The Going Out Gurus give a realistic view of how things are running at Biergarten Haus (1355 H Street).
And something new up on the Biergarten website (I could see the last name thing causing a few problems): All World Cup events 21+ unless accompanied by Mother or Father with same last name.
13 comments:
i see how one might think the last name thing might cause a problem, but how many kids that are going to be there not driking with an adult have ID anyway? just lie. if you are a legitimate non drinking "kid" i think you'll be fine. i think a very few 16-20 year olds will be screwed, but many more crafty 16-20 year olds will be prevented
I went Friday and Saturday and thought they handled things very well considering it was opening weekend and they were slammed. I sat upstairs both days and while they definitely had some tap issues, I had no problems getting plenty of beer. The bartenders upstairs were great and it was a really fun atmosphere for the games.
The issues identified in the article are valid (those port a potties were getting pretty rank by Saturday afternoon) but some of the things people are complaining are ridiculous (OMG! I got there 5 minutes before the U.S. game and had wait in line!). And for all the whining about the reservation policy, if people would have just arrived a bit early they would have still been able to get a table out back and plenty of space was available upstairs up until 12 or so.
I'm sure they'll work out the kinks and it is great to have yet another great option in the neighborhood.
I like how they put portapotties in the alley I live in. Really neighborly. Shouldn't they have had working bathrooms before opening? I called 311 to report, but not sure if that does any good.
you want some cheese with that whine?
I *wish* there were portapotties in my alley. Maybe then people wouldn't just piss on the buildings.
Praising with faint damns!
I was there all Saturday morning with a big group for the Argentina match and the place blew away my expectations, which were very high. Great beer, great steins, great schnitzel and eggs, great World Cup environment, great shade, great staff, great crowd, great everything. The place is unique in this city. Made me very very excited about the future of H Street. Any and all kinks were negligible and anyway they derived from the fact that Biergarten opened on the fly on DAY ONE OF THE WORLD CUP!!! Give me a break -- this place is awesome. Portajons smortajons -- ever been to a bierfest in Germany? Portajons are the norm when there's a huge crowd drinking beer. So what -- and anyway it's temporary! Biergarten should get major kudos for having two women's rooms and for taking the risk of opening for the World Cup before urinals were was completely finished. Thrilled that Biergarten is now part of our wonderfully eccentric neighborhood.
Seems like a cool place. Was there yesterday and they were out of the beer pretzels. I was looking forward to tasting this "classic", so order/make more, guys! Had the potato pancakes instead and they were good. My friend from outside the n'hood thought the prices on the food menu were a bit steep, so we stopped w/ the potato pancakes and headed to Souk for some really tasty Mediterranean stuff.
Goes to show how far we've come...I was like, "well, then we can grab a burger at Argo, a paninni at SOVA, tex-mex at the Country Club, a deli sandwich at Star&Shamrock, mussels at Granville Moore's, a George Foreman sandwich at the Pug, etc., 12, Red&Black, Jamaican, New England, Ethiopian, Delicious Pie, etc., etc."
He went with Souk and left H St. happy.
I got turned away from Biergarten last night (Thursday) at midnight cause the doorman said they were taking last call. Last call at midnight? WTF?
I was there Just last night (Thurs, 17th) with a half-dozen people from work. We rolled in around 5:30 and got great service, with no tap problems evident (I do wish the glassware had fill lines though - not very German as-is) and plenty of Laugenbretzeln (technically, what they serve are Laugenbrötchen). As the night progressed, the place got absolutely packed (people were standing around waiting for seats to open inside & out), and as the crowds increased, service slowed, but not unacceptably so. As part of our party left, another party asked us if the seats were free, so their knowledge of German custom allowed them to swoop the table when the rest of us left. Gemutlikeit FTW!
"so their knowledge of German custom allowed them to swoop the table when the rest of us left."
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isn't that standard bar practice everywhere?
wait a minute—"mother or father with same last name"?
i have friends whose last name is different than either of their parents. of course, they're in their 30s, and this whole thing is me raising a ruckus over something really minor, but that's just not a fair policy. hope they're willing to be rational and budge off that a little if the situation comes up.
"...isn't that standard bar practice everywhere?"
If it is, I hadn't noticed. Seems to me it's pretty rare to share a table with strangers in the US - but standard practice at beer halls and beer gardens in Germany. If I wasn't clear; I meant they in-filled the empty seats at our table while half of us were still there ordering more beers.
The place has has a real Biergarten vibe, so it didn't phase me, but I think it would kinda freak me out if people tried the same thing at say, ChurchKey.
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