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