Rugby Cafe

I’ve gone to Rugby to work a promotion there, you know pass out FREE shots. Staff is whatever, after reading these reviews it can be hit or miss I guess, but when I went it was lukewarm, at best. If you’re a college kid prep, this place is for you. Offer these peeps free shots and they look at you like you have two heads. Um ok, brat!
Came again to try their burger, as previously read ravings about. It’s ok but nothing that struck me as «omg get your ass across that key bridge and go eat now» yea, not really. Maybe if I was a sweet prep betch but I guess I’m a tad over that hill.

worst food ever.
worse service ever.
& quite the racist environment !
Came here earlier today. was promised a table, 2 families who came after us were seated & we were told «oh you can eat at the bar» after sitting at the bar for fifteen minutes, we were finally waited on by the douche bag bar tender who informed me they had no cheese other than American & Swiss. Yeah, WTF… took 30 minutes to receive the nastiest, driest chicken sandwich & was then told they didn’t have ranch so upon settling for blue cheese… I asked two different people …& well yeah I’m still waiting for my blue cheese!
So while waiting for my food, I flagged down my own table & was told it would be cleaned up… still waiting on the busboy
I’m from Los Angeles & I never expect excellent customer service but I do think I’m owed the common courtesy of appreciation.

This was the perfect place for my group and I to go during a day of shopping and doing Christmasy things around D.C. We spent the morning shopping in Georgetown, and the burgers and beer were the perfect late lunch before we headed up to see the National Christmas tree. The burger menu was good, although not extensive, service was great, and drink selection was nice. I liked that the drink menu included beer on tap, cider, and their own special mixed drinks.
I usually don’t eat an entire burger in one sitting, but this one was pretty delicious, and not overwhelmingly large. I didn’t finish my fries, which were tasty, but unevenly seasoned. A great meal!
As a retired rugger, it was fun to enjoy a meal surrounded by rugby equipment and memorabilia, and catch bits of a game on tv. For those of you unfamiliar with rugby — go for the food and enjoy the whole experience!

Awesome customer service. Friendly, professional, and eager to assist without coming off like, «buy something, we need a sale» It’s a shame, they are closing down in February. Glad, I came in here and boguht some clothes after the service I got up the street at the regular RL store.

OH MY GOSH, RUGBY WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!!! Your burgers suck now!
I used to love Rugby, I would take everyone there for the best burger around. Thick, juicy, saucy. Get a Peach Crusher– the best drink you will ever have, with a brownie sundae, they cook it right in the dish for you with ice cream on top.
They changed around their menu and recipe a week or two ago, and its a disaster.
They got rid of the peach crusher, the remaining crushers are OKAY at best.
The burger was not so great. It was a solid, Meh, Ive def had much better. The french fries are thin and dry– remind me of McDonalds– and McDonald’s are better!
The burger really was a huge disappointment, especially after experienceing the past Rugby, dry and pretty bleh, no juicy special sauce either.
and they got rid of their dessert too.
Nothing left here for me, what a disappointment, I brought family adn friends here all the time
go to thunder burger around the corner instead!

Have been here once for some food way back, and lately for the bar late night.
The food was pretty average fare. Basically Americana pub-​style stuff. Can’t fault it, can’t rave about it. The fact that it’s part of Rugby does give it a «cool» factor that helps the cause.
Now, this is where you want to go if you just want a boisterous night being stupid with friends college-​style. There are a bunch of beers on tap that you can order up. The «crushes» are the gem of this place. A bunch of liquors mixed in with fresh squeezed juices (for real, the fruit is in a crate at the bar) give you a nice drink that will get you going. Plus it’s healthy!
On a more serious note, this is a VERY stereotypical Georgetown style place. Prep everything (hey, it’s Ralph Lauren), so if that doesn’t ring your bell, be prepared or go elsewhere. Don’t take it too seriously, just have a good time, and it’ll all be swell.

Fourth visit and I remain a fan.
— Limited outdoor seating is a charmer around sunset and just before.
— Rosemary tomato bisque with blue cheese and toasted bread is lovely.
— Friendly service.
— Could use some fresh air and a bit brighter lighting during the daytime, but tis charming when you want something like an Irish pub/​cabin feeling with dark bead-​board and a chill décor.

