Tonic At Quigley’s Bar and Restaurant

Tonic is a popular spot for GW students and staff alike, but is just A-​OK.
The restaurant’s claim to fame is their tots. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good tot, but they are also something I can make at home. The version of tots at Tonic are certainly tasty, but are just a deep fried version of the frozen ones in a bag. Their dipping sauces are delicious and together they make for a filling appetizer. Everyone keeps talking about ‘tatchos’ which, to be fair, sound amazing. Pile all the nacho toppings ever on some tots? Okay.
The service on my visit was lackluster. It was a very busy lunch, but drinks were slow to be refilled, she never really checked on us after our food was brought out, etc. The meals were fine, nothing to write home about.
This restaurant is on campus and I’ll be back, but I wouldn’t expect anything out of the ordinary.

I’m a little biased because Tonic started in my old neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant in NW DC and opened up their second location in Foggy Bottom. It’s become a neighborhood meeting place in Foggy Bottom attracting more than the average GWU student (Though they are good clientele).
Tonic has a modern rustic feel to it. It has ample seating both inside and outside on their patio. They have an extensive American food menu with a great happy hour list. Their beer list is good AND they have several hard cider options.
If you are in Foggy Bottom and want a standard restaurant with items on the menu that you’ll recognize, go here. Or if you want a good happy hour spot, come to Tonic.

When you get tired of walking to and from all the War Memorials in DC, come to this GW University staple for some good eats.
The Brunch — $ 16 AYCD and a deelish entrée. Win-​win sitch, in my opinion.
The tater tots are redic and it would be heresy to believe these aren’t the best tots, evah.
There is an outdoor dining area that you can get drunk at while staring-​down the GW University chicks.
Jus sayin.

really convenient location. Both times I went, I was seated immediately and even thought the waitress was a little terse, she got our order delivered quickly.
This place is nothing special when it comes to food choices, so if you are looking for a simple American breakfast food this is it. Nothing to complain about.

Great Happy Hour! Tots are the offering here, I’d definitely recommend the tot-​Chos! Sure, other restaurants have tots but this place has been this way since day one. Great after work spot to grab a drink!
This neighborhood bar used to be all Foggy Bottom had! Good beer selection and the burgers are delicious. I recommend going with Brie on your burger but definitely worth a trip.

Classic campus side bar, quick eats. Mediocre food, though I will give it some stars for the beer selection.

SUCH a good meal. Me and some friends are visiting and we’re looking for a place to eat after going to the Lincoln Memorial. Came on a Saterday night and there was no wait.
The atmosphere is warm and comfortable, with a book exchange shelf on the second floor, and a creative menu («There’s Always Money in the Banana Stand» is a drink and «Crabby Patties» is a crab cake dish”). I had a customized holiday burger with cranberry squad and some spiked hot chocolate. Both came out great!

I am not a fan. Came here because the menu seemed appealing. I ordered the chicken and cakes. Ok. Come on cookers! The first rule at cooking chicken is to first CLEAN it. This chicken was covered in feathers! That was disgusting. My friend ordered the eggs Chesapeake with crab cakes. The English muffin was so charred that it was completely not edible. So, I sent that back and got the blackened salmon salad. The salmon was great but the salad sucked! They had mounds of shaved Parmesan that had the consistency of wax! Hated it! The mimosas were WEAK! I played $ 16 for some fancy OJ. The nerve of google calling this «one of the best places to brunch in DC». Maybe they had a bad day because they dropped the ball. Their happy hour is great but the brunch sucks monkey balls!!! Hopefully, Tonic management will read this review and do better. Nice facility though.

