Cinnabar

It never ceases to amaze me how the restaurants in national chain hotels are run so poorly.
This place is in the Hyatt, Crystal City.
Crystal City is a concrete nowhere land if you have not been.
I thought I’d get at least a decent meal but I was wrong.
How do they mess up a wedge salad? They did. It looks like they might have washed the iceberg wedges and left all the water in.
French onion soup was oily and weak. Zero flavor.
The general vibe in places in Crystal City seems to be «we know you are only here because you have to be so we are not going to go out of our way for you.»
The staff here is adept at apologizing. They seem to do it often.
This is not a place I would recommend.
Take an über to old town instead.

The posted hours cannot be trusted. They often close early. They are supposed to be open for lunch until 3pm but were closed today at 2:20pm.
An excellent place for breakfast. The buffet is very good, with a large selection of hot (including bacon!) and cold items as well as omelettes and eggs cooked to order. The buffet staff is very friendly.
The buffet tends to close a little earlier than advertised. But, food ordered off the menu is also very good. The table servers are friendly and efficient.

Like most convention hotels, this Hyatt can seem pretty deserted on weekends. So things were very quiet when the three of us arrived for dinner on a Friday evening. The lack of numbers however did not reduce the attention and level of service we received. Our waiter cleared what he thought was «the best table» in the house and seated us immediately. He described the specials — selections of seafood and shellfish — and two of us order from that list. We also order salads, a wedge and a Caesar, and they were served promptly. Fresh and delicious.
The entrees were excellent. A smoked chicken from the regular menu and two seafood samplers from the special list. Salmon, crab cake and shrimpt.
The wait checked in with us at appropriate intervals. We had plenty of food so didn’t order dessert, but the waiter brought a complimentary single-​serve cake with a candle to help us celebrate a birthday.
We enjoyed the experience, including the low volume so that we could converse easily.
I’d like to go back, but probably for lunch. Dinner was in fact very expensive.

Staying here now. The prices are outrageous and there are only over the top type items on the menu. And when I only wanted to order coffee and a dessert, apparently that wasn’t sufficient as my waiter never reappeared. I can’t get service in the bar downstairs, the waitress doesn’t know what beer they have and wouldn’t go
Look. I have two more days to suffer here and then I will be free. Never had an experience like this in a Hyatt and I’m a platinum member.

Came for HH, and it was okay, but mildly unpleasant. The bar area is seat yourself, but someone who worked there (and ended up being our server) told us we couldn’t sit where we initially sat. it was overly complicated since we were a group of 7.
We finally sat down on a long couch thing, and had some finger foods and drinks. HH selection is limited. Most wines are not on there. The house cab tasted really fruity. Draft beer was hard to come by, the IPAs were out, but they didn’t have any similar replacements.
HH wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. Finger food :) I liked the veggie platter because the pita bread came out warm.
Now I work really close by, about a 3 minute walk. Would I actually come back here on my own? Nope.

This place has to have the worst food I have eaten in my life. Seriously! I ordered the Bone-​in Ribeye medium done. It was so thin and cooked well-​done. It was so dry and it actually tasted like a Salisbury Steak. My friend ordered the Crab cake and Short Rib Combo. The short rib turned out to be pot roast and the crab cake had so much filling it could have been just dressing. Try to avoid this place at all costs. It’s not with it. And I haven’t even gotten to the horrible service this place has towards it customers.

I got really sick a half hour after eating here. They tried to be kind because we were the only customers so we were given free dessert, yuck too sweet. The waiter lingered too long duh we were in a serious discussion, what’s his problem.

I thought I was too late to make it because one paper says daily buffet breakfast till 10:00 and breakfast till 11:00. According to the receptionist, weekends buffet breakfast till 12:00. I wonder why they don’t post it. Anyway, I’m glad to make it.
Price
Their buffet breakfast is about $ 20.
Good
Crispy bacon, juicy pork sausage, cage free eggs, salmon, pastries, fresh ruby grapefruit and melon, fresh hush potato, delicious omelette, TAZO tea, dry fruits and nuts, tasty cheese, great staffs, …
Bad
No salad, no sliced lemon for salmon, no grain mustard for sausage, …
In total
Worth it!
After all
Too full!

It was late, and I couldn’t go outside the hotel because I had baby with me. I just needed a snack so I ordered chicken and waffle from the appetizer menu. I expected an appetizer sized portion, but what I got was no where close to $ 9 worth. Based on the photo I expected two chicken strips and a small waffle. I got two nuggets and a 2″ waffle. The chicken was decent, well seasoned, nothing special. The waffle was like a stale pancake had been smashed in a waffle iron. Waffles should be light and crisp; this was dense and chewy, but not good chewy, more like stale chewy.
I got the Nutella tart as well. It was fine. The crust tastes like pre-​made Oreo pie crust you buy at the grocery store and the filing was good.
The hostess was very nice. Chatted with baby and me while we waited and was very friendly.
1 ½ stars for the appetizer, 3 ½ stars for the desert, 1 star for value, 4 for customer service. Overall: 2 ½ stars

Ambitious menu, root beer braised shortribs, $ 28, came with 3 small stewed pieces of pot roast. Glazed carrots cooked well al dente and mashed potatoes an average purée. Iced tea $ 3. A good reminder of why to avoid Hyatt restaurants. Way over priced unless you’re on corporate per diem.

