Baby Wale

Had my birthday party in their upstairs event space and it was excellent. Oriana was my staff contact and she made everything so easy and fun. They have the lowest bar minimum of any of the DC bars I priced, and they don't make you put it all one tab. Everyone can buy their own drinks as if it's a normal bar. The space they give you is fabulous. It looks really nice and cool and the location is great. Also great cocktails. Oriana came and found me at one point to let me know we were a little behind on our minimum. Really appreciated the heads up well in advance so we could meet the minimum comfortably instead of all at once at the end when half the people have left! I have hosted private parties at other nearby bars and they are not always so helpful! The bartender was also great and fun. They accommodated my friends bringing in our own cake and lighting candles, which made my birthday extra special. Thanks!

Amazing quality, wonderful staff and great environment. Have loved everything I’ve ordered in the many times I’ve been. The buffalo mozzarella porcupine is a particular standout, a unique preparation that looks as good as it tastes. The chicken as well is very delicious and worth the prep time wait. A great place to take groups for drinks, the decor and personalities working behind the bar make for a fun and imaginative environment.

Terrific bar and grill! Great old decor with large bar and upstairs area for parties etc. The food is excellent and ranges from small appetizers to pizza, steak and salad choices. The bar has a good selection of beers and wines on the drink menu. Staff is friendly and service is good. All in all, a nice place for dinner or meeting friends for drinks.

Took a chance based on reviews. Turned out to be a great choice. My bartender Steve had great suggestions on whiskey and beer. I had the lobster roll and it was very good but the grit fries were an unexpected delight. Great vibe, I enjoyed my visit. I would go again.

I tried the Salami pizza, the salami was regular but the mozzarella cheese they use for the pizza was amazing! The pie size is average, it is a thin crispy crust, but it it is full of flavor one. I really enjoyed it. Their beer selection is awesome as well, I had a really nice Red Ale and I have to say I am really happy with the service.

This place is really great! They have a super agreeable happy hour pricing for drinks, and the food is wonderful. We got the pizza, fried chicken, and the fried rolls. All were amazing. The plates are pretty big, so I'd recommend sharing. But if I'm ever in downtown DC again, I'll come here! Also the staff are super nice and the decor and atmosphere are great! ❤️

After a frosty start with a surly barman, which initially put us off ordering food, we were then greeted with a new waiter who transformed our evening and experience. The food was amazing, cooked to perfection and generous portions. So what started out as a potential disaster, ended up being a fantastic evening and well worth the visit.

Great happy hour deals on both bar bites and drinks. Beautiful, modern, and huge space - always busy, but easy to find seats. Food was great - didn't realize until later that it's from the same chef as the legendary Corduroy next door.

Order the collards!!! They taste like they are made with brown sugar, bourbon, and unicorn horn! The wings are super meaty and taste great with the mumbo sauce. The shrimp basket is delicious and, again, the shrimp tasted delicious with mumbo sauce. The burger was juicy with a hint of spice. Seriously though, order a bowl of the collards with anything else. Cuz the greens are the star of this show.

Very good restaurant. Delicious food. I ate the Nagoya Ramon. Service excellent. Waitress very attentive, gave us plenty of time to look at the menu and make our choices and never had to ask for my water glass to be refilled. Chef/owner Tom Power knows how to cook and he is on the job every night. The Washington Post food critic gives both Baby Wake and Corduroy very good reviews.

My partner and I walked by this place loads before they opened, so we were happy to finally see the space. We were there during a slow time (7 on a Wednesday) but still had a great time. Collin took great care of us and made one of the best old fashioneds I've ever had. Excited to visit again soon!

Wonderful service, very salty Fried Chicken, halibut fish and chips was on point, peanut butter cookies amazing, peach tart extremely good.

Gogo music, friendly staff, not a bad happy hour. Enjoyed the eclectic food options, especially the zucchini pupusas!

Good food and drink, but only 3 vegetarian options on the menu

Went on Tuesday night. Ribs were very good. Menu is unique - which is a good thing. Service friendly and professional(Pinky) but no host(ess) at front to seat you?? Had to go to bar. Would come back again if in area. GoGo music theme is great especially for visitor here on biz.

A little pricey and loud, service time was fair (not great) and although the waiter was very friendly, we did not see much of him. Otherwise the menu variations were excellent, we loved the old soda styles and the food was great.

We had an early dinner on Saturday night (6pm) and it was fairly empty, but the food was great! The meatballs were tasty, the tonkatsu was tender and the ribs were fall off the bone good.

The food was fairly good, but not outstanding. Drinks were varied and well made. Atmosphere a little dead for a weekend but perhaps that was the weather. A solid choice for a quieter night out.

Their dinner is great, but I prefer their happy hour! Where else can you get soup for happy hour, which is the perfect meal on a cold wintery night? Also, the fit out of the building is really cool.

