Masa 14, DC #2

Masa 14 just opened its rooftop a few months ago and even though it has been unbearably hot, me and couple of my friends ventured up there for a Friday night happy hour.  I have always thought that Masa 14 has one of the best happy hour scenes in DC -- good food and drinks for a great price at a great venue.

The rooftop is really nice -- half of it is enclosed with a bar that is backlit at night and the other half is an outside wooden deck.  On this particular night, the weather was beautiful so we sat outside. It was cooler than usual and a bit cloudy, which was a welcome change from most other nights that week when the sun was beating down on us.

I started with an order of a mojito. The mojitos, margaritas, and strawberry lemonades are just $4 from 5 to 7 p.m. every day of the week (including weekends!) as are the small plates. The service was a bit spotty as it seemed like one woman was working all of the tables outside. I really don't know how she did it. At one point she told me she completely blanked on my drink and had to take my order again. Disappointing, but understandable.

After a while, we decided to place some orders for small plates. It was at that point that I realized that the menu for the rooftop was completely different than the menu downstairs. In fact, instead of the happy hour menu being mostly vegan, there were no vegan options. Oh, my. The waitress said that the kitchen was separate upstairs and that they weren't able to make the food that is on the downstairs menu up there. Further, she was not allowed to run downstairs to get the dishes to bring them back up to the rooftop. Well, that was a bummer. Then, we came up with an idea. She asked if we could go downstairs to grab food and bring it back up. The waitress said that would be fine. Okay, great!

The new bar on the top floor.

I went downstairs and placed an order for a couple dishes, then came back downstairs to pick them up 10 minutes later. It was at that point that two different people told me that I was not allowed to do that. What gives? If you don't want me to have to come downstairs to order food, perhaps you should put some vegan options on the upstairs menu. Not a novel idea, I'm sure. With that, they stopped hassling me. Oh, and I was nice about it.

So, I was happy with my spicy edamame and my favorite crunchy wok-fried okra with spicy ponzu sauce. I really love that okra. At some point though, I left to go to the restroom and they took my half-filled bowl of edamame away. I was not happy. So, we complained to the waitress and the manager brought me another bowl. Happy again.

We ended up staying and having drinks until after 10 p.m. It was a gorgeous night and there was a great vibe up there. Other than the issues with the menu, I'd definitely go back. I'm only hoping they'll add vegan options to the happy hour menu upstairs as that is a huge draw for us vegans. Or they could at least allow individuals to get food downstairs without hassle. Worst case scenario - I guess I'll just have happy hour downstairs next time. Either way, I still like this place and am looking forward to coming back.

Masa 14
1825 14th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 328-1414