Capitol Lounge

This MSU alum and frequent customer won't be going back for a very long time. I came two hours early to snag a seat during our Final Four game, but Gene the bouncer gave it away to another customer. When I told him, he offered to comp my bill, but the â??general managerâ? had only partially comped what I had when the incident happened (at game time), instead of the bill WHEN IT'S PAID (at the end). OK, then take off the food I had when you gave my chair away. No, "we can comp drinks but can't comp food without an explanation." (You mean the "general manager" can't comp food? Right. Or the explanation "we gave away your seat to someone else" isn't good enough?) Bottom line...Gene and the "general manager" have absolutely no cojones. more

This MSU alum and frequent customer won't be going back for a very long time. I came two hours early to snag a seat during our Final Four game, but Gene the bouncer gave it away to another customer. When I told him, he offered to comp my bill, but the â??general managerâ? had only partially comped what I had when the incident happened (at game time), instead of the bill WHEN IT'S PAID (at the end). OK, then take off the food I had when you gave my chair away. No, "we can comp drinks but can't comp food without an explanation." (You mean the "general manager" can't comp food? Right. Or the explanation "we gave away your seat to someone else" isn't good enough?) Bottom line...Gene and the "general manager" have absolutely no cojones. more

We came in our MSU garb, and our waitress automatically brought out an MSU menu for us with themed food and cheaper (abet, sometimes lower quality) alcohol. As Spartans, we appreciated the altered menu and chuckled at the fact that it had Castillo rum on it. The food was overall really good. Quesadillas were on special for $5, so we tried veggie and chicken. The veggie one was awesome, with tons of peppers and tomatoes rather than the plain beans and rice. The chicken was lackluster. The sweet potato fries were absolutely fantastic--definitely worth the order! Our service was really good, our waitress kept pace with us on our drinks and our food came out promptly. We were hoping to see more State fans, but we didn't go on a night of a big game. The people we met said they had seen it livelier on other days. Pros: MSU-themed menu Cons: Nixon posters (just kidding) more

Reopened with a brighter, fresher look after a devastating August 2005 fire, Capitol Lounge is one of the Hill's hottest happy hour hangouts. There are two large barrooms covered with political memorabilia (posters range from "Nixon's the One" to "Marion Barry: Making A Great City Even Greater"), televisions and plenty of seating. Downstairs, a clubby lounge is decorated like a post-modern Shriners meeting hall, complete with leather armchairs and its own bar. It adjoins a bare-bones billiards room with a couple of tables. In Your Glass : There's no Miller Lite, thanks to a dispute between the managers and the local distributor. Instead, you can grab a cheap pint of the house beer, Capitol Amber, which is brewed by Old Dominion and costs $2.50 at happy hour. Need to Know : If you can't stand khaki-clad staffers talking politics and showing off their laminated passes, you might want to move on down Pennsylvania Avenue. Nice to Know : Check out the growing collection of foreign soccer scarves behind the bar. This is a good place to come when you want to watch the sport the rest of the world calls football. Price Points : Justifiably famous for cut-price food, the Lounge offers nightly specials like 10-cent wings (Tuesdays) or half-price pizza (Monday), in addition to the $2.50 beer and $3.50 rail drinks at happy hour. -- Fritz Hahn (August 2006) more