Service: Excellent (Rating would be «1» if not for the good service)
Food: Average, but way below expectations for a Ralph Lauren-​branded effort
Atmosphere: Casual, but crowd of individuals aspiring to be seen
I bought a LivingSocial voucher for Rugby Café, thinking it would be a convenient meal pre– or post– Jack’s Boathouse…
In any case, the staff there were very friendly. Eventually, an outdoor table opened up and the staff let us know so we could enjoy and finish our meal outside.
The burger was average, and the bun was horrible. Definitely not freshly baked. The fresh squeezed orange juice was the good though. overall disappointment for what you would expect for a Ralph Lauren operation.
The place definitely was a dive… And I was not so comfortable eating my burger after passing by the kitchen on the way to the bathroom. Both were horrendous. Not sure how they passed health inspection.
I enjoyed the outdoor table on a beautiful and breezy summer evening. I will probably never go again as there are way too many better options…

I stopped in for lunch yesterday, no college kids so the atmosphere was ok. My friend loved her chicken sandwich, so if she feels free to write a review she can. But I’m going to review my lunch.
It was.meh. I ordered the grilled cheese with soup, but I subbed the crab and corn chowder for the tomato soup dip. You really needed that dip. That grilled cheese was the driest, blandest grilled cheese I’d ever had. They didn’t even butter the bread. I could have just had a roll, the cheese just turned out to be extra, unnecessary calories. And it was 9 dollars O_​O
We also had a glass of warm water to wash it all down. I’m hearing that is apparently supposed to aid in digestion, either that or they are just stingy with the ice.
i
I probably won’t go there again.

I’d rather poke my eyeballs out then visit this college-​frat bar, complete with the seedy and disgustingly dirty upholstered couches and chairs. Lord knows what’s imbedded into those things. They serve food too? I can’t fathom why anyone would want to eat here… ugh.
We were the only people in here (aside from the couple full-​on making out on one of the couches)… it’s no wonder why! Drinks were served in plastic cups, it doesn’t get much worse that that. This is definitely a college bar (which makes sense for the area).
This place was not cool, nor trendy, nor sophisticated. If you are looking for a grungy reminder of the college frat days, then this is definitely your spot.

I walk into this cool «low key», GW Georgetown-​hang out,. and I can’t even get in. Really rich but not as smart GW students are blocking the entrance with their chairs… I open up the curtains that were draped on the ohhhh so sexy entrance. Excitedly, It made me feel like there is going to be some sort of cool masked magician show. COOOOOOOL!!! Im trying to walk further into the bar, and there was YET ANOTHER chair there with some drunk dude chill in, sipping on his sscizzurp—
Its not even like this place was packed. only 30 percent full— This one GW kid that we all know how some of them are. The kind that ‘daddy gave me all my money for school so I’m a drunk fool every weekend at this bar’ is blocking the entrance. Get your behind out of the way… sit in a designated space for seating maybe? I’m trying to get through.
Once these drunk donkeys let me through… I go to the bar… Bartenders wasted.
Don’t get me wrong. I love to see people happy, having a good time — but these bartenders — one chill, low key mushroom hair cut guy was eating behind the bar — spilling on himself real nice like. — HOT! The other bar tender was completely drunk. Another guy who worked there saw my face of disgust and tried to make up for it by giving me a DRUNK «» HIGH FIVE” — saying «Everybody needs high fives sometimes». AWE KKKK WARRRD!
Anyways— the bartender was like «OH MY GOD IM TOTALLY DRAAAANNNNNKEKEKEKEUK» like «ish drunk girls say» you tube video but a lot worse. ‘O M GOD.‘
I couldn’t tell who worked there… and who didn’t. There were costumers, staff, staff-​like costumers, staff like costumers telling bartenders that they have to stop drinking — – so I figured its a communal restaurant. If Im not gonna get served here I might as well go behind the bar along with these other drunk idiots and pour myself some club soda w/​lime.
Totally unprofessional. Entrance blocked, staff continually going out front of the restaurant taking smoking breaks. Whoever the manager is— get your staff under control man. This ish is ridiculous.

Eight beers written on the chalk board, four beers crossed out, one stuck up waitress that spent most of the time outside talking to her friends equals a pretty bad customer experience.
We did stay long enough to try their famous orange crushes which is worth a star alone but besides that there wasn’t much else positive about it.
To be fair their burger seemed very good on the menu but as any novice foodie knows a menu can read like Jane Eyre and still end up looking like a Ron L Hubbard book.