With lots of exposed brick and numerous posters that scream "vintage" this bar has a very welcome feel that is a far cry from the many DC hot spots where I feel underdressed when I'm without a tie and jacket. The bar runs the length of the lower level and there's an additional area upstairs that really gives the place a "larger than it looks" atmosphere. It's easily within walking distance of the DC convention center (and not too far from the Chinatown area) so there's plenty of reasons to stop in and try some of their happy hour food - especially when waiting for the traffic to die down. Nice but not too nice - just the way I like my bars in DC!

I had the Locoro Pupusa. It was pretty good. Fresh locoro flower on top of the tortilla. It is similar to cabbage but slightly bitter rather than sweet. I also had the lamb, antelope & beef meatball casserole. It wasn't really a casserole, but meatballs in red sauce. The texture was smooth (good grind and enough crumb) but too dense and kinda rubbery. The flavor was perfect. The gamey flavor of the antelope made it very interesting but not overwhelming. I think the chef should soften up the texture some how, but definitely worth ordering. The red sauce was delicious, but maybe a little salty. Nonetheless, I soped up every drop with the thick cut, perfectly crusty, rustic white bread. The bartender, older white dude, was 100% pro. He was old school, he'd hang back and swing in to get you another round or pick up plate like a prize fighter who waited for only the best shot. 5 stars for service!

First thing you notice other than the pumping go-go music and the fantastic collection of vintage Globe posters advertising Rare Essence shows for $3.00, is the super long bar. The space is extremely inviting and is just begging for you and many of your friends to come up to it. Alas I was there solo after a late night at the office, but Baby Wale was still welcoming. Keeping with the Globe/music poster theme, all of the wines are listed on posters as they would be the next act performing after Chuck Brown at the Wust. An original and fun idea, and I can’t believe a bar/restaurant hadn’t come up with before. The menu is simple but great; and I’d imagine all would find something to enjoy. It is eclectic: ranging from pizza and hot dogs to prime rib and seafood. I opted for the duck confit pupusas. Two pupusas filled with delicious duck leg topped with a tangy crunchy slaw. They were fantastic. After a conversation with the great bartender Alec, he explained how the chef just likes to cook food he loves and what he thinks is fun. Luckily I am in agreement. Highly recommended.

My company hosted an event there. Great atmosphere from the setting, and had a great happy hour selection (corporate package). Can get pretty loud for a corporate event, so minus a star, but overall a great experience.

I came here after attending an industry Expo & symposium at the convention center located across the street. The bar was very crowded & appeared to be extremely understaffed. They were out of a lot of the normal alcohol they usually have behind the bar, but I am amenable to trying new things. The staff that were there happened to be very kind & apologetic for not having everything available. I tried a few of the appetizers & they were good. Hopefully, this was just a one-off experience & I am just giving them the benefit of the doubt! I will be back once I go to the the convention center again.

This place is eclectic, has a good location, and a very nice interior. The dining are and bar are quite nice, with high ceilings and plenty of space. The menu threw me off a bit, it was all over the place and very confusing, it's hard to believe their kitchen do all those diverse dishes justice. Everything we ordered was quality though, the "spring rolls", fried chicken, and fish n chips. What was the kicker for me was the service. Not the servers fault but it seemed like they only had 3 or so people working on a Friday night, led to long delays, some mistakes in drink orders. It's also strange that when we tried to split the check they said they could only do even splits. I'm not sure which POS they use, but every one I've used or seen is very capable of splitting customers checks, just a matter of the user knowing how.

Pros: friendly staff, lots of space, something for basically everyone’s taste, one of the only places in the immediate vicinity that isn’t either really expensive or really trendy. Cons: Nothing about the place is special. The beer list was pretty standard, none of the cocktails piqued my interest, and the food we got (burgers and a lobster roll) was just a solid B. I wouldn’t avoid it, but wouldn’t go out of my way to go back.

Baby Wale has a lovely incredible long marble bar. It's nice for a cocktail but their food isn't really anything to rave about. I loved their potato leek soup but they've taken it off the menu. They have an eclectic mix of steak, papusas, sorry of random things and none particularly stands out. I would eat elsewhere and drink at the bar.

Dropped in as we were passing by.. it wasn't amazing, but wasn't bad, hence the 3 stars. The broth for the Ramen was a bit too salty, though the rest of it wasn't bad. The portions for the meatballs were rather small, not exactly a full meal the way the Ramen was. The drinks were alright, not exceptional, but fun. The cat in the green hat (drink) had a very distinct taste that I enjoyed, but probably not worth going back for. The cheese porcupine was a 5 star appetizer, but didn't make up for everything else. On the other hand, the waiter was awesome!

This place is much bigger than it looks! I was surprised how large the restaurant space is, and even more surprised at how long the bar is! I now understand why it's known as the longest bar in DC. However, the openness does make it feel less intimate. I met a couple friends here for drinks after work. Their beer selection was mediocre - not a lot to choose from, and the two beers I tried weren't great. We looked at the food menu and decided we didn't want to eat anything here - hot dogs and Asian noodle bowls on the same menu? Seemed very odd. With so many new places opening in this neighborhood, I probably won't be back here.

