McCormick & Schmick’s

If I could give it –0– stars I would. Service and food are terrible.

I read many bad reviews, but I had a very good corn chowder and a salmon that was prepared very well. Service was great and the ambience was good. I enjoyed my lunch here and I would recommend it.

I was in the area for work, and we stopped here for lunch.
It was a late lunch, so we were pretty much the only people in the dining area. Service was quite attentive, but (judging from other reviews) that could have been from the lack of a crowd. Our server was really friendly as well, joking around with us when we sat down. Very personable!
I had the Caesar salad with calamari «fritto misto». The salad itself was a little on the bland side, but the calamari added plenty of flavor. Had a nice spice to it, and I liked the extra crunch the friend calamari added to my dish. I definitely enjoyed my lunch.
My colleague ordered the lobster cobb salad, and she really enjoyed it!
Overall, the meal was decent, nothing spectacular, but certainly not bad. I wasn’t expecting much from the reviews, so I was pleasantly surprised! I would absolutely come back next time I am in the area!

My wife and I had dinner and enjoyed our food but we we surprised that they didn’t have table clothes on the tables and our server was as cold as ice. Bad service can ruin the meal. At the prices you pay at a place like this the service should be a lot better than it was.

They treat their regulars very well during happy hour here. However, if you do not frequent this establishment, don’t bother trying it as something new. I came and sat in more than one place in the area, trying to get service. Finally after 18 minutes, I was able to get an iced tea. When the tea arrived, the waitress left abruptly and didn’t offer a straw. Then, I moved to the bar – yes the bar – no service for 10 minutes. Finally, I got some attention. When I asked the manager about this lack of service, he was very dismissive and even questioned my complaint. Since I don’t live/​work in Crystal City, I won’t be a regular so I won’t be back.
Why did I wait, you ask? I was meeting an out of town guest and didn’t want to hop from the decided meet up spot.

I went yesterday for dinner and choose the Restaurant Week DC menu and had a very positive experience. The food was exquisite and the service and camaraderie of the staff was excellent. I would definitely come back some other time.
I had crab and corn chowder, salmon stuffed with lump crab meat with mash potatoes and broccoli. For dessert, the vanilla bean crème brulée with fresh berries. Simply delicious!

Do not go here!!!
Go here only if you want a totally unprofessional dining experience at a restaurant chain you would expect the best from.
My wife and I enjoy eating in Crystal City when traveling through Reagan Airport before a flight because it is so convenient.
Typically at the bar in most places because it is normally quick and good service.
Not at this overly glamorous non service oriented establishment.
We had one good experience and since we have given it 2 tries with the same experience both times.
There is a very large fellow that will be at the hostess stand when you enter and he may utter a hello but it really means screw you and good luck getting service here and I am barely friendly only because I am paid to be.
This week we sat at a dirty bar area for 15 minutes and the bartender grumpily said hello and left. And then we left.
There were people eating which confused us because we do not understand where the food came from unless they brought there own from Ruth’s Chris or Capitol Grill or Morton’s. Which is where you should go not this unfriendly, uncaring dump.

My family ate lunch at McCormick & Schmick’s on Christmas Day, as it was one of the few places open on a holiday. The restaurant itself has great ambiance; we sat in one of the booths that has privacy curtains. I ordered the crab cake and the mixed greens salad. The salad was pretty good and evenly dressed; I ordered mine without blue cheese crumbles (not a huge fan of that cheese). The crab cake with corn salsa was fairly bland; I was expecting the corn salsa to add a bit more spice to the crab cake.
My mother had the mushroom flatbread and calamari, my dad had the chop salad with seared ahi tuna, and my sister had the carpaccio. Everyone seemed ‘okay’ with their dishes besides my sister. Maybe she’s just picky about her carpaccio, but I would have to agree that the meat was drenched in the aioli. Typically with carpaccio, less is more. Overall, an okay experience. I would like to point out that our waiter was a gem! He had such a great attitude for working on a national holiday.

Just a HORRIBLE Service. Went here for NYE, had a party to attend at 10 pm, so got reservations for 8:30, out friends got there late. around 8:50, so we waited for them to get there before ordering anything. at 9 we order 4 appetizers and drinks, 2 of our appetizers come in after 35 mins. then the waitress says that they are out of of one of the other app. so we ordered something else instead…40 mins after our food comes out with my friends appetizers. Which is NOT acceptable. I ordered well done steak (came out Fully medium) at that point we were so late to the party and I was very upset and didn’t say anything about my food just ate the vegetables and fries (did not touch the steak) she forgot 2 of their drinks for about 45 mins… we asked for it 4 times!!! the bar was empty as well. maybe 3 – 4 people at the bar.
at 11:10 my friends food comes out (she ordered a medium steak and hers came out WELL DONE!!!) which had to be re-​cooked at this time… So we sent it back to the kitchen, in the meantime we decided when her food comes out to get it to go, since its already 11:10 and it will probably take 30 mins for her food to come out, so we all left out of there Hungry and very angry. Never again.
OH…and…The restaurant was about 40% full, so its not like everyone is running around super busy. everything was Super slow.

