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March 2024 by T Dinh
We held a combo Lunar New Year party and one-year wedding anniversary event at Mess Hall DC for about ~40 people and it was spectacular! Working with Al and his team from start to finish was great. Al is super responsive, helpful, and was committed to helping us realize our vision for this event. He gave me helpful recommendations on vendors (we hired a food truck to cater the event and the served food to order at the fully equipped demo kitchen / prep kitchen set-up in the event space) that he trusted and had used in the past and was on site for our whole entire event. The Mess Hall Team were fantastic all night, especially our super cool bartender that Al helped to secure for the evening for our open bar. I cannot say enough good things about the venue, Al, and his entire team. If you're looking for a unique space for your event in the DC area, then definitely check Mess Hall out!!! All of our guests loved the space and everyone had a fun evening together.
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December 2023 by Andrea Najera-Lopez
The "INSIDE" of the venue is nice, cozy and good size. But the "OUTSIDE" is a bit sketchy..... Parking may be difficult and a bit confusing to find the door.
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October 2023 by Sahar Roques
Al and the staff have been wonderful accommodating the start up kitchen needs with an affordable fee for the past 4 years. Thank you!
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October 2023 by Simon Ritchie
My wife I used Mess Hall for a wedding party and it was an amazing party. Staff are super helpful, the space is great for music and catering, and it's in a great part of town. Highly recommend as an event space!
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June 2023 by Dan Joseph
We held our wedding at Mess Hall and thoroughly appreciated working with Al, Jordan, and the team. They were not at all frightened by our plans for a giant bake-off amongst our guests, music on a vinyl record player, book exchange, and more! They had terrific recommendations for people to hire, suggestions for places to rent additional chairs, and tips for how to make their space work for us! The venue is a wonderfully adaptable space with great vibes and lovely staff.
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February 2023 by Cheryl Eshleman
This is a wonderful place for any event you might be considering. Al and his staff are wonderfully flexible, considerate and more than completely capable of providing an excellent experience. Lovely and unique facilities, everyone will enjoy Mess Hall!
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February 2023 by Alex Rivas
Great vegan options
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December 2022 by Letoya Monteith
From the start of planning Al and the entire Mess Hall staff were utterly fantastic!I coordinated an event from Ohio, in DC and it was flawless. Al was timely in email replies, funny, kind, thoughtful, organized, and thorough to work alongside. Im hoping that my work takes me back to DC because I wont hesitate to book this incredible space again.If I could give them 10 out of 5 I would.
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November 2022 by Caroline Huether
My husband and I had a tiny COVID wedding and chose Mess Hall as our venue for a post-wedding party to celebrate with all of our friends a year later. Our experience working with the team at Mess Hall was completely wonderful from start to finish!When we first saw Mess Hall and met with Al, we knew we’d found the right place for our party. It was such a warm first meeting, just checking out the venue over a couple of beers, and we could totally picture ourselves and our friends in the cool, laid-back space. We knew right away that we could trust Al to help us pull off our vision for the party. A few months later, Mess Hall added their new event coordinator Jordan, who is absolutely wonderful. Great vibes from the entire team—incredibly supportive, willing to do anything to make our party perfect, and always at the ready with helpful suggestions when we needed them.The day of the party, we felt so loved and supported by everyone at Mess Hall while we collaborated on setting things up (Al personally helped us hang our neon sign and disco ball) and put the finishing touches on our vision. Jordan and Al both made sure everything went smoothly all night—and we have Jordan to personally thank for documenting the party on our polaroid camera! It was a perfect night and we can’t recommend Mess Hall highly enough!
