American Girl DC

This store is amazing. I saw little girls bright eyed and creating a lasting imagination. The staff was amazingly friendly and helpful.
It is a hint expensive but the magic of the store makes it worth it.

We took our daughter to lunch for her 7^th birthday. The service was good. The waitress made a point to remember and use our daughter’s name each time that she came to the table. Go for the experience, not the food. I had a grilled chicken sandwich. I tasted my daughter’s chicken strips and mac’n cheese as well as my husband’s club sandwich. I was disappointed in the food: overcooked chicken and pasta. None of that mattered because everything was so cute and my daughter was pleased, she didn’t even eat the Mac ‘n cheese. Next time we’ll check out the tic tax toe pizza. The doll get’s a booster seat, a tea cup and saucer. Birthday girl and doll receive paper tiaras.

Definitely NOT one of the best American Girl stores I’ve been to. First of all, we were in there for almost an hour trying to decide what we wanted and I realized that I had not seen one salesperson the entire time. Which is really unusual for AG, other locations anyway. This is my first visit to the DC one, and when I visit the area again, I probably won’t come back to this location. It seemed really unorganized and here was no one around! When we finally picked out our items, we tried down a salesperson (Mario) and he had the worst attitude. I had some questions before purchasing and he was super snappy and seemed like he so wanted to be anywhere but there. I hate to be rude. but you work in a little girls doll store, I’m sure there are thousands of places you’d rather be. but don’t take it out on your customers. Lame. Other than that, we were happy with our merchandise, just not the experience. And AG really is an experience. but we didn’t get that. Oh well, good thing I don’t live near that location.

We went to the bistro for my daughter’s 6^th birthday and had a great time. Our waitress was great, very friendly, but the service is a bit slow. About 1.5 hours for lunch with 2 courses and cake. We didn’t mind though, since it is a fun experience, with lots of cute touches. Little high chairs that attach to the table for the dolls (and they even have loaner dolls if you don’t have your own). They have little cup and saucers for the dolls (that you can keep afterwards) and bows that are napkin rings but can be used for the dolls hair. Also free to take home. The prices were reasonable, considering how expensive the dolls are. $ 17 for a 2 course lunch, or $ 20 for adults and $ 30 for kids got the birthday party, which includes a drink, cake, goodie bag for kids, and paper crown for birthday girl and dolls. It was a pretty good deal, since the cake was great, and we got to take the remainder home (serves about 10), and the goodie bag includes a tee shirt and cupcake for the dolls, and a little paperback book.
The store itself is good, but as most parents know, expensive. I was hoping for a sale section, but no luck. They do have a great selection though and it is fun to see all the toys in person.

Since we were visiting DC, we had to stop here too. This was conveniently located inside Tyson Corner Center near a Metro station. My husband and son waited outside on the benches as my daughter and I explored the store. This store is well stocked but not as big or nice as the American Girl store in LA or SF. Of course, the prices of the dolls are expensive. We have two of them. We enjoyed the displays and seeing the dolls in person.

I took my daughter here (with her doll of course) for the first time this past Monday. The dolls are beautiful, the store is lovely and clean. The displays are very appealing. However, I did not have a good experience.
We had a 1:30 reservation at the bistro. Ready to spend $ 17/​person on lunch for me and my five-​year-​old, I expected something special. The waiter was friendly and kind, and yet when handing out doll birthday tiaras to our party, and the complimentary tea cups, we were one short of each, and he somehow didn’t notice? I had to request water three times before I got it, and our appetizers took 30 minutes. Our food arrived at 2:30, after having sat down for a 1:30 reservation! The food was okay. Definitely not $ 17/​plate worthy, but I understand you’re paying for the experience.
I had to rush out of the bistro before we got our checks (my friend had to pay for me) because we had a «hair salon» appointment for my daughter’s doll at 3. I thought it would be plenty of time with a 1:30 lunch, but I had no idea lunch would take so long. So we rushed down to the salon and waited in line.
They were calling another little girl’s name when we got there, who presumably missed her 2:45 appointment. We continued to wait for 10 minutes, while another little girl with a 3:00 appointment walked up behind us and was served right away. Again, when I am spending $ 20 on a doll hairdo, j expect a little service… when we finally made it up to the salon, the stylist barely made eye contact with us and proceeded to complain about her job and the hours with the stylist next to her. They whispered to each other and giggled behind sheets of paper, which I found to be off-​putting and rude. My daughter was basically ignored, and this was a big deal for her; we don’t do special outings like this very often. I had planned to buy her doll a shirt, but by the time her hair was done (it did turn out beautifully), I was ready to get out of there.
As someone who doesn’t get to do these special things with my daughter very often, I was disappointed. Although I’m hopeful that she only remembers the positives, the lack of service and consideration left a bad taste in my mouth. We will go back for my daughter’s birthday in October, because it’s the only American Girl store nearby, but next time we will do the doll’s hair ourselves and we will eat somewhere else.

