our seat. We sat along the windows to the front of the restaurant. Hella hot! No shade when the Sun started beaming.We had to flag down a bartender for service. We didn't see our waitress until about 40 mins after we sat down. I had the 2 Eggs option. I got Maple sausage, honey biscuits, over medium eggs and cheesy grits.2 Sausage links were goodHoney biscuits were only good with the sides that had butter/honey. The rest was hella dryOver medium eggs were goodCheesy grits. Good portion. Delish. Prob could have used Sugar!I got the unlimited mimosas/sangria. During our time there, I had 2 mimosa and 1 red sangria. Mimosas was good, sangria was okayMy friend had the steak & eggs. She def. asked for Medium rare steak and the steak came out nearly well doneService was slowwwwwwwwwww, but Aaron the Bartendar came to our rescue!

Went yesterday for brunch with a large party for my girl's birthday. I do brunch all over the city, so I had expectations, especially for $70. The food was ok, shrimp n grits, omelets and potatoes were good. The rest was average. The DJ was good but WAY TOO LOUD! When i'm going to party, that would be the vibe. But for brunch it was impossible to hold a conversation. The entire point of brunching is to be able to talk, laugh, drink and eat. The service was pretty bad also but since it was buffet, you could avoid them.

ServiceWhen we arrived, the restaurant was empty, but the manager greeted us coldly and wasn't very welcoming. After being seated, we had to ask for the happy hour menu, which should have been provided immediately. The waitress, who seemed new, wasn't familiar with the deals and took about 10 minutes to get answers. Unfortunately, she kept getting our order wrong, and we had to remind her multiple times. While we understood she was in training, writing down the order would have made things smoother.TasteThe food came out quickly--within 15 minutes. We ordered spinach dip, sliders, potstickers, and wings, but nothing stood out. The dishes were subpar, and none were particularly memorable. Our drinks also took a long time to arrive, and we had to ask multiple times before they were finally served.AmbianceThe restaurant was empty when we arrived, which gave it a somewhat cold vibe. It felt like the staff was more focused on setting up for a big event, which impacted the service and overall experience.RecommendationWhile the setting has potential, Citizens and Culture didn't deliver on either service or food during our visit. It might be worth trying again on a different day, but based on this experience, I wouldn't recommend it as a first choice. Hopefully, they improve service outside of events.

It's a great brunch and day party combo. You will have a good time if that is your primary concern. The karaoke is a vibe. But, be warned the $30 bottomless mimosa option is not a great value. The communal drink dispenser that you go to for refills is a lot of juice and very little champagne. For the quality of the mimosa, it should definitely be included in the $50 that you already pay for the rooftop brunch. I do appreciate the heat in the venue. It makes the rooftop experience enjoyable no matter what season.

I attended a birthday brunch on a Sunday at Citizens and Culture and had a mixed experience. While the DJ and atmosphere was fun, the brunch buffet was disappointing.We had a confirmed reservation for 30 people, but once we arrived upstairs they sat us in an area that fit maybe 15. They eventually cleared a couple other areas for us, but they seemed unprepared for our group. The cost for the brunch is $50 at the door for unlimited food. We got in the buffet line and waited quite a while because the people in the front were waiting for the food items to be refilled. Once I got to the front of the line it was the same thing. Many of the food items needed to be replenished, and it was another 15 minutes of waiting once I was at the front of the line. The food was labeled on the tops of the trays, which were open, so you couldn't see the label unless you pulled the whole top down to look. The food tasted fine, but the waiting was a huge turn off. Of course by time we got to eat, brunch was over so there was no time for a 2nd plate. If you're doing the unlimited brunch, go early ! Drinks were not included. I got a strawberry lemon drop for just over $20. I believe bottles of champagne were $30.Parking wasn't too bad on the side streets, and I also saw a garage nearby.