Science Club

it belongs in bklyn | les /​nyc lower | london | amsterdam | barcelona | sydney or melbourne | havana | madrid | stockholm | narnia

Enjoying HH on the day before metro shuts down. Randomly discussing earthquakes and trying to decode P vs S waves without consulting the interwebs. Down the bar, someone (who would later be revealed to be the owner) says ‘are we sure about that?’ He then disappears and returns with a 1962 Life Nature Library book, The Earth, signed by the author, dedicated to the Science Club and open to the page that explains P, S and L waves. Science.

I happened to stumble on this place during a business trip to DC. The staff was really helpful to show me the vegan options. They even texted me the answer. That being said, I think adding a (V) to the menu to indicate vegan-​friendly items would be a nice addition. The fries were super crisp and well seasoned, and the veggie burger was pretty delicious too.
I feel that this place has a lot of potential if they went all out with their science theme. Adding some old-​school, 19^th-​early 20^th century style science equipment could go a long way. I like the menus, but would like a different font a little more.
The choice of music was great, and I enjoyed the ambience.
I went early in the night so I’d recommend it as an early date-​night spot. I’m not sure how the place changes as the night progresses though.

Anything that says «vegetarian» and has nerdy drinks on the menu (ex: breaking bad themed), immediately grabs my attention. I wonder if the absinthe in the drinks is real — since I haven’t had that since I lived in Europe, and didn’t think it was legal here. Anyway, if I drank alcohol I would be curious to try so many of these intriguing-​themed drinks. I’d like to come back here sometime, go inside a little deeper (only sat with a friend in one of the tables you see immediately when you walk in), and experience the food. The waiter was incredibly friendly though. My friend and I sat there for a couple of hours, only got two sprites (maybe even refills), he constantly came to make sure we were happy — but didn’t charge us for anything at the end. Obviously we left a generous tip but I just thought that was really nice. The ultimate «tell» of the integrity of a place, I suppose, in my book, is, if they let you have the full experience and don’t charge you for only getting a Sprite. It’s just a very nice thing to do and will make me come back, bring friends, and get food/​drinks with them so the place can thrive and I can help them make some money.

Arrived a little before ten on a Saturday night. Menu said kitchen was open till 10 but waiter refused to let us order anything. Why would you stop serving food that early on a Saturdays night? At least offer a late night menu.
The place itself also seemed very bland. Décor was minimal and didn’t have the chic upscale ambiance the website leads you to believe.
Clientele was young and I’m only 26 so rare for me to say that (possibly even underage). A crowd was also smoking weed on their heated sidewalk patio when we left.
Major disappointed. Was excited for this veg/​friendly spot.

What kind of restaurant-​bar stops serving all food at 10 pm on a Saturday? That’s absurd. Oh well. I’ve had several abhorrent experiences there in the past anyway, ranging from my order being severely messed up to them «accidentally» charging an additional $ 70 tip to my credit card. (And yes, I did fill in both the tip field and the total field on the receipt — they’re just a shady company.)

We recently hosted an event in the basement area of the Science Club and had a great experience. If you don’t hear back via e-​mail, give them a call. The space in funky, had it’s own bar, and was the perfect size for our group of 30. There are some great happy hour drink specials, and it goes until 8:00pm! The food wasn’t anything to write home about, but you’ll find something that will work for most tastes. (I enjoyed the street corn and asparagus!) Both Steve and our bartender were very nice and a pleasure to work with and the location is as convenient as can be — I would definitely host an event here again!

Meh. Decent happy hour prices. The meatballs were totally dry, too salty, and overpriced. More science, plz.

I had decided upon this place because there are apparently lots of vege options. I was told by the waitress that all but three were vegan. Upon closer examination, all the items appeared to have cheese or yogurt. I don’t think she really understood this, and this is always a red flag at a restaurant.
I ended up getting the vege burger with the kale salad sans yogurt. It proved to be bland as did the salad. And even with the separate order of fries proved to be not very filling.
So, not really recommend for vegans, very disappointed.

This place is en prime location for Boston-​smart and Massachuset-​progressive people who in spite of the Irish blood in the battle of St. Patricks day and Pi day don’t have a hard time to go for the one without blacked out undergrad bros in it. It will not disappoint you from the environment point of view and it will not keep you away from the center of Du point «circle».
It has a blackboard and chalk right in front of the bar and a back area for dance and more, there are two floors above and one basement which makes it an eternal row house party dedicated to the ones who would fill such a house but there is no need to xenophobic hostility.
Couchsurfers also get together every now and then among so many other meetups and groups. All is missing to make this bar a perfect scene is probably cheaper beers.

This place was awesome! My friends and I came for happy hour and really enjoyed the ambiance. The food was delicious, and they stuck to their theme serving our fries and fresh veggies (with hummus) in beakers.
Definitely the place to go to if you’re looking for a chill hangout spot.

