Barrel

The vibe is a local bar with excellent music-the Beastie Boys was playing when we walked in. Clearly, at first glance this is a locals spot. It is a short 5 blocks from the Captiol building in the area called East Market. It looks small from the outside but it is long in length when you walk in. The atmosphere was fun and festive when we arrived in Dec 20th. We got there about 830 pm for dinner. Hubby reserved a table online and it was the only table open when we arrived. The tables are really close together like any urban pub. If you want something far away then request the 4 top that sits in the store front window. There are coat trees everywhere for your coat. The bread pudding is the signature dessert for good reason. It was to e best bread pudding we have ever eaten. The top of the pudding had a sugared crust that was divine. The ice cream was super yummy and the chocolate on top really made the dish have a few notes. It was plenty for two to share. It is pricey but well worth it. I ordered the nachos with smoked pulled pork. It was not that exiting. Standard queso on top and average chips. The pork was super chewy like it had been warmed up too much. The dish was no cohesive. It was cheap tasting nacho plate with smoked pork on top. The smoke was very intense in the meat. There needed to be more added to marry the pork to the cheese. Maybe a drizzle of BBQ sauce on top of the pork? I would have kept the pork in broth to keep it moist. As a result you had to hold the meat on the chip with your finger to get it to stay on the chip to get a complete bite. The crab Rangoon was tasty. My hubby had the chicken sliders were delicious. It was like the small chicken biscuits at chick fi la but clearly homemade instead. The biscuits were tender and more roll like than biscuit which was perfect. The added honey was really great as well. The sliders were small and you get 3. My hubby ordered it as an entree. I got the lavender mocktail which was tasty. Hubby had an old fashioned with their house choice since it is was a whiskey bar. It was cool to see bottles of bourbon above us on a shelf worth thousands of dollars. A lot of people around us ordered old fashioned. The service was great from our waitress.

If you are into whiskey, this place is a must! My friend and I stumbled upon Barrel a few weeks ago after going to a different place for brunch down the street. We sat at the bar and tried a lot of their cocktails which were very good! We came back last weekend to try out their brunch. Reservations are definitely a must! The bottomless was no joke- they truly kept you from seeing the bottom of your glass. They provided the bottles of the bubbly, OJ, cranberry juice, and a sangria simple syrup (one of the staff members mentioned that the "seasonal" juice changes which is fun). I got the crabcake benny with a PERFECT poached egg and the loaded waffle with some berries on top. Although the benny was good it was a little lackluster for the price. It was one half of the benny (which is stated on the menu) and the rest of the plate was the "potato hash" which was just home fries. Also, one of my friends ordered the steak & eggs but could not get poached eggs even though I got a poached egg for my benny. So that was a little confusing. She was also a little let down with the "potato hash" just being home fries. Overall, both times we came the staff have been great! The vibe is great! The drinks are great! The brunch food was a little lackluster for me but will definitely be back to try some other dishes and certainly want to try out some dinner items too!

This place could be good. The fried chicken sandwich was very tasty, if a bit fatty owing to the use of chicken thighs. However:1. Potato chips with an $18 sandwich is pretty cheap. How about fries?2. The bar is odd. We ate there and ordered beers from the bartender but every time we did she ran off way past the taps that were right next to us to pour our beers. It took 5 min per order. Odd.3. The reason I won't go back: they charge a 3.5 percent fee if you want to use a credit card. As far as I'm concerned, this makes the prices on their menu a lie. No one pays cash at a restaurant. You want to offer a discount from the menu for cash? Go ahead. But don't tell me what the price is and then add extra if I want to use the form of payment that 99.5 percent of people use. And the notice is posted in 12 point font at the bottom of their front window where you will never look.Do better.

Barrel is a lively Saturday brunch spot nestled in one of my favorite neighborhoods in D.C. The atmosphere buzzes with energy, as locals gather to celebrate birthdays, catch up with friends, or enjoy a relaxed weekend date. The staff is warm, attentive, and well-versed in the menu, offering thoughtful recommendations that ensure a satisfying dining experience from start to finish.

