The Early Word on All 24 Hours of The Hamilton

Behemoth restaurant and live music venue The Hamilton opened its doors in the old Borders space downtown just three weeks ago offering 24-hour dining, musical performances and lots and lots of decorative birds. But how has this latest venture from the Clyde's Restaurant Group been holding up around the clock? Considering that today was its official ribbon-cutting at which local politicians talked up how hot The Hamilton is right now, seems like this is the perfect time to take a look at what some of the early diners have to say.

The Good Brunch News... in Verse: One Yelper ventured to The Hamilton for brunch and a first date. Though the date part didn't go so well, he seems pretty happy with brunch and tells the story in verse: "Bloody Marys, check, order food real quick/to start ill get an order of this tasty lobster bisque." [Yelp]

The Good Lunch News: Not a rave, but this Yelper was well enough satisfied by lunch at The Hamilton: "I settled on the lobster bisque & the open faced brisket sandwich, and my friend also got the lobster bisque and the crab cake sandwich. We also ordered fries to share. The lobster bisque was VERY GOOD and the brisket sandwich was tasty too. I'd definitely go back again for lunch." [Yelp]

The Great Dinner News: One couple with a reservation on New Years Eve experienced a bit of a service debacle but ended up getting free dinner, meriting a rave: "When rating a restaurant, I usually consider 50% of the over-all rating for customer service, and 50% for the food. The Hamilton gets 5 stars because their service is second to none, and the food is tough to beat." [Yelp]

The Bad Dinner News: One Yelper sitting in the bar area rather than the dining room for dinner was not too impressed, even for a new restaurant: "I give a lot of latitude to newly opened restaurants. I know it takes a long time to work out kinks. But 30 minutes to return from the bar and say you don't have a certain kind of liquor? And still forget the bottle of wine we ordered? Not so good. Not knowing what edamame is when its on the menu? Not so good." [Yelp]

The Really Bad Late-Night News: One late-night diner has a bad experience with pretty much every aspect of The Hamilton: "Horrible experience and food, and the decor was creepy (not deco). Went late night/early morning on a Thursday (sober, mind you). One other person, each ordered a full dinner meal. Asked for still water, given sparkling. Food came out REALLY cold and the cheese on my burger had hardened. Server was either unaware of how long the food had been sitting out or thought she'd see if it'd slide. Sorry, but for the amount we paid I expect a server to be proactive about communicating certain standards with the kitchen for me and not serve poor food." [Yelp]

The So-So News: Foursquare tips range from recommendations for the burger and specialty cocktails as well as a few users noting in real-time just how long they were waiting for their food. It was long. [Foursquare]

The Live Music News: Checking out the space downstairs, one Yelper declares it is "big and beautiful. Really like nothing I've ever seen before -- tables on tiered levels radiating out in a half circle from the stage, flanked by a pair of bars, one as you walk in, another in the back in prime viewing range (sort of like the 9:30 backbar). [Yelp]

The Food Critic Sushi News: Chris Shott filed a featured story on The Hamilton's sushi bar, which aims to one day offer "hotshit" stuff but right now not so much: "The advertised inferno of an eel-covered, spicy tuna-injected Fire Dragon ($13) is virtually extinguished in a mush of avocado. The Tiger Fur (also $13) similarly proves tamer than its name, with slivers of tuna, salmon and yellowtail wrapped up in green-striped kelp." [WCP]