Worst overpriced hotel food ever. McDonalds would have been better than the crap they serve

I was staying at the Hyatt for work and my sister and I went here for dinner. We had been traveling all day and we were famished.
The server was very friendly. The food was not good at all. We ordered the shrimp spaghetti and the grilled chicken breast. The spaghetti had no flavor and the shrimp were frozen. My chicken was like rubber. $ 65 later. …we were not happy girls. Save your money and go somewhere else.

Great breakfasts here. Varied menu, but I like the breakfast buffet ($ 18). It is set up very well with a large variety of offerings. Made to order omelets and eggs are excellent.
Outside of breakfast, I cannot testify to Cinnabar as there are a multitude of fantastic eating destinations within very close walking distance of the hotel.

I was staying at the Hyatt Regency, and ate dinner here with a large party. Despite the large numbers at our convention, Cinnabar wasn’t crowded and we were given a wonderful round table with a slightly secluded setting, so we were able to talk and laugh at ease.
Several of my companions were pleased at the gluten-​free options. As for me, I was all for gluten, and along with other friends, I opted for the buffet.
The selections were good, though this was by no means a massive buffet. They had about three different meat courses, including fish, beef tips, and freshly craved turkey with fixins. There were a few different combinations with green beans and salad. It was all good with the exception of the bread roll. It was like a round brick. One bite and crumbs shattered every which way.
The big reason a number of us chose the buffet was because of the desserts on display. This, my friends, was a night to eat cake AND pie. They had a layered lemon cake and a chocolate crème pie. I had small pieces of both and couldn’t finish either, but wow, were they good. Seriously, this place was worth visiting for dessert alone.

We had dinner, all got steak and 2 side. I orders 4 oz, he immediately asked if I was sure I didn’t want 6 oz. the sweet potato mash was one small ice cream scoop and about five asparagus spears. Food tasted ok. Service was slow and could hardly understand what he said.
Went for breakfast, pretty much same, food was ok service was SLOW hard to understand waiter, and overpriced

Cinnabar is a nice place to eat inside of the hyatt regency crystal city. It is close to Capitol Hill. My favorite part of this place had to be the view From your table. You looked over the whole main lobby and other floors. A lot of the people at this hotel were staying for business. I have ate at cinnabar 2 times in the past 2 years. The place has been newly renovated. I went during lunch time. There were only a few people inside eating. I had ate at cinnabar the year before and figured it would be a good place to kill some time before my flight back home to NY. The service was fine nothing to write home about. I ordered a hot tea. I also ordered a grilled chicken sandwich on ciabatta bread. The other person I was with ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with a regular toasted bun. Both of the dishes were good. The only complaint food wise when I bit into my chicken it looked a bit pink. It was not raw. But had a bit of a pink hugh to it. This concerned me a bit, but the person I was with told me it was fine. The sandwich was good. The fries were good as well. The price was a bit expensive. I felt that we ordered nothing special just chicken sandwiches. But at $ 13 bucks a sandwich I felt it was a bit expensive. Cinnabar is a nice place to go if you want to kill time. food was good nothing special. I would go back if the prices were lower. Unfortunately I feel that a lot of people get stuck going to places located in the hotels. I wish the food was cheaper but if your staying at the hyatt try to walk to other restaurants close by.
PROS
–close to Capitol Hill
— good food
— decorated nicely with a great view of hotel
CONS
— really expensive

Tried out Cinnabar for Mother’s Day… and it was great! My mom and I both loved it. The buffet had an omelet station, a meat/​cheese section, lunch entrees, pastries, tons of shrimp (even though I’m not a fan), and a waffle station. They had the cutest small section with chicken fingers and mac/​cheese for kids with cookies. It was so cute they had thier own small station. Everything was delicious. The dessert station had more than a few mini options. It was easy to try lots of dessert. Which is my favorite way to try dessert. ;) Overall we were both happy with our food and would def go back next Mother’s Day. No idea if this is just for special occasions or something more frequent but I would highly recommend it!

The sweet potato French toast was enough to sell me. Went for Mother’s Day brunch buffet and the amount of food and variety was incredible. The portion sizes were smaller than your typical buffet making it easy to not over eat. The ingredients were fresh and most of the main dish options were made as you ordered.

This was our second Easter brunch at Cinnabar, and we’ll probably be back next year.
The brunch buffet is really good, with omelet and carving stations, a lot of shrimp, salads, waffles, a kiddie bar, desserts, and much more. There are plenty of vegetarian options. Coffee is strong and is quickly refilled. Mimosas come with brunch.
The service is attentive and pleasant.
We’ve arrived around 11, and it doesn’t get crowded until noon. Even then, there’s plenty of food.
Based on Easter brunch, we keep meaning to eat here on a regular evening to see if it’s as good.

For my one and only lunch ‘out’ during the furlough, we went to Cinnabar, inside the Hyatt Crystal City, directly across the street from my office. Really? Ok. Never mind. I’m over it.
A furlough lunch in a hotel restaurant on a rainy day is not completely a bad thing when it’s the salmon BLT with crispy hot fries and an iced tea.
I was stuffed and more than pleased. The salmon filet was broiled or pan seared to my liking. And the cone of fries (why do we do this?) was plentiful and, like I said, hot, crispy, fresh. Service was swift, yet attentive. This fellow kept our iced tea filled. The décor was typical Hyatt as this restaurant is on a terrace overlooking the main lobby.
I would come back to Cinnabar. I’m a fan.