Calling Rugby’s a café is a bit of a stretch since it is more of a low-​key bar than anything else. But whatever the name, you will leave calling it one pretty good place to have a drink and a bite to eat.
With a full bar and a great selection of micro-​brews by the bottle and on tap, this bar will please most types, whether they be frat boys or socialites. And Rugby’s clientele does indeed include all types; a recent Friday night at Rugby’s showcased college kids, tattoo-​sleeved artists, after-​work business types, and a lot more in between.
In general, the crowd is intelligent, polite and sticks to their own. On occassion, you’ll get the drunken GU kid who knocks into you and makes a scene. But most of the time, it’s just good times all around.
The food is great. The King’s Burger is a classic, but don’t forget about the Scot’s Burger (which is actually a chicken burger w/​special sauce). The fries are not to be missed.
Of course, no low key bar would be complete without the attractive servers, and Rugby’s does provide some eye candy there as well.
I wouldn’t call Rugby’s a «not-​to-​be-​missed» kind of joint, but it’s certainly worth stopping in if you’re in the neighborhood.

I see lots of reviews here for the food and Unilocal says they close at 10. Apparently someone broke in and turned it into a bar after hours.
Two stars. Meh. I’ve experienced better. But it’s not no stars. Because your drink comes with a free show!
Friday night midnight crowd slightly frightening. We saw: Girl take running jump and holler «catch me» to someone who couldn’t quite. Twice. Short shorts and heels with legs that really needed tights (not just because it’s 30 degrees out). Over trouser junk grabbing. Attempts at under trouser junk grabbing. And then we pretty much tracked that girl to count how many other people’s faces she subsequently touched (Girl in the blue, you know who you are. Girl in the blue’s friends, yeah, she touched your mouth). Tighty whities on what consensus said was a metro and not just a really drunk gay man hitting on girls (no, none of us are named Heather).
All in all entertaining. With an odd, but not offensive, music selection to background it all. Not too crowded to sit, and not too loud to talk.

This is a difficult review for me to write.
As a corporate employee of Ralph Lauren in New York, I was surprised (and pleasantly so) to hear that there was a Rugby Café in Georgetown. I am quite proud of my company and was optimistically eager to check out the restaurant. So on Sunday, I had a late lunch there with my boyfriend and 3 of his coworkers.
Aside from the pretty-​good food, I couldn’t have possibly been more disappointed.
I should have known we were in for trouble when I noticed that the only nice round booth (that would have been great for our group of 5) in the room was covered with purses, dirty plates and empty alcohol glasses. The patrons were nowhere to be seen, but this didn’t seem to bother anyone. The hostess thought it a good idea to seat us directly next to this dirty table, going so far as to push in some of their chairs so we’d have room to sit. Mind you, there were PLENTY of other empty tables at which we could have been seated, but she put us right next to that one. More on it later…
Our waiter, a nice young-​ish guy with a glazed look on his face, brought our menus and asked for our drink orders. Around that time, the only other occupied table in the restaurant came into my realm of awareness as its largest and sweatiest member started screaming belligerent strings of expletives to the raucous delight of his dining companions. The word «fuck» was shouted at least a dozen times by this beast of a man over the next hour, and at one point he was bellowing the opening chorus of «The Circle of Life» from The Lion King while strangling the man seated next to him; all with nary an eyelash-​bat from any of the restaurant’s employees.
Sometime shortly after placing our drink orders, the dirty table next to us regained its diners: one painfully stereotypical douchebag, complete with backward cap and gold aviator sunglasses, surrounded by a clucking gaggle of hens all dressed in their Jersey Shore finest.
For the remainder of our meal, we would be subjected to the all-​too-​audible waxings of the aforementioned douchebag, as he loudly extrapolated on his sexual experiences and conquests, including but not limited to peeing on a girl in the shower. How’d you like to listen to that while trying to eat?
So, to paint an accurate portrait for you: on one side, we have sweat man-​beast screaming Lion King songs and on the other side, we have mega-​douche talking about golden showers.
I could possibly forgive all of this, considering the fact that guests of a restaurant don’t necessarily reflect on a restaurant’s quality or character. And employees and staff probably don’t have a whole lot of control over what their paying customers are doing or saying… But all of that coupled with lackluster service was just too much:
— A lemonade was forgotten, only to be brought about 10 minutes later with a confused «Did someone order this?» from the waiter.
— We didn’t have enough silverware and had to steal some from the next table.
— The waiter told us he «didn’t have enough small plates» for our appetizers, and that we’d have to share the 3 that he could provide. We finally had him bring 2 large plates to substitute. How does a restaurant run out of small plates when they only have 3 tables of customers?
— We continually had to ask for drink refills, as not once were they offered or provided before our glasses were empty.
— The apparently hand-​typed menu was RIDDLED with spelling errors. Not a big deal, but still…
The food was pretty good. I got the pulled pork sandwich and enjoyed it rather thoroughly. For that, I give 2 stars instead one just 1. But the experience was basically ruined by every other aspect of our time there. I was embarrassed to call myself a Ralph Lauren employee after visiting the Rugby Café. It needs a serious overhaul. Ralph would be furious if he had the dining experience I had on Sunday.

