Five O'Clock Meeting: Old Dominion Brew House
After much ado—and by that we mean delay -- the Old Dominion Brew House at the convention center opened in January, and from the looks of things, the bar and restaurant is still trying to combat the relatively light foot traffic in the area during off hours. With its seemingly countless flat screen TVs and copious "tailgate" specials for weekend football games (the bathrooms even have televisions so you won't miss a single play), Old Dominion has everything it needs to eventually become an overcrowded, raucous sports bar—but for now, its happy hours are pleasantly low-key, offering reliable service, tasty brews from the Washington, D.C. area's Old Dominion Brewing Company microbrewery, and decent bar food.
Right around the corner from the Mt. Vernon Square-Convention Center Metro stop on 9th Street, Old Dominion is a place where no one's there to be seen, they're not obsessively talking shop, and on a recent visit, DCist didn't spot even one business card being shoved into a reluctant palm. Yes, the decor screams "big chain," with hand-written signs nearly wallpapering the place advertising five-dollar shots of Jagermeister and $12 buckets of Bud Light during football games. But the designers did a good job with the underlying theme, keeping it simple yet clean, with the everyman appeal of dark wood, tile floors and soft lighting that won't interfere with the glare of the televisions.
Image courtesy Old Dominion
Beer drinkers will agree the real reason to hit up the Old Dominion Brew House for happy hour is the specials. From 4 to 7 p.m., all pints are $3.25, or you can make it a 20-ounce pilsner glass for $3.99. Those prices apply to any of the 15 Old Dominion beers on tap or any of the range of other brews they're carrying at the time, which last week included choices from Smuttynose and Sierra Nevada, among others. For large gatherings, you can't beat the Beer Tower, offering 133 ounces of any draft beer with a self-serve spigot that cuts the wait out of ordering another glass. Try Old Dominion's Victory Amber Ale if you're looking for something everyone will like.
Appetizers are half price during happy hour, and while the menu doesn't deviate far from typical pub food, crispy "naked" buffalo wings come out to just $3.49 for a hearty portion (although wing aficionados may gripe about lack of variation in the level of hotness). The Southern Chicken Quesadilla, $4 during happy hour, was overstuffed with meat and cheese to the liking of our group, but the barbecue flavor that constituted the "southern" feature wasn't for everyone. A burger ordered by one member of the party ($8.99) was cooked correctly and tasted good, although the eater noted with burger covered hands raised that its oblong shape was a bit unwieldy. Check out the rest of the menu here here.
What will also appeal to more diverse groups of happy hour-ers is the full sushi and other Asian food menu available at the pub, which, although not on special during happy hour, is reasonably priced and made fresh to order by the folks at the new Mongolian Grill and Tokyo Sushi restaurants next door. (Not a surprising collaboration given that all three restaurants share an owner.) The fish in the rolls (ranging from $3 to $5) was of good quality, even if one did begin to fall apart—perhaps a side effect of transit?—and gyoza were tasty, although the sauce was not the typical spicy fare but rather a sweet concoction regarded by one person as "not normal." Except for one snag with some delayed sushi, service was good, and it's likely that you'll leave your happy hour at Old Dominion pleasantly full and sufficiently unwound.