What happened? We have come here for years, and never had such an experience before.
Service was just terrible.
Our party of 2 walked in to find the hostess on the phone.
We waited politely for her to finish. She did.
Then she started organizing menus, looked up, smiled at us, and kept right on organizing menus. Then just as we made eye contact, the phone rang, and she ignored us to answer it. First rule of hostessing is pay attention to the people who actually came to your restaurant.
Then we were seated. We sat for over 15 minutes and almost got up and left. Wish we had.
Our server’s attitude was downright hostile. «Hello, can I get you a beverage or cocktail?» while looking away and clearly acting as though being at work tonight was a punishment.
The attitude remained all during dinner. The only time I got a refill on my iced tea what when I flagged her down to ask for it.
The restaurant was probably 20% full and we still took almost 2 hours to get through dinner.
Server also completely forgot a side dish. We were so done by then, we just didn’t say anything.
Settling up took 15 minutes, and we tried to count up enough cash to just pay and leave rather than continuing to wait for our credit card to be picked up, but the only cash combination we had would have resulted in the server getting a 20% tip, and that was just not happening.
The most disappointing part, however, was the poor food. It was small town, convention banquet hall quality. The trout was soaked in soggy butter sopped breadcrumbs and had a freezer burn taste to it. The crab cakes also tasted like they came out of a box. I could have gone to Red Lobster and received better food and much better service.
Bad service and poor quality food = never coming back.

I’ve been to several McCormick and schmicks but was not impressed with this one. My friend and I shared a strawberry basil cocktail and the first round was just gin and club soda. When my friend told the bartender that the drink was not like the one on the menu, she seemed kind of annoyed. However, she did remake the drink which tasted better the second time around. I had the vanilla bread pudding and was not impressed. It was drenched in sauce and did not have pieces of bread on top. The caramel sauce was overpowered by the rum flavor. I would not go back to this location due to subpar service.

If I owned s company and saw 2 and 3 star reviews I think I would clean house. Unfortunate this company doesn’t get that a bat which is full during happy hour and empty afterwards and a dining room with empty tables might just be a sign of things which need fixed.
Poor service. Slow busing of tables. Etc.

So I live upstairs. And this is my favorite place to go. Stacy and Andrew are the best, know what I’m drinking and what I’m eating… done tonight 11÷30÷15. I know the managers, waiters and the bartenders. This is the reason I’m coming here I trust and I’m trusted. And tonight Barbara storm and a fended me and everyone sitting at the bar asking for their credit cards event when siting at the bar… While people at the tables far away and far way from the reach are not…
She was very un professional, making a scene and make guest uncomfortable

Super expensive with poor service, Lived in crystal city while working at the pentagon, while back for a visit I was craving seafood and decide to give them a shot. WOW they were horrible, big mistake way over priced and under staffed. I had seen mixed reviews but boy they were not close. being from Florida we have some of the best seafood around, this place makes long john silvers look good. I guess they think location and high prices make up for the poor service and horrible food.

I’ll admit I walked into McCormick & Schmick’s with super low expectations (based on the low Unilocal reviews), which might have colored my end impression of the place… But I actually enjoyed my dinner. This is a solid 3-​star establishment with a modern interior and a nice-​enough seafood/​steakhouse vibe. It’s obviously no Capital Grille or Bourbon Steak, so adjust your expectations accordingly. It’s a chain restaurant with decent food (for a rather high price… My main squabble is with the pricing structure here).
Service was rather slow. We weren’t in a rush so it didn’t bother us, but if you’re looking for speedy service then look elsewhere. The hostess was painfully slow in greeting us and remained on a phone call, letting us stand awkwardly at the front door for at least 5 minutes. Incoming diners began forming a line behind us as well. Our server, Reggie, was actually really funny and charismatic, and did a fairly good job. I don’t fault him for the long time our food took to get to us (we waited a good 20 minutes from ordering to receiving our food).
Food:
— Kobe burger: Really a great burger! Served with a pink center, juicy, buttery bun. I thought it was actually one of the better burgers I’ve had in the area in a long time! I’d come back for the burger. Unfortunately it was served with some regular old potato chips though. At $ 17, it was good but a little steep price-​wise.
— Lobster mashed potatoes: Pretty darn good… The actual mashed potatoes were pretty average, but the lobster cream sauce poured all over it was delicious. The actual lobster meat was somewhat scant but again, that sauce doe!
— Filet mignon with stuffed shrimp ($ 38.99): The filet was a perfectly cooked medium rare, and very tender and tasty! The stuffed shrimp were less than stellar though. Not very flavorful and could have really benefited from just a little more seasoning. The crab stuffing also had a slightly fishy taste. I wasn’t a fan. This was served with a side of sauteed bell peppers and zucchini. nothing special but veggies were a nice fresh contrast to the meat and stuffed shrimp.
Overall, ok food in an ok environment with slow service. We came because we had gift cards. I enjoyed most of the food, but the prices were just way too high for what it was. If they had slightly lower pricing or perhaps faster food prep, I’d be more in favor of returning.