My daughter and I were yelled at!
My 6 year old daughter and I were enjoying a mother/​daughter day together at Tyson’s Mall. We stopped in to American Girl Doll to look around and grab a treat from the desert bar. The hostess told us that the dessert bar was closed but we could grab a treat to go. Sure, no problem. My daughter and I sat on the bar stools to decide which treat she wanted to go when server behind the dessert bar started yelling at us. She told us that the bar was closed and we could not sit on the bar stools. She continued to yell at us until we moved. It was embarrassing and my daughter was almost brought to tears. I did have a chat with the bistro manager and she was horrified by the server’s behavior. She offered to seat us in the bistro but honestly I just wanted to get out of there. I will never go to the bistro again.

It was a nice experience because of the dolls and the overall appearance of the store. We ate at the Bistro for my child’s birthday and the service went downhill. We waited 20 mins longer to be seated after I had a reservation. We waited one hour for our food and the server did not come back one time to check on us. It was a nightmare. At the end of my dinner the mgr did offer us a cake and party favors. But after waiting an hour for our food was just horrible and ruined my baby girls birthday. I also purchased two dolls so I expected great customer service. I will be back only because of my kids.

A slide from incompetence to verbal abuse and physical intimidation…
We went to the American Girl Café twice in the past month because we had two Amazon Local coupons.
The first time, we had to wait more than 30 minutes after our reservation time to be seated. We then had to wait another 40 minutes to be served our so-​so appetizers (pretzel bites and fruit… how in the world does it take 40 minute to prepare these?). We had wanted dessert but were were not offered any dessert menus. Rather, our server rushed out out of there after our entrees, likely because of the ever-​growing crowd waited to be seated.
Tonight, it hit a new low. We had been waiting for 30 minutes past our reservation time with our very hungry 7-​year-​old daughter. My husband and I are of an age that we were/​are Seinfeld fans. We both were reminded of the Car Reservation scenario, and I (slightly misquoting) remarked to my husband, «They know how to take the reservation, but they do not know how to keep the reservation.»
At this point, the woman at the hostess stand started YELLING at me about how people were lingering at their tables, they could not control how long people took, etc. I told her she had no business butting into my private conversation with my husband and that she had better back off. I asked another staff member for the manager, and someone else came over and apologized but seemed incapable of understanding that I was upset because I had been yelled at far more than I was upset about the unacceptably long wait.
She offered snacks to my daughter, which of course never materialized.
After we were finally seated and eating our appetizers (which arrived within 10 minutes, to give credit where credit is due), both me and my husband felt uncomfortable at the same time, and we look over to the side of our table to find the B#@*H who yelled at me standing there with a wide stance, her arms crossed over her chest, and GLARING at us.
I immediately went and told the person at the hostess desk (the non-​snack deliverer) and asked to see the store manager. Beth, the «experience manager,» had a lovely demeanor and she seemed sincerely concerned about the events I described. She followed up at our table several times. However, we still had to pay for our meal!!! (I cannot imagine any other restaurant that I have been to not comping the meal after what transpired).
Needless to say, we will never ever set foot into the American Girl Café at Tyson’s again. I recommend driving to NYC, where the Café is a well-​run and pleasant place to dine.