It's nice inside but the food is... Weird. I thought it'd be pub food as described, but it's weird combinations, there's not a burger on the menu, but there is a $10 hot dog. Beer selection is mediocre, cocktails are okay, but the vibe is very much pub, so hopefully they get it together.

Industrial warehouse atmosphere. Extremely loud. Hard to have a conversation with the person across the table. There's not enough room between bar and seating areas. Food took too long to be served. Spring rolls were excellent as well as the Meatballs. Salad was also very fresh. Ribeye was over cooked and dry. Looked like an undesirable cut. Unlikely to return.

Very weird food. I personally don’t know how you would categorize this. Walked in and the place was dead on new year’s eve. I was confused at first but after we ate (and waited 30 mins for our food when we were one out of two tables there) I realized why. The menu was all over the place and me and my date’s dish was just plain right unappetizing. And don’t come here on a first date, the music is....interesting to say the least and doesn’t quite set the mood.

Atmosphere was very nice. Had dinner and drinks at the bar but unfortunately service was pretty slow (took 40 mins to get a 'faux ribeye' and lobster roll). Also got food poisoning from said lobster roll. Food way ok going down, not great coming back up

Sat at the bar on a Saturday night. Salami pizza was great and the drinks were great. The service, however, was absolutely terrible. The bartender finally took our order after 10 minutes of us sitting down. I would have love to drink more but the bartender never came back. We had to walk over to her at the other end of the bar and ask for the check after about 50 minutes of our first interaction. We were also two of about maybe 20 people in the whole place.

I visited the space over the weekend and while I generally enjoyed the environment and such, the food and service were lacking. I should preface this comment that the restaurant was understaffed (but that wasn't communicated to us until way into our long-delayed meal). Beyond the slowness of the kitchen, which was again explained after the server neglected to get my order on the ticket, the quality of dishes were equally lacking. The drinks too were also underwhelming, and the salmon was a fatty piece of gristle that looked the part but certainly didn't eat like it. After a more than 20 minute delay between two entrees, we were not offered a comped meal or discount, gestures that would've signaled that they realized their gaffe. Instead, we were hit with a full bill I want to like Baby Wale. I truly do. It's beautiful inside but my experience soured me greatly and on top of it all, I'm suffering from food poisoning. I do hope they work out the kitchen flow. It was probably just a bad night. Too bad I had to pay full price for it.

Attended an event here. The staff wasn't sure of the name of the event upon arrival. Then I ordered 2 doubles. 75$ the bar could've bought more than 2 full bottles of vodka for this price and they automatically charged me 23% gratuity. So I paid a bartender 7$ per drink to pour me vodka sodas. Seems pretty excessive to me.

Baby Wale claims to take bar food to a new level. Unfortunately that level is below whatever you will be imagining when you walk in the place. The management seems to be singularly focused on avoiding the needs of the customers. Finally, the portions are TINY. Definitely plan on going out to eat after your "dinner" at Baby Wale.

This was probably one of the worst dining experiences I've had in recent experience. The food, salmon salad and mushroom pizza weren't good. And, the salmon salad which was supposed to be an entry was small even by most standards and the taste was bad. The waiter was rude. Fortunately he surrendered service for our table to the manager who at least did the right thing and comped part of our meal because they got the order wrong. I won't go back.

DONT BOTHER. My partner and I walked in and we were wondering around for ages trying to find someone to seat us. We approached a member of staff behind the bar, he said he’d get us seated and then just walked off leaving us there for ages whilst he mingled with staff in the kitchen and pottered around. No urgency or care in the world. We walked out and went to eat at Corduroy next door, great service, seated straight away, about 3 different members of staff came to check we were ok. Delicious food. Go there instead.

We arrived in a group of 4. Waited up front so long we felt like we had to ask bartender if it was seat yourself. He said no, wait up front. After waiting another 5-or so mins, we were greeted by very rude waitress. She sat us, gave us waters, and said I'll be back in a bit (we were her only table). After about 15 minutes she arrives now wanting our drink order and food order. We give her both and she proceeds to put in order. We don't see her again until food arrives 25 minutes later. We start to eat and thoroughly hate everything that was ordered. Waitress finally comes to ask how everything was and we reply, " ehh we are eating it". She shrugs and laughs like it wasnt any of her problem and walks away. We ended up going over to our waitress (because we were being ignored) while she played on her phone more than 3 times to get refills, salt and pepper, and bill. This is the longest review I have ever written because this is the worst service and food I have ever received. The entire table she was serving (us) was servers and cooks. She was the FIRST server i have ever not tipped and she deserved every bit of it. I would recommend maybe replacing her position to not make the place less unbearable because it was beautiful inside and theres full of great places to go and I don't want another tourist to be utterly dissatisfied over your lack of good help and horrible food