We were staying in Crystal city before departing from Reagan early the next morning. We were searching for a place to grab dinner and drinks, and came across M&S. We were fans of our local one back home, so decided to stop in.
It was Sunday, but they still had a Great happy hour in the bar area. We came in towards the end of happy hour, with maybe 15 minutes left. We order food and a round of drinks. We shared the burger and the hummus. The server was great — changing a channel to a sports game my hubby wanted to watch and giving us the heads up that HH was about to end. We ordered another round of wine (Cab was ~$ 6/​glass) and she waited until we finished our current glasses before bringing the next round, which was really nice. I’d recommend for Happy Hour, for sure

We stumbled onto this place just walking around in Crystal City streets. Probably should have check the rating first before we walked in, but our group happened to be hungry at that time. It was on the east part of town, and surprisingly there were no wait compared to the other ones we walked past with plenty of waiting outside. The dining area was still full though.
We started with some Shrimp Kisses from the menu, and it came to be a quite weird dish with shrimps wrapped in bacon. It was quite overpowering and you almost could not taste the shrimp.
I got the Ultimate Mixed Grill for my entrée, most of the seafood was quite oily, I almost thought they cooked them in bacon grease when it first arrived. However, the seasoning was very bland. Scallop was probably the only good seafood on the plate with its nature flavor. We shared some Pasta Salmon, both the pasta and salmon were quite dried and bland with just slight taste above cardboard.
McCormick & Schmick’s was a bit of disappointment, I guess it cannot be avoided being in a touristy area. Dinner was on the uncle, so I did not feel too bad about overpriced poor meal.

I went to McCormick & Schmick’s last night for happy hour with my study group (for our last meeting together).
I am going to start with what I liked about McCormick & Schmick’s and finish with why I cannot give it a higher rating.
The choices for happy hour food were good and the prices for the food were very reasonable. I had the fish tacos (which were delicious) and the coconut shrimp. I did not have a drink. However, several people in my study group got beer and/​or cocktails and everyone seemed to be pleased with their selections.
The bar space itself is very nice and feels upscale.
The main reason I cannot give the restaurant a higher rating is the service. Although I understand the bar area was packed last night, it took a half an hour for a waitress to address our section and provide us with menus. (I found this wait time a little unreasonable packed or not. It was good thing. I was not in any type of a hurry.) It bothered me more when I saw a lot of wait staff just hanging around at different points of the night.
After I placed my order for food, it took the waitress almost 15 minutes to tell me one of the things I had order was no longer available. It took my two appetizers 45 minutes to arrive. Although, I appreciate that the waitress was trying to perhaps deliver all the food for my study group at once, one of the appealing parts of happy hour is the ability to order food throughout the designated time period.
In a nutshell, I arrived at 6:00 PM, placed my order at 6:45 and received my 2 appetizers at 7:45.
The only thing that was speedy at McCormick & Schmick’s was the checks.
I do not plan on coming back for happy hour anytime soon and trying other places in Crystal City, VA first.

First time at this location… not very impressed with the greeters. Also, I’ve become accustomed to the manager at least greeting the table… even if a «rolling greeting»…zilch???
HOWEVER…Dacosta saved the day! Dacosta was very well versed in wine, appetizers, entrees AND he made food suggestions. Can’t ask for more than that!
with that said… AWESOME JOB DACOSTA!

Last visit was good, but this time I was very annoyed to be told I could only be seated in the bar. I counted 8 empty regular tables, plus two very long tables that were empty but obviously set up for a group. I told the hostess I could see 8 empty tables. She said they had reservations that hadn’t arrived yet. So, I ate someplace else. When I walked by again about 45 minutes later, there were still a bunch of empty tables.
My previous visit, however, was very good. The food was excellent. The server, Becky, did a great job: friendly, quick, efficient.
I thought I would have to give it another try to see if they’ve consistently improved since previous disappointments.
I tried this place during an earlier visit to enjoy an outside table during a spring evening. 15 minutes after I was seated, still no water, no one offering me a drink, no server even briefly saying «hi» before coming back to take an order. Three people standing inside at the hostess station but apparently no one checking on customers. I finally got up and left then walked two blocks down to Morton’s.
An earlier Happy Hour update: the fish tacos are mediocre at best. The fish was dry and had a freezer burn texture. However, the cheeseburger is excellent – nicely charred on the outside, juicy on the inside. A bargain at $ 3.99!
Salmon was very good. Grilled vegetables were so-​so. They were diced too small and didn’t seem fresh, as if everything but the fingerling potatoes had been frozen. Cobbler dessert was okay but took forever to arrive and the cobbler wasn’t hot. Ice cream scoop was tiny. Service was so-​so. Server was nice but didn’t seem to know the menu and has too many tables.