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October 2022 by Michael Havlin
We recently had our wedding reception at Mess Hall and loved it. Hopefully we only ever get married once – but we can both definitely say if we have the opportunity, we will choose Mess Hall a million times over for our wedding reception. Really 5 out of 5 stars on all fronts for Mess Hall – especially for their staff and management. Obviously, the space itself is very cool – in a class of its own and very unique. And the location too – walking distance to 2 metro stations! But things like space and location are things that are easy to look up online – if you’re reading this review you probably want to know about the intangibles and the staff – and so that is what this review is mostly about.When we chose Mess Hall as our venue about 10 months ago, we initially did so because we liked the space and location – but we would eventually find out that we also greatly appreciated, valued, and trusted the advice, help, and judgment of Mess Hall’s leadership and staff like Al and Jordan. Preparing for a wedding reception is a large undertaking – and for most of us regular folks its not something we will do many times in our life. Whenever we needed guidance or helpful suggestions on how to prepare and execute our event, Mess Hall staff and leadership worked with us to build out our vision. Our event certainly was our vision – but Mess Hall guided us in how to realize and execute it perfectly. We found that Mess Hall was very flexible with us, but also willing to share wisdom when we experienced some challenges in how to realize our vision. And just a tip – you can definitely trust Al, Jordan, and the rest Mess Hall staff!And the staff on day-of were also great! The event supervisor filled in any gaps as they inevitably arose throughout the evening, and the bartenders / waitstaff / custodians provided friendly and diligent service throughout the evening. Procuring staff directly through Mess Hall is definitely worth it if you choose to do that.
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October 2022 by Michael H.
We recently had our wedding reception at Mess Hall and loved it. Hopefully we only ever get married once - but we can both definitely say if we have the opportunity, we will choose Mess Hall a million times over for our wedding reception. Really 5 out of 5 stars on all fronts for Mess Hall - especially for their staff and management. Obviously, the space itself is very cool - in a class of its own and very unique. And the location too - walking distance to 2 metro stations! But things like space and location are things that are easy to look up online - if you're reading this review you probably want to know about the intangibles and the staff - and so that is what this review is mostly about. When we chose Mess Hall as our venue about 10 months ago, we initially did so because we liked the space and location - but we would eventually find out that we also greatly appreciated, valued, and trusted the advice, help, and judgment of Mess Hall's leadership and staff like Al and Jordan. Preparing for a wedding reception is a large undertaking - and for most of us regular folks its not something we will do many times in our life. Whenever we needed guidance or helpful suggestions on how to prepare and execute our event, Mess Hall staff and leadership worked with us to build out our vision. Our event certainly was our vision - but Mess Hall guided us in how to realize and execute it perfectly. We found that Mess Hall was very flexible with us, but also willing to share wisdom when we experienced some challenges in how to realize our vision. And just a tip - you can definitely trust Al, Jordan, and the rest Mess Hall staff! And the staff on day-of were also great! The event supervisor filled in any gaps as they inevitably arose throughout the evening, and the bartenders / waitstaff / custodians provided friendly and diligent service throughout the evening. Procuring staff directly through Mess Hall is definitely worth it if you choose to do that.
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October 2022 by Doruk Adali
Al(founder) hasn’t returned my deposit in 2020 after covid happened. I had go to small claims courts. The case is pending at the moment, think twice before setting up a shop here. Will update case status.
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September 2022 by Kelsey Mauro
We used Mess Hall for our 80-person wedding reception, and we could not have been happier with the decision. We wanted a unique space that would work for both an intimate dinner and party atmosphere, and we certainly got both! The inside space was perfect for accommodating a seated dinner, bar, and buffet line, and we used the garage area for our band and dance floor. So many of our guests have complimented the space! Al and Jordan went above and beyond our expectations for communication and thoughtfulness for venue hosts -- both leading up to and on the day of our event. Al was great at providing ideas while also allowing us to really make the event our own. If you are looking for a unique event space, we definitely recommend Mess Hall!
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July 2022 by Lauren Testa
My husband and I chose Messhall for our wedding celebration because we loved the industrial space and the awesome contacts that Al has in the local food industry. When we had to postpone because the pandemic Al bent over backwards to work with us and find a date in the future when we could safely celebrate, and honored our initial deposit. We ended up with a much smaller, toned down party, but Al and his team were so accommodating during a time that was incredibly hard for him and his staff, and we had a fantastic party.We can't recommend Messhall and Al enough!
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June 2022 by Zachary Ford
I went with a group of coworkers to a crab-picking demo and meal put on by R & L Crab Co at Mess Hall. The demo was sensational and if I weren't a vegetarian, I would now be a crab-picking expert. Mess Hall did accommodate me though, and I was served instead some of the best vegan tacos I've ever had instead. The vibe, the mission, the community, and the food here is unparalleled. Get in here.