Seemed to be pretty good. Fries were better than the drinks but the whole atmosphere and ambience was very unique and good

Meh.
I can’t quite bring myself to actually rate this place a 2 because it’s so damn cool. But «meh» is exactly how I feel about it.
We went for dinner but ended up just having a glass of wine and leaving because nothing really appealed to us. Not fair to Science Club, since it’s more of a bar/​lounge than a restaurant. And the atmosphere inside really is great, though I can’t imagine going here when it’s actually busy, since it’s the size of a row house living room.
The carmenere on happy hour was solid, in my opinion (one my date did not share, but whatevs). Kind of annoying that their prices are 50 cents — $ 1 higher on the menu than they are online. It’s not a lot, but it’s the reason we rushed to get there before happy hour ended at 8:00.
I disagree with the prevailing opinion that it’s not a good place for a first date. It’s dimly lit, small enough to be intimate but not cramped, and not overwhelmed my masses of people (if your date is on a Tuesday night), and there is even a nice patio outside. It’s exactly where I would go on a first date. But maybe, like Science Club, I’m cooler than everyone else.

The Science Club is one of DC’s few all-​vegetarian night spots as it is really more of a bar with food. It has an old-​school flavor to it and is a great low-​key place to go when hanging out with friends. I decided to go to one of VSDC’s meetups at the Science Club to meet new people and see how their vegan fare has evolved.
Well, for not having attended one of these events in a while, I was surprised at how packed it was. We had the whole second floor and the tiny third floor. Given that this was a special event with only one waitress serving the whole floor, I won’t review the service. I think she did a great job considering how many people were there. I drank a few glasses of the happy hour Carmenere and thought it was great for the price.
For my entrée, I went with the most popular dish there — Tina’s homemade veggie burger. No, it isn’t called this on the online menu because apparently the online menu hasn’t been updated in years. I also added Daiya cheese. The burger showed up with an unimpressive presentation akin to Native Foods’ DC burgers with just a plain white bun, a little bit of cheese, and a slice of tomato. There was no lettuce or onions even though the description specified that there would be. There was also a garlic mayo and ketchup. The burger had a nice flavor, but the lack of condiments and white bun killed it for me. I slathered it with the ketchup and mayo to give it more flavor. The arugula salad was just arugula with some balsamic vinegar — not very good. For $ 11.50, I expected more.
Others got the nachos, which I got to try. Very unimpressive. There was way too much cheese and a few black beans, but nothing green. No jalapenos, cilantro, or avocado. These were not worth the price.
I think the Science Club could be a fun place to go with friends for drinks, but I’m not sure what you should order. If the burger is the best thing they’ve got, then I think their menu needs a revamp.

I left Science Club very disappointed. My experience was lackluster and I see no reason to return.
We entered around 5pm looking to grab a few drinks on happy hour. When we arrived, it seemed like they had several private parties going on simultaneously and the person at the front directed us to their downstairs bar. No biggie, I’m cool with drinking in the basement.
When we got downstairs, there was a bar but no bartender to speak of. We sat there for a few minutes until a bartender, seeming slightly out of place arrived and greeted us. He had no menus to show us and then ran off for another few minutes to find them. When we did get menus, we looked for the happy hour specials and saw it published as «regular liquor happy hour» for $ 5. I asked if that meant «well drinks» and he said «yes». We all attempted to order drinks using «regular liquor» but when our bill came, we were not charged $ 5 for anything we ordered. My drink took several minutes to be made at which point the bartender told me «I’m hungover“which I guess he was attributing to the delay.
It’s not a good sign when only minutes after sitting down, you are already looking for an escape. That was how I felt in Science Club. Perhaps they were just in the weeds due to the other parties going on but with so many other establishments in that neighborhood, I don’t see why anyone would want to come here and put up with this nonsense.

I stopped in here for happy hour with some friends from out of town after our original choice was closed for a private event. We went to the downstairs bar and waited a long time to get a menu. We almost walked out. The bartender was friendly enough, but after we questioned him kind of extensively about what was included in the happy hour pricing, we ordered a vodka soda, gin and tonic, etc. They were fine, but when we got the check nothing we ordered had happy hour pricing. I don’t understand why he didn’t let us know that when we ordered, since we made it pretty clear that we were there for happy hour.

3.5 stars, really. 5 star food, 3 star everything else.
The all-​vegetarian menu can’t be beat with creative dishes like pesto tofu skewers, a quinoa (maybe?) veggie burger with an option for vegan cheese and a vegetarian nicoise salad. Food goes down easy, but prices are a little tough to swallow. Not awful, and on par with everything else in this area, but drinks are especially hefty ($ 5 PBR? No… thanks…)
I got the fries last time I went. Do yourself a favor and order some. SO good.
The atmosphere was dark and loud. I get that it’s a bar, but the DJ loved his subwoofer just a little too much. Service was kind of uneven. It took forever to put our order in, which is forgiveable enough, but then our food came out with a good 7 to 10 minutes between people’s dishes. The waitress was nice enough, but I was pretty cranky and hungry by the time one guy had finished his burger.