My friend and I decided to catch up over a meal and Barrel was our choice. My friend actually made reservations for the wrong day, but they weren't busy and seated us immediately. The menu was interesting. I ordered a beer, I can't remember the name but it was a light lager and it was good. I ordered the honey biscuit sandwich and the hash! The hash was delicious and very well seasoned! That took me by surprise! The biscuit was delicious and we both thoroughly enjoyed it! The ambiance is surlier chill. No need to be dressed but and it's tells casual. The waiter was cool and also very chill vibes. I think this is a great low key spot to grab good food with great company! Overall, I enjoyed my meal and I would absolutely recommend!

A must stop if you are into whiskey. They have an impressive list of options and a really nice scotch flight. Happy hour drinks very reasonable at about $9. Just had cocktails since we were headed to dinner but the food that came out looked tasty.

We stopped in just for drinks, as we were on our way to dinner, but the food we saw looked pretty tasty!Grabbed two spots at the bar and had Max take care of us. He was great! Super friendly; offered some great recommendations and was there when we needed him, while allowing us time and space when we needed it.Happily enjoyed some Happy Hour drinks, including the HH Punch (a rum punch that was like an adult kool-aid the day we were there) and a Bourbon Old Fashioned for Jim G., both at $9. Jim also had to have one of the Scotch Flights at $35 and I tried an Espress Yourself, which was a barrel-aged espresso martini--very rich and tasty. We also had a Happy Meal, which was a Jameson shot, a Peach High Noon, and a little toy in the way of a cute spinner!Great playlist, good people watching, warm and cozy environment. If I lived here, this would be a regular spot!

I don't know how to accurately rate this place as the food was above the bar, but the service I received was a definite miss for the day I was here. So maybe we go with a 3.5 type of situation here. After a long day of work, appointments, and walks, I wanted a bite to eat before heading home. Sitting at my appointment nearby I started to search what was close and ended up here. I liked what a saw from their website and the food pictures looked amazing. Honestly, they had me sold with the name of their one item, Fat Fries.I moseyed over here and walked in to try and get a seat for a quick bite. When I got here the bar area was pretty packed so bar seating was a no. Not knowing what to do, a flabbergasted server (host?) finally saw me. They just kind of stared at me and I had to say that I wanted a menu. With that it was like the snapped back to reality. Looking around, and without asking me, I was ushered outdoors to their sidewalk seating. I wasn't opposed to that, but I really didn't want to be seated outside, on one side of the sidewalk seating by myself.See, when this happens, you tend to get ignored. A lot. After being seated, the server/host disappeared back inside. Luckily I had a menu to keep me busy. He came back outside to give me some water and take my order. I'm so glad I didn't guzzle that glass of water because that was the only drink I got the whole time here.After placing my order he disappeared again. Not seeing him again until my food was brought out to me. And I wouldn't see him again until my check was brought to me and for him to run my card. Honestly have no idea what his name was as he never introduced himself and never stuck around. It was almost like I annoyed him by being there and wanting to dine. I'm sure this could have been an off night for him, and I will be back to dine again, but hopefully with a different server/host.As for the food, this could easily be a five star review if I was basing it off the food alone. I went with the aforementioned Fat Fries and decided to get me some Mac N' Cheese. Only negative I could say about the food is the pricing. For the portion you get, the price feels a bit hefty.But not as hefty as those Fat Fries. When they describe them as thick cut, they mean THICK cut. Swear you could use them as stacking blocks and make yourself a potato cabin out of them. Definitely the biggest fry I have ever had. When you look at them you think that there is no way that they can be cooked the whole way. But that they are, cooked to perfection in fact. With the Parmesan cheese on them and a dip in that chipotle mayo...*chef's kiss*The Mac N' Cheese, my god, I could swim in it. Amazingly crusted so you get that texture you need with the gooey cheese. I might have looked ravenous while eating it as I was nearly carnal and wanted to lick the bottom of the bowl. I can't wait for my next visit to the area as I will definitely be making sure to take some of this home with me.Hard to believe that this is review number 3,700! But there it is.

Had brunch here with some friends. The service was pretty slow. It took us almost an hour and a half to be served our food. The food itself was ok. I ordered the chicken and waffles. The chicken had thick skin and was pretty fatty. Not the best chicken and waffles I've had where I wouldn't order them again.

Not bad for a bar. Limited food menu, and they charge a 3% surcharge for using a credit card??? Really?