One Night in DC

Well, not actually DC proper, otherwise I'd be writing about The Brickskeller and Capital City Brewing. No, this "One Night Only" trip to the DC metro area found me in Falls Church, VA around Seven Corners which is officially (IMO) the worst intersection in the US. But I digress, we're all here for the food and beer.

So where did I hit tonight? Well, after battling rush hour traffic and checking into my hotel, I headed over to Sweetwater Tavern to meet an old college buddy (a current theme on TravelBLOG) for dinner. The brewpub was warehouse-esque, one large dining room with a horseshoe bar in the center. They offered 5 taps (sparse for a brewpub) and an moderate upscale menu. I ordered a sampler of the brews to rate along with an appetizer of seared ahi tuna and the jambalaya pasta for my meal. The food was great, service was a bit slow (the place was slammed), but the beers lacked anything standout. They were solid offerings, but nothing about them put them much above par for the course. The Pale Ale was pretty standard, but the Oatmeal Stout and the Vienna were tasty, but not mind blowing. I guess I could have expected worse from a chain.

For a night cap, I ended up at the Dogfish Alehouse near my hotel. This was a converted Uno's Pizzeria (I had been there a couple years prior), and offered all the DFH standards and seasonals. I thoroughly enjoyed the Festina Peche on draft, and was quite intrigued by the Alehouse 75 (combo of 90 min and 60 min). There was also live music by a local band, Brother Shamus, a sextet that had some serious musical chops and only added to the ambiance, even if they were a bit loud playing to an almost empty house.

A pretty laid back night overall. If you find yourself in this area, definitely check out DFH, but don't go out of your way for Sweetwater. It was pretty standard.

That is all.

Cheers,

Dave