Where do I even begin?
Went to Science Club for their all night happy hour on Monday nights (as advertised on their website) only to learn that they are no longer offering that deal. That’s fine, changes happen, but they should be updating the site — as they had not, we asked for the first round of drinks to be offered at the happy hour price (a reasonable request, I feel). The waitress, with plenty of attitude, informed us that they could not do that, and that we could ask the owner but that he probably wouldn’t honor it either. We asked for the opportunity to speak with the owner if possible. About a minute later, the owner walks by our table, says, «fine, we’ll do that, but just so you know, I think it’s ludicrous and ridiculous!» and walks away — no exaggeration, we hadn’t even said one word to him. My friend and I are stunned now, and not sure what to say or do. When he passes our table again, I attempt to flag him down and he informs me that he will not be giving us an argument — again before I actually said a word, I had just raised my hand to try to get his attention. So I responded that we weren’t looking for an argument, just trying to understand what was «ludicrous and ridiculous» about our request, to which, he said «not only will you get your first round discounted, your server will even buy you on that first round». Bipolar much? At this point, we still had not actually conversed with the man — he just shouted out random statements while passing by our table.
We were starving so we decided to go ahead and order our meals regardless. I got the pesto pasta (not satisfying — the pesto was lacking in flavor, and the portion was not filling), and my friend ordered the veggie burger (surprisingly delicious, and I’m usually 100% a meatatarian).
After finishing our meal, we received the check and lo and behold, it included our drinks, albeit at the happy hour rate, but it was still not in line with what we were told by the owner. Not wanting to continue being called ludicrous, we decided to pay our bill as is. And guess what? This morning we checked our credit card statements and what do we notice? Illegal tipping by Science Club! My friend deliberately only left 15% and her tip amount was changed to 20%. I always round out my tips to be a whole number so that I know it was my doing/​calculating, and mine was changed to a be different amount too. The amounts are minimal so that’s not the issue I have — but the principal.
This was an experience from hell, and Science Club, you’ll be getting a call from both of us for copies of our receipts and proof of what you’ve charged to our accounts.

A dim-​lit lounge/​restaurant with more than a dozen vegan/​vegetarian menu items.
Pros
— Small «science-​y» decorations, like beakers as candle holders
— Vegan and vegetarian options
— 5pm-​8pm happy hour
— Seating for small groups and bar downstairs and bigger tables upstairs
— There’s a mic and small stage on the second floor (live music/​stand up comedy perhaps? not sure)
Cons
— Slow service
— Food could be better
What I got
Sauvignon Blanc, $ 5.50 during happy hour
Carmenere, $ 5.50 during happy hour
Veggie burger $ 13
What I thought
The Science Club is in a great location downtown, perfect for an office happy hour. That’s what I did — I went with a group of six coworkers to the Club at 5:30PM.
Outside, there is a small patio that I’m guessing seats a few people when the weather is warm. A pretty archway donned with the restaurant’s name invites you in, and it feels like stepping into a secret society’s lair. The first floor has a bar and small booths made for two people; the second floor has more seating (capacity around 25 – 30 people). The colors in the space are dark, woody, and mellow. Not too loud, not too quiet, and soothing/​mild indie music. The happy hour is decent; a few reds and whites, and some beers. I really liked my Cermenere, a red wine from Chile. Our service was pretty slow, and my veggie burger came at least 45 minutes later. At that point, I was pretty hungry, so I ate it quickly. The buns were the soft hamburger bread you have at an outdoor picnic and the burger patty is a purée of some vegetables and fried. It was burnt and tasted like those store-​bought spinach pancakes in the freezer aisle. I wasn’t impressed, nor repulsed.
I’m still curious to try the other items on the menu, and I am definitely coming back. I’ll update this review when I do. In any case, try it out! Your vegetarian/​vegan friends will thank you for it.

Science Club is a cool hole-​in-​the-​wall bar with a really low-​key feel. I was recently at Science Club with a couple friends for happy hour, and really loved the vibe for some after-​work drinks. The music was great, the bartender was very friendly and attentive but laid-​back, and the bar wasn’t too loud. I highly recommend this place if you want to come and actually be able to hear the people you’re with.
Happy Hour specials are pretty good, with $ 5 wines and a couple $ 5 beers. I found the food (all vegetarian) to be a tad pricey, but ordered some pretty delicious fries.

Un club très sympa de Washington que j ‘apprécie tout particulièrement de part son ambiance festive mais également grande à la diversité des dj qui viennent en ce lieu.
Ici c’est musique en tout genre avec en plus un happy hour tout les jours our faire un peu d’economie