Napoleon Bistro & Lounge Brunch

I love living in D.C. for dozens of reasons, two being that the District is a just short four-hour drive north of my alma matter, UNC-Chapel Hill, and another short four-hour drive north to New York City, where a large chunk of my besties reside.

In October, we had a lovely little reunion where I was blessed with the company of five sorority sisters—two from the District, two from New York, and one from Raleigh. So, we headed to one of my favorite girlie-girl locales, Napoleon Bistro in Adam’s Morgan, for brunch on the patio in the fall sunshine.

After a Friday evening out, we were in need of mimosas, so we stopped by the bar inside for a round while we waited for our table. The bartender was flamboyant and fabulous and started our morning out right. We had a variety of breakfast cocktails—a mimosa, two Bloody Marys, a blood orange mimosa, an acai berry mimosa, and a bellini.

Then, we were off to our patio table shaded by an umbrella and complete with adorable plush striped pillows on the benches. The service plummeted from there—with a terrible waitress and a broken credit card machine. But, I’ll let my Bitches tell the story. This review is brought to you by the ladies of Pi Beta Phi…

Laura, who had the Napoleon Crepe, with lamb sausage, gruyere, peppers, and onions, says:

“I would give the drinks a B+. I am always excited by a good champagne cocktail, and the bartender was very friendly and only charged us for five drinks instead of six. Service, a C (she forgot our bread basket!). Brunch itself, I would give a B.  My crepe tasted delicious, was reasonably priced, and had a nice side salad accompanying it. A little too much sausage for my taste, but still really good.”

Rachel, who had the Elba sandwich, with deli turkey, granny smith apples, brie, and a mayo-Dijon spread on a baguette, says:

“I give it a C for service, A for cocktails, B+ for my sandwich, and A for fries!”

Maggie, who had the Spinach salad with baby spinach, radicchio, shaved celery root, sliced mushrooms, verjus mustard vinaigrette, and topped with a sunny-side up organic egg, says:

“The bartender was a doll! I adored my acai berry mimosa, which was a beautiful faint grey and tasted like a bubbly berry with a hint of dark chocolate. Sitting outside was a treat because the sun was bright and the air crisp. I felt so chic sitting on the red and yellow striped bench cushions and pillows. Service was careless and slow. For a salad, the presentation was impressive—a robust mound of fresh veggies tossed in a light dressing. Oh, and the chef must have forgotten to top it with the egg because I couldn’t find it anywhere. At her rather leisurely pace, the waitress was able to bring me the organic egg, sunny-side up, on the side. I’d say my overall experience was a B-. Probably higher than it would be, because I enjoyed the company so much).

Christina, who had the Napoleon burger, says:

“C overall. I rank service highly, and our waitress was awful. My burger was just alright, but the fries were phenomenal!”

Yours truly, who had the Crab Eggs Benedict and a Dulce de Leche espresso gives the service an F, the cocktails and espresso an A+, and the Benedict a B, it could have used more jumbo lump crab meat, the eggs were not poaches to my liking (or request), but the Hollandaise was scrumptious.

Beth, who had the Marseille crepe, with diced chicken breast, sour cream, onions & bell peppers, topped with a roasted red pepper sauce, sums it up:

“Service was terrible. Crepe was excellent. Drinks were superb, and bartender was awesome!

Taking the averages … the Honorary Bitches say: D for table service. A for cocktails, bartender, and French fries. B for cuisine.

Napoleon Bistro & Lounge
1847 Columbia Road N.W.
Washington, D.C.
(202) 299-9630