Seems like a nice store, but I couldn’t get in. What kind of store (in a mall) does not operate by its posted hours. I drove 30 mins in traffic to this store only to find out it was closed (2÷4÷14) at 6:50 pm. I think this is sign to keep my $ 150!

Visited the Bistro yesterday for afternoon tea! We loved it! The prices were very reasonable.
Our waitress was OK, could’ve been better. She wasn’t too friendly.
Loved the little touches and the cookie ice cream was delicious! We had one gust that didn’t have an American Girl doll and they allowed her to borrow one for tea.
Definitely a great experience and will return.

This isn’t necessarily a review for me but a review on my daughters behalf. She just loves this place. The prices are steep so do expect to bring your check book. But from my daughters perspective this place entertains. There are so many accessories, dolls, etc that brings a smile of amazement to her eyes. She could stay in there all day if she could. There is a café where you dine with your doll. I believe its $ 17 per adult and I forget for kids. I can’t comment on the food. I will save that for an update when we do eventually dine. I will be back here to buy another doll for my daughter and a few pricey accessories. But the happiness and joy these American Girl Dolls bring to my daughter are well worth it.

It’s a little girl’s dream and a wallet’s nightmare. My daughter had a wonderful 6^th birthday at the café. Everything is catered towards the girl for the day and the while the food isn’t great, it’s not bad considering it’s a doll store. The bathrooms were clean the staff was excellent with one exception, Lila the checkout girl. I had to deduct one star for her attitude. After my transaction, I said «thank you.» I expected a ‘thank you’ in return since I was the one paying and not her. I received a very curt, «of course». Of course? OK. She needs more training. Avery, the young lady who helped us choose our doll was great! Georgia, our server in the café, also quite wonderful! Overall it was a very good experience and my daughter proclaimed it the best birthday ever. You can’t ask for more than that from a 6 year old. :-)

The food menu was average.
The restaurant had so many flies. I saw flies sitting on the booth seats where I was sitting. This place has a serious bug problem. And they got my order wrong. I would not recommend this place at all.

A friend and I (who both had American Girl dolls growing up) thought it might be fun to have lunch at the bistro. And we were right, it was fun and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the charm of the restaurant. The service was great and we were even given loaner dolls to keep us company at the table.
Lunch is $ 17 prix fixe for an appetizer and main course, with dessert and drinks extra. Save room for dessert, they were fantastic and the portions of the sundaes were huge!
This is a great and cute spot if you want a whimsical lunch… and of course kids will love it.

When we found out we were having a daughter, I knew this store was in my future. (My own childhood was blighted by the fact I never got the American Girl doll I dreamed of.) Because the Mister and I have issues with delayed gratification, we found ourselves joining the holiday throngs of shoppers during our daughter’s first holiday season. Because what every 9mo girl needs is a 100 $ doll, am I right?
This. Place. Is. Nuts. And not just at Christmas time. It’s nuts all the time. It is overrun by the daughters of parents willing to spend more on a skirt for a doll than the average American will spend on their own darn skirt.
Frankly, the chaos of this place was stressful. It felt more like when you see it’s raining outside and you know you have to run across a parking lot to your car, so you screw up your courage, tuck in your chin, and run for it. We quickly picked out the doll we wanted, took a paper slip describing the doll and then… well, then we waited in line for about 20mn ’til we got to the front of that line. The cashier had some little elf helper run and get the doll in question — which we had seen but not been allowed to actually pick out ourselves. Then we left.
Honestly, if you have to buy this stuff for your kid, do yourself and your blood pressure a favor: shop online.
If taking your child to the store is the experience you’re looking for, well… take a week day off work, start with a lovely lunch somewhere that is generous in pouring glasses of wine and self medicate before entering. Good luck! You might want to check your credit score afterward.