In agreement w all the other reviews, tots are amazing. The wait staff are friendly.
Had the toffle, which was pretty bad. It comes with a tater tot waffle, which in theory sounds amazing. But the tots make it too dense and the thing is inedible, the outside it tough and impossible to bite through. The bacon was over cooked.
We also had the Bernie pizza, which was pretty much a Red Baron frozen pizza.
Overall, would definitely come back, for the tots and venture to see what else is on the menu…

I’ve been to Tonic about 3 times since I started working in the city 6 years ago. It’s about 5 blocks away from work and can be a hike, especially because the restaurant isn’t huge. However, they have an upstairs with a couple big tables. You can definitely get a table with a large-​ish group as long as you show up before 12.
You couldn’t ask for better service at the bar. The red-​bearded bartender is charming and attentive. Table service isn’t bad, just not quite as good as sitting at the bar.
Drinks are consistently good. All around, food is excellent I’ve had the fish tacos and the drunken turkey burger. Both are freaking delicious. No matter what, do yourself a favor and get an order of tots. They’re the best I’ve ever had.

These guys sure made a good gin an tonic (two of them actually) with my favorite gin, Bluecoat from Philadelphia. I had a blackened burger and some tater tots. Sat outside at their patio bar and it was a wonderful night to be outside and enjoy a simple meal. Definitely can see why this is a popular place in the Foggy Bottom /​GWU neighborhood.
The one annoying aspect isn’t about the restaurant but about the people. It’s not OK when people are sitting and eating at the bar to just mosey up to the bar, stand next to them (i.e. me) and holler your drink order to the bartender. Nor should the bartender think it’s ok while people are eating to be taking and passing drinks back and forth between me and the person next to me.

Review for happy hour only. The outside patio in the back is nice but very crowded, and it’s difficult to find a table/​bar space if you want to order food. It does clear up a little if you stay long enough though. Decent happy hour deal, around $ 4 I think for a beer/​cider? I just wish there were more drink options to choose from.
I was excited to try the tots, but they were too hyped up I guess. The 3 sauces they came with were yummy enough, but not amazing. The tots themselves weren’t necessarily *bad*, just a little too doughy for my taste. On the plus side, the portion is huge, easily shared by 4+ people, and it’s pretty cheap for how much you get.

This was the venue selected after my photo tour event. There was a reserved area hosting our large 50+ group of photographers. Services was ok. We had to walk up to the bar to order and eventually they were delivering our drinks and food. The ambiance was nice, very trendy and private for our group. We got the standard burger and fries, not much damage you can do with that standard bar fare. Would I come here on my own, probably not but it was a good spot for an event.

It really is all about the (tater) tots at Tonic.
Tonic is the closest restaurant to my office, so I find myself there fairly regularly for lunch or for happy hour… but really, for me, the best reason to come there is the tots. Hot, crispy, and delicious. I love the dipping sauces that come with them, as well — I always ask for them even when I’m just getting the tots with my meal as opposed to the full appetizer platter.
As for their other food… it’s fine. Not great, not terrible. The burgers are pretty solid, and I’ve had other items (the fish tacos, nachos, etc.) as well. Nothing that jumps out as phenomenal but decent enough for return visits.
The first floor is the bar area, second the restaurant, and third a mix of an additional bar, restaurant & bar tables, and a lounge. I’ve rented the lounge several times for office happy hours, which is convenient. They are always easy to work with and it is not very expensive when compared to other places around the city.
They also have an outdoor patio and recently opened a ‘beer-​garden’ style outdoor seating section in the back, which is nice, although I’ve never sat in either area.
Go for the tots, though. You won’t regret it!

I come here every few months with co-​workers and never leave happy… at least not since they took their best ever menu item off the menu. What was their best ever dish? The Tina Faye Cheesesteak. It was such a good sandwich that I would go out of my way to get one.
Since then I have tried the burgers (which are meh), pulled pork (also meh), a few other dishes that were average or below, and then today, the Mini Mac and the Brian’s Bangin’ Brie Sandwich. Let me just say that the highlights today were the tots… and I have grown to hate tots.
The Mini Mac is a small bowl of Macaroni & Cheese with the slightest of seasonings. While it looked good and was presented well, the flavor was really washed out. Even Kraft Mac & Cheese has distinct flavors and textures. Kraft is far superior to what Tonic presented.
The Brie Sandwich on the other hand I was expecting to at least be average. I mean how do you mess up a sandwich with ham, brie, granny smith apples, baby spinach, herb mayo served on a ciabatta roll? I don’t know, but Tonic sure figured out how. Nothing on the sandwich had any flavor… at least not a good flavor. All I could taste was an overwhelming mayonnaise taste… and it seemed to be «aged mayo» as it had a bad aftertaste. There really wasn’t much ham on the sandwich, so not surprised that flavor didn’t come through. The apples were non-​existant.
It was a huge disappointment. I would normally give only one star after an experience like this, but the service is always prompt and friendly… so I have to bump it up to two.
I’m sure I will be back, but not for the food.