I’ve been to this place upwards of 10 times and I just think that if you care about delicious, quality burgers, then you can’t go anywhere else.
Minus the fact that georgetown parking is attrocious and I came here on a Friday night one time and had to get takeout because it was so packed, I have had nothing but pleasant experiences here.
The Iggy burger is my favorite. The patty is made with premium beef and some secret blend of spices that potentially involves brown sugar. It is the best burger patty I’ve ever tasted.
I also love the sauce and how flavourful this burger is even though it doesn’t have any cheese on it. This is rare (and less fatty).
The place also has fresh orange juice (like from actual oranges squeezed on site), which is hard to come by. I don’t know why restaurants keep telling you that yes it’s «fresh-​squeezed» somewhere else and comes to us in a carton, but it’s still fresh-​squeezed. DO they know what fresh orange juice is???
Lastly, the mojitos here are really great. The waitors are all really friendly and chill as well. Even though I don’t «hang-​out» here with any sort of regularity, they always treat me more like a cool acquaintance rather than a customer. I guess that’s not something everyone likes, but it suits me just fine.

I really don’t know where to start with this place. Two years ago, I thought this café hit the spot with its cool urban appeal while serving burgers and spirits. It does seem like a popular college hangout. If you check their menu it consists of small plates, soups, salads, pastas, burgers, and sandwiches. I had their King’s burger which is a burger topped with a fried egg and slice of pineapple. Delish. I loved it so much I came back again and again. The service then was fine, not phenomenal nor was it poor.
That is until this past summer. I was SUPER EXCITED to come back. I had been raving to all of my friends about how great this place that the moment I came in with my friend I wished I had taken it all back. We were not greeted by not one person working there and waited for a couple of minutes before we could be seated. Once we were seated, we waited for about 20 or so minutes before we were even approached by our waiter.
Simply put, the service was UNACCEPTABLE.
A party of 4 – 5 who came maybe 10 minutes after us were seated, greeted with menus, and served before we were even able to get our order in. We were a party of two. Still, we waited patiently.
The icing on the cake was we never saw our waiter. As soon as he got our order, he was out of sight and willing to help his pre-​existing and new tables. Another person, I’m not even sure if she was a waitress, stepped in, got our check and took our plates. Whatever you do, don’t get the dirty blond/​brown-​haired waiter.
What makes me upset was that there was no accountability on his part or the other woman, who picked up his slack. There was no, «I’m sorry it’s taking so long» or «I will be right there» or any sort of communication. I really hate giving out poor reviews but this has got to be the worst place I’ve ever gone to. Do not go here, you will have a better time at McDonalds. I’m sure if Ralph Lauren came by as an anonymous customer he will be extremely disappointed at how poor customer service is here and how much it misses the mark.

this is the WTF — What The Food of Awesomeness place! One of the best burgers in the DC area. Their selection includes some crazy big burgers that your mouth just can’t get a bite on. Might have to use some additional special equipment for that. For sure you got to be ready for some messy food, but its all worth it.
MUST ORDER: Tristan’s Burger

Love this bar, love the servers, and love the food. The crowd? Well, it tends to attract a lot of college kids during the school year so you just have to time your visits to the vacation weeks, brunch times, or summer when it’s not slammed. Unless that is your sort of thing.
Tuesday is half-​priced burger night and you can get yourself a primo burger on the cheap. I’m very fond of the Kings burger — but a fried egg on a burger always gets my attention… and messes up my lap. Combine that with a few crushes and you can easily spend your night there until closing.

Food wise, burgers are pretty good, drink selection is decent, but service can be slow at times. Sometimes, ordering takeout over the phone takes less time than dining in.
The servers can be pretentious, which I guess goes with the whole «RL I’m cooler than god» motif. However, the worst part is the heavy concentration of douchebagy clientele (especially in the late evening). Mind you, at this point, the place turns into a college dive with preppy-​wannabe douches, which is a shame because the setting is nice and has the potential to be a cozy neighborhood bar.
So, go there for the good burgers/​drinks on a sat/​sun afternoon. They are the best cure for a hangover. Sit outside if you can get one of the two tables out there and avoid it at night if you are no longer in college.