Central - Washington, DC

Friday, 5/1/09, 9 pm - Penn Quarter

Wedged between the kitchen and the bar and up a ramp sits Central's restrooms. I loved the pearlized glass tiles covering the walls. They were offset by pink/dark mauve walls and a matching sink - a tilted-trough sink. The three stalls were fully separated and the handicap stall has its own sink it (I didn't get a chance to check it out). The toilet paper roll perched on its own stand was a nice touch.


Again, apologies for the blur. I meant to also get a picture of the door - pieces of dark blue glass set in a glass door with a wooden frame. It allowed you to see figures outside, but wasn't that translucent to make more much more than a shape. The branding continued into the restroom, with the door handles were large "C"s - on both the inside and the outside.

The bathroom was clean and well kept, definitely living up to the restaurant - stylish, but no over the top. Here's more on Central.

Zaytinya - Washington, DC

Saturday, 4/25/09, 9 pm - Chinatown

Offering 3 stalls in a spacious bathroom, the bright blue in each stall is offset by pale marble (marble looking?) tiles and white walls. O ne quirk (or perk) was the purse hook. At least I think it was a purse hook. It was a round hook directly above the toilet. I suppose it could have been a votive holder though that would be an odd place for it. If it is a purse hook, it makes it much more secure (though potentially hazardous should something fall out of your bag).

In the sink area, there's a lot of what I think would be called "negative space" which I usually find wasteful, but I think it make the room feel airy. Three bowl sinks on wooden pedestals greet you with the actual fixtures coming out of the wall. The layout of the mirror allows a few people to be washing their hands and still have room for others to touch up in the mirror.


And another unusual hook situation - a few beside the sinks. Sorry for the blurriness (you have to hold the blackberry really still). If you're looking for more details on Zaytinya, here you go.

Sonoma - Washington, DC

Thursday, 4/23/09, 8:30 pm - Capitol Hill

There have definitely been improvements to this bathroom since Sonoma opened a few years ago. I vaguely remember it being one stall with the toilets back to back and no doors around them. Check out this review from Roll Call back in 2005:

"Sonoma's puzzling unisex bathroom on the main floor contains two toilets, partially obscured by partitions - the key word being partially. A sign on the inside of the door instructs patrons to lock the door. This bathroom was built for women who go to the restroom together ... and no one else. "There's always a line," our waitress told us, with a hint of exasperation in her voice. And that line? It forms precariously close to the constantly swinging kitchen doors."

But things have improved (even a poster on donrockwell.com noticed). They've made the bathroom into two stalls, which didn't improve the wait time but definitely made me less nervous to go to the bathroom.

The single stall I went into was modern with clean lines, and the paper towels were the heavy cloth type - the kind between actual cloth and paper. I liked the stainless steel soap dispenser, rather than one on the wall. Behind the white trough sink, the waste basket was made of dark wicker and didn't seem to quite fit. The restroom was clean enough and non-descript as if it didn't want to distract from anything else.

Here's more on Sonoma.

Potty Press

While I don't actively search out news on bathrooms, I did find these two recent articles worth sharing, especially given the lack of emphasis many places put on making sure bathrooms are available (I've expressed my feelings about one uni-sex stall for a whole restaurant).

The NYTimes article does a great a job of explaining the need for more women's bathrooms and how more are being made available in stadiums, while the Washington Post piece discusses where to find a public restroom in NYC. They point out a popular place has become Crate & Barrel (I think in Soho), though I would still recommend hotels when possible. And I promise if I get to any of the locations, I'll post my findings.

New York Times: New Ballpark Statistic: Stadium’s Toilet Ratio
If nothing else, $2 billion worth of baseball ballparks should buy shorter waits for the restrooms, at least for women...It may be the biggest moment “for potty parity that we have seen, to have two big facilities open at the same time, and all these restrooms open at once,” said Kathryn Anthony, a professor of architecture at the University of Illinois and a board member of the American Restroom Association.

Washington Post: In Need of a Toilet in New York: There's So Much to See, but Where Do You Go?
In Times Square, three generations of Louisiana women bemoaned their first day. "We spent five hours walking around," said Whitney Rainwater, "and we only found one bathroom."

UPDATE: Julie Stiles wrote a Wall Street Journal piece about opening day at Citifield, confirming the latest innovation in the women's bathroom: "the only place you'll find a quicker ladies room is at a Rush concert -- I know from experience." So I'm hardly the only one who thinks about these things.