Loved the atmosphere. Food was good — tater tots are their thing and they were quite tasty! They came with three sauces and the curry ketchup was surprisingly delicious!
Fish tacos were very delicious though I would’ve preferred the fish to not have been breaded and fried but the sauce really made it.
There are delicious looking Mac and cheeses (pulled pork, buffalo chicken, and others) and while the flavors really work, he Mac and cheese was a tad bland so I wouldn’t get it plain.
Lastly, had a good list of drinks and it was a fun time overall!
4 stars because it was good but not mind blowing!

They do average, great. Their menu is fairly limited to your basic pub fare. But how can you go wrong with tater tots? The place isn’t that big inside, but there’s plenty of seating outside. They definitely take advantage of the location because the menu seems to be a bit on the pricey side.
Not a bad spot to grab a bite in a pinch, but there are probably better places nearby.

Tonic is a quaint cozy bar (formally a pharmacy) near GW University. I loved the décor here. We decided to grab a bite here before the Russell Peters show at DAR Constitution Hall on ¹⁰⁄₂₅. They had a good selection of beers by tap. The bathrooms are also located upstairs.
The boyfriend and I ordered the tater tots, the poutine tots (yes, I love tots!), and the fish tacos. Food came out slow, but it was pretty busy throughout the night. The tots weren’t really anything out of the ordinary. The pulled pork and cheese on the poutine tots were decent, but I wasn’t impressed because I had just came back from Toronto a week before, so I was spoiled with the real deal poutine there. The fish tacos were a little dry, but the rice that came with it was pretty good.
Great place to grab drinks, but I’d skip the food next time around.

We came here on a recommendation by our DC Segway tour guide who sounded as if she might have never been here but had heard it is popular for its tatter tots. We aren’t as familiar with this neighborhood so we went ahead and grabbed lunch here.
I should have Unilocaled it first because after we ate there when I looked I saw that one of my friends had already written a review very similar to my opinion. The restaurant is huge with a lot of outdoor seating and a bar outside. It had a neat little outdoor ‘garden’ which we went ahead and sat at sense the day was beautiful.
Our service was extremely aloof– which was interesting because when I went to the bathroom (which is upstairs) there were multiple servers sitting at a booth texting… maybe instead of overstaffing the upstairs of the restaurant, they should throw another server to the outside area. Whenever anything was requested, it took a good 10 minutes for anything to result from it.
I had the buffalo chicken sandwich which came out looking delicious. I enthusiastically took my first bite and was extremely disappointed. The chicken was so overcooked my jaw was aching for the rest of the day from eating it. It tasted a bit like I would imagine a leather boot would taste. The buffalo sauce and the blue cheese that came on it were good tasting, and I also got a side of a chipotle mustard (I think this is what it was) that was really tasty. The tater tots were identical tasting to the tots that I make in my house out of a giant frozen bag… anyone who says these tots are good don’t know what good tots are supposed to taste like… Go grab some tots from Church Key on 14^th and you’ll see what good tots taste like.
All said and done I was a upset I wasted a meal here.
I’m giving it two stars for the nice outdoor area and neat quality of the restaurant. If you’re only getting drinks, this would be an alright spot but I will never be back for food

Meh.
If it were not for the fact that this drinking and dinning institution were smack dab in the middle of foggy bottom (GWU, the IMF, and the World bank) I dont think they would be in biz.
Service is great but the food is costco quality… very generic. If the weather is nice eat outside in either the back patio (great bar with football games on) or on the sidewalk tables.
Funny mix of students, professors, working professionals and others makes it a tad interesting to people watch