Calico

I have always been a fan of Calico and have recommended it to people and even had two of my birthday celebrations there. Unfortunately the last two times I've been there I've been very disappointed with the service/atmosphere. I'm giving 2 stars because all though I appreciate them reopening during a pandemic, the experience was one of the worst dining experiences I've had the last 6 years living in DC. The second to last time I was there, (on my birthday a year ago), there was a massive amount of vomit on the stairway leading up to their patio that smelled horribly and for the hour plus my friends and I were there not a single employee attempted to clean it up.nnThis last time was during the pandemic and again, good on them for opening, but it was an utterly miserable and unwelcoming experience. I made a reservation days in advance and was running a few minutes late so I called about 5 minutes before my reservation to let them know I'd be a few min late. Half of my party was there on time and the front desk person told my friends that us being a few minutes late was a real burden on them and they had to shift around their seating completely, (why that would be necessary after only a few minutes I have no idea). They ended up seating us in the front next to the check in table and it was in the area below their patio that was on concrete and surrounded by what look like 15 foot walls, (pretty sure this was where their trash cans used to be pre-pandemic so clearly not ideal and it was obvious they decided to put us there instead of the table we were initially slated to get just because we were slightly late). The seating area was miserable and the steps to get drinks/food was even worse. I'm talking QR code, sign up for an account, verify twice I'm not a robot - level upon level of hoops to jump through just to order from them! You even had to request a bathroom visit through the app and a staff member popped around the corner to ask which one of us needed to use the bathroom - awkward. The food/drinks are pricey and I love their juice boxes, but I won't be going back any time soon. If you love them and want to keep them open during this time, I strongly recommend figuring out how to donate to them and avoiding the experience of being there in person!

The outdoor space is really cute. That's all this place has going for it. The drinks are hit or miss. The food is mediocre at best, and staff needs a morale boost and attitude adjustment. For how great the other reviews are I was quite underwhelmed, and I'm not itching to come back here any time soon.

Had a GREAT time at Calico - they're definitely taking tons of covid precautions (ordering on your phone, limited seating time to an hour and a half, and collected our info for contact tracing) and they were very friendly. The atmosphere is also really cute, sitting outside. Great place to stop for food when checking out Blagden Alley

Really cool patio area and the staff was fantastic. The menu was mostly snacks (and a burger), but the adult drink pouches we're incredibly good!

Amazing place, love the togo cocktails. The lavander lemonade is the best!