Founding Farmers - Washington DC

Tuesday, 4/7/09, 8 pm - Foggy Bottom

There was definitely care given to planning this bathroom. The walls of both stalls were decorated with fields of corn (I think it was corn) while one wall was a full length mirror.

Even the light fixture had an outdoor touch (I think it's supposed to look like leaves), though that might be a bit much - the attempt to cram anything and everything nature-y into one space. Knowing Founding Farmers prides itself on being a LEED building and carbon neutral, I'm hope they were using energy saving bulbs.

One complaint I did have was about the toilets, which were magic eye of course theoretically to save water. However, it was quite sensitive. Every time I moved an inch, it flushed. Not exactly helpful.

The sink area looks like a farm-house type setting (basin sink but with a magic eye faucet). As expected, the restroom had no paper towels or cloth ones for that matter. Just the Dyson superpowered hand dryer to dry off.


I did also want to point out the wall decor outside the stalls. Painted to look like old chalk boards, the walls had quotes across them (I'm guessing they never change and probably aren't actually erasable).


Here's more on Founding Farmer's.

NOLA - New Orleans

Sunday, 2/15/09, 9:30 pm - French Quarter

An Emeril restaurant, but the bam! wasn't in the restroom. There were at least 3 floors in the place and since they were only accessible by elevator, I'm pretty sure there was a restroom for each floor. While the extremely friendly waiters did escort us to the bathroom, it was just a single stall.

Clean enough, but nothing super exciting. You can see the stall titles don't really connect to the sink area (aside from the paint at the top of room). I wonder if it's the same on each floor (we were on the third). Here's more info on NOLA.

Galatoire's - New Orleans

Saturday, 2/14/09, 9:30 pm - French Quarter


One of the oldest restaurants in the city definitely reflected New Orleans mix of old world and fun. The restroom had two stalls on either side of the sink area. The wallpaper was a mix of something you might find in your grandmother's apartment and something from the 1930s.

The free standing toilet paper holder was a nice touch and the slotted-doors to the stalls made complete sense in New Orleans. The paper towels were those mix between the cloth and paper type, which reflected the entire atmosphere of the place - nice, but not stuffy. It's definitely a place for locals in the French Quarter.





The bathroom reflects well on the restaurant, but that's not the only reason to visit (check out the cute older couples celebrating Valentine's Day there). Here's more on Galatoires.

Acme Oyster - New Orleans

Saturday, 2/14/09, 4:30 pm - French Quarter

There were a few must restaurants we had to visit while in New Orleans and Acme was one of them. It fashions itself as a no-frill oyster house (with checkered table clothes, etc), so I was nervous about going to the bathroom, but it turns out I had no reason to be.

Probably because it's a chain, the restroom was actually clean and well kept. While the bathroom kept in line with the "no-frills" look, it was still a relief to know that the two stall, two sink restroom was alright to use. The black doors went all the way to the floor, which is a nice privacy touch if the actual stall isn't too claustrophia (which it wasn't). So my recommendation is to not be afraid of the bathroom at Acme. Here's more on the famous oyster house.

Posto - Washington, DC

Thursday, 2/5/09, 7:30 pm - Logan Circle

I had heard good things about this new spot but was not at all prepared for the bathroom experience. And when I say experience, I don't think I'm stretching too much. First, to get to the bathroom, you walk out what looks like an exit or fire door into a back hallway which made me think of the alley way backstage at a theater - concrete and cold. I got in line behind 2 other people for the two single unisex stalls (for a decently large restaurant). It was a cold night, so the hallway is quite drafty.

Finally it's my turn. The bathroom is done in all black - black tiles, toilet and sink, with a slate floor. The sink was one of those square slabs. The stall was pretty roomy with a stand for extra toilet paper, etc.

But what I found the most interesting part of the bathroom was the ceiling. Since we were clearly in an unfinished warehouse-type hall, the restaurant tried to add something to the ceiling to finish off the restroom. So they covered it with large black panels, staggered at different levels. Perhaps it was to absorb sound, but it looks more like a design element, extending the whole restroom up to the ceiling.

I wasn't really sure what to make of it, but didn't want to stay in the bathroom too long to figure it out - it was chilly! Here's more about Posto.

Oyamel - Washington, DC

Saturday, 1/31/09, 8:30 pm - Chinatown

Oyamel means butterfly in Spanish but I didn't see any butterflies in the bathroom. Rather, the restroom was a mix of kitch and class.



On one sink counter you see some fake flowers, while the other side had a shadow box filled with Day of the Dead chatchkies. The black stalls were offset by the bright-colored walls - orange and yellow. Didn't blow me away but didn't disappoint either. Check out Oyamel for more.