Bottom of the Gate Cafe

The views are excellent and there are some fun drinks on the menu. The food was good though a bit pricy. My biggest criticism is that I find the seating to be a bit awkward. The lounge chairs and smaller tables are nice if you are just there for a drink but they should consider possibly putting in high top tables and chairs for people who want to have food.

Prices are very high and don't have to be. Seeing the sunset over the Potamac was great. Automatic 20% gratuity was painful. Great experience but they need to come down on drink and food prices.

The service and ambiance was outstanding. It was our anniversary, and the staff surprised us with champagne! Kal, the bartender, was lovely, friendly, and just aimed to please. His drinks were superb!! And, the view by the water is second to none.

Very expensive drinks and bar selection is super limited. Bar tender did not know how to make many classics we asked for. For being so expensive, they should have a better selection and better trained bar tender. Also, the terrace furniture are ok. Again, for suck expensive cocktails, one would expect a slicker decor. Views are stunning. I guess that's what your paying for.

The space is very underutilized, the prices are absolutely ridiculous for the value you get. $25 cocktails and $18 mocktails are Miami south beach front of three water 5 star world famous pricing, not a washed up hotel in DC. The food menu is kind of sad and again priced as a Michelin restaurant. It makes sense why this place is dead, because it's insanely overpriced. No restaurant in DC deserves charging $25 /Cocktails $23 spring mix salad with croutons.

Food and service is always good. My go to lunch spot.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I have never experienced such a rooftop . No shade available with a view. The only shaded space was behind a central wall. The bar didn't even have shade and it pained me to see bartenders and ingredients in the direct sun for hours. The bar was pretty low level. Not price but ingredients. No fresh fruit drinks only cheap flavored vodka to provide fruity flavor. Maybe because it was in the direct sun. I don't know. It's unfortunate bc the views are stunning. Worth a visit with a glass of wine maybe. Waitress was very nice and aimed to please.

No shade! There were plenty of umbrellas, but we were told they couldn't put them up because of the wind. But there was no wind whatsoever. There was barely a relieving breeze. So we guzzled a $20 glass of wine and left. It was a quick and expensive $50 ten mins! There were only a few people up there who were trying their best to enjoy it, but we all bailed about the same time. The view is beautiful, and I'm sure it's lovely after dark, but if they are open during daylight hours, they should provide their guests some relief. They need to build some kind of shelter at least over the bar or something. It's way too expensive for the miserable experience. You are definitely paying for the view, but there are many other better choices for views in the city. Not worth it.

Friday night felt like a Monday night. It was extremely quiet. Unfortunately not the vibes I was hoping for. People were underdressed, coming in tshirts and flip flops. I'll definitely choose a different rooftop for next time.

Beautiful view. Drinks are very expensive. We got fries, which were delicious (large portion, kids, loved them!) Waitstaff was in a side area frequently joking around with each other and not paying attention to the clientele. The host at front who was seating people was eating food out of a to go container up at the entrance when we were leaving. Wants to create an elegant, upscale atmosphere but needs to worker harder to justify the costs.

Come for the views, the rest is not great. We went before a show at The Kennedy Center because it's convenient, but this is a one and done destination. The service was okay, but she forgot things, had to be asked to refill water and overall already knew she was getting the 20% mandatory tip. My "dirty" martini consisted of vodka and an olive... not good. The food is nothing special and way overpriced. Go to Kennedy Center for the same view for free.

This has all the potential to be a great bar. Cordial greeting when you arrive. Fantastic view of the river and sunset. But no option for an umbrella. No option for seating choices, such as the sectionals. Moderate volume club music. Not too loud, just noticeable. We had the sliders, which were delicious, the lamb lollipops (also delicious but a little fatty) and truffle fries (also delicious!). The biggest concern is VALUE! The notion that you're on a rooftop and can watch the sunset is a wonderful draw to the place. It is NOT a reason for boosting the item prices. But, when the food and drinks are good enough and the service is equally good, then ok. However, our server, while very sweet and attentive was not very knowledgeable about the products. And no server needs to know everything or a lot, just let the customer know " I don't know, let me find out!" That goes a long way. A minimal drink menu is fine, but you should have the ability to prepare the basics and classic drinks when asked. Again, especially when you inflate the item prices. We received the drinks in an appropriate amount of time. But they arrived in plastic drinkware. Which makes great sense for an outdoor venue with cement flooring. And it was great with the specialty drink that included ice. It was not good with the Manhattan. It should be prepared with lots of ice. Then served in a chilled glass. Unfortunately, you can't chill a plastic "glass". When it arrived it was already warm and is not going to be served with ice. So the flavor started so-so, and got progressively worse. Whatever your check amount is at the end, you may or may not feel is proper value. But then you have to factor in a 20% service charge. I assume it is to compensate the staff since that began during the pandemic. That is NOT the tip! Again, none of that is an issue when you get food, drink and service that matches! This was not the case. And from someone who NEVER writes reviews, this experience warrants response.

1. During summer months, it should be an obvious thing to have shade umbrellas available on all tables (versus just 2 for the entire area). 2. The service is pathetic— one almost needs to request for it.And you get hit by a 25% service charge — SHOCKING 3. The quality of food & beverages is shockingly poor for a city like DC. And the prices are sky high — so value for money is a big fat zero. Avoid this bar — absolutely passable.

Extremely disappointed in our experience. The roof was hot, with only a few umbrellas. We were a group of 7 and there was none for us. We were told on arrival there was a $100 minimum per person. Ridiculous as we expected to have short cocktails and then depart. The table was filthy and the wait staff slow. It took more than 20 minutes to clean a catsup mess. A canned beer was $14. Mandatory 20% gratuity. Horrible experience. I recommend the Kennedy center for the same view and Georgetown for drinks.

Has an amazing view, and potential to be a great place overall. But the rooftop is not well kept and it looks old. Our server was lovely, drinks came fast, but it's over priced for what it is.