Grand-​daughter got an American Girl (AG) doll for Christmas, so of course, the next step was a trip to the AG store and the grand-​parents were the softies.
The store is in Tyson’s Corner mall near Bloomingdales. When we first walked into the AG store I was a bit overwhelmed. But I soon realized there are a lot of display cases, each containing a specific doll, either dressed in different outfits and/​or with different accessories. The outfits and accessories are identified and the corresponding items are in boxes under and adjacent to the display cases. On the upper level are the «historical dolls», whatever that means. (Turned out «our» doll was a 70’ies doll, the child of divorce… uh oh!) Also on the upper level is a bistro which we didn’t investigate since there is a delicious Italian restaurant in Tysons near Lord and Taylor, where we already planned to have lunch.
Downstairs are the «bitty babies» and the hair salon. The line at the hair salon was long so we discouraged a visit there. Understand that a new hair-​do ranges from $ 10 — $ 25, depending on the complexity. Maybe next time – or not.
The prices were not cheap but not as bad as I imagined and there were lots of helpful staff to answer questions. All in all it was a nice day with the grand-​daughter, she was happy with her AG purchases and lunch was good, so who could complain.

In comparison with the NYC AG, this location is lacking. The bistro cannot accommodate the level of reservations they take and so you’re left with hungry kids standing around with nothing to do. The hostess we dealt with on our last visit was especially incompetent. However, one of the servers, Julia, came over with free cookies for the girls because she knew we had been waiting so far past our reservation time– 5 stars for Julia. One star for everything else
Also– they refuse to allow you to make an appointment for the doll salon in advance and sometimes the wait is hours long. I really think they want you just standing around so you’ll be tempted to buy more. Not very fun. Shopping is crazy and hectic and there are always very long lines. If you come here be prepared to wait… and wait… and wait.
Also, they were unapologetic about making us wait so long., nearly an hour past our reservation (except Julia) and I was told several times «there is nothing we can do». Ok…
*i also feel like the quality of the merchandise is slipping, when it was owned by Pleasant Company when I was a kid, the quality if everything was excellent, stuff feels much cheaper now. The camping accessories come with cardboard boxes of granola. Pleasant company would never have sold cardboard boxes for the dolls food. Disappointed with AG all around after our last visit.

Wow! This is a huge store for the American Girl fan in your life. My little 3 year old was in heaven checking out all the dolls! My little girl is a huge doll fan! She only has a bitty baby and since these dolls and accessories are so pricey… I kinda she she will find something else to love as much as dolls… but have a feeling she may be spending her allowance here in future years to come!

Our first visit to AG and we loved it. Even though it took us 6 hours instead of 4 to drive there and we come close to turning around because if the weather.
The plan had been to arrive, shop then eat; but we ended up 15 min late for our reservations. I called and let them know were were running late and it appeared that there was actually seating available anyway, so it was nice they could still accommodate us. We were there for Lunch and though it is pricey it was a nice experience. Food Recommendations: Artichoke Dip is a must have as the appetizers! Pretzel knots where a hit with my 5 year old, but I found them bland. My Mother had the chicken and Mozzarella sandwich and it was very good, if a little heavy on the Pesta Mayo. I on the other hand had the Chicken Pasta in white wine sauce and it was very bland, DO NOT GET THIS! My daughter enjoyed her Pizza. We did not get dessert, which looked great. We saw some really cute Tea Trays and next time we will probably opt for the tea seating.
Shopping was insane the day after Christmas but hey what do you expect. The store is actually roomy enough that you don’t necessarily notice how nuts it is out in the Mall. Parking was tough but I imagine on a normal day it would not be so bad. The store was sold out of several outfits but we had a really nice time looking around and «window shopping». The checkout line was LONG, but the service was top notch there was a gentleman at the line and when I asked him about where to find hangers because I had not seen them, he radioed to have someone bring me some.
I wouldn’t normally talk about bathrooms in a review but I must… there were super roomy AND they have a doll hanger in the stalls and by the sink. This way you do not have to set your doll on the ground or in water that may be standing by the sink.
Since my daughter is 5 I know that we will be making this an annual trip when her Oma is here, but likely we will go in the Summer rather than at Christmas and avoid the crowd as well as the nasty weather.
** I was not thrilled with the 2 different shopping floors in that I wanted a DVD but it was on the 2^nd floor and the doll we were buying was on the first floor this required that I stand in line 2x. I am not sure if I just did this to myself or if that was how it was supposed to be. Next time I will push the envelope with taking merchandise between the 2 floors **