Thanks for giving the place a shot; I personally wouldn't advise anyone to stay immediately in Gallery Place / Chinatown, but a property can always be a pleasant surprise, so you never know.

This has never been a law in DC; I have lived here for over 10 years. The recent ordinance regarding delivery and off-site sales does require bundling with food (see e.g. https://dc.eater.com/2020/3/30/21196...-mayo-sandwich). Perhaps the property misconstrued this, or was applying it in an overly broad manner. But I can assure you that during "normal" times, you can very much order just a drink.

As to the people peeing and smoking (decriminalized) substances, and the locked doors? Well, welcome to any big U.S. city. Ten years ago, plus or minus a couple blocks from there, the convenience stores would do sales through bulletproof glass, and even then people would talk about the "rough" old days. Again, I don't think Chinatown is any local's favorite neighborhood, to be clear. Though it's probably much quieter than usual these days, to be honest, with no sporting events or shows going on.