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Duffy's Irish Pub, U Street Metro - Andy Duffy's Pub on Vermont Avenue - Closed


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There's been a "coming soon" sign up on this place for what seems like forever; it's roughly across the Florida/Vermont Ave. intersection from the 9:30 Club. It finally opened for business at the beginning of June, and it definitely seems like they're on the right track. The owner, Andy, used to be the manager at the Four Provinces in Cleveland Park, and has been waiting for a very long time (14 months) for the forces of bureaucracy to get their act together.

The menu is standard pub grub (shepherd's pie, fish and chips, wings, etc) but it's very well done - chips hand-cut from an actual potato, the proper gravy to meat to veg ratio in the shepherd's pie, and excellent onion rings. They're also taking good care of their beer - really excellent Guinness, Pilsner Urquell in the appropriate pilsner glass, along with Smithwick's, Harp, and the standard domestic offerings.

The only real problem is that they're stuck with weird licensing hours - last call on weeknights is 11:30pm, which has to hurt since they can't catch any weeknight post-show overflow. Fortunately, their happy hour runs until 7, so pre-show dining and drinking is an option. Their happy hour pricing extends to food as well, which makes the food stunning value for money - the shepherd's pie and fish and chips are both on the happy hour menu for $4.95.

If you're in the area and have a hankering for a pint, or just feel like doing your part to support another independent startup, Duffy's is worth a visit.

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It has been too long since I've enjoyed pints that have been as well-stored (or well-poured) as what I had at Duffy's last night. The Guinness Stout ($6) was as good as any I've had in DC, but an even bigger treat was the Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale ($6). Both bartenders used the "double pour" method to s-l-o-w-l-y fill the glasses, resulting in (silence, my children) creamy heads that went on endlessly. These were both special beers, and worth going out of your way for.

As Hannah noted above, most of the food I saw would fall into the "pub grub" category, which coming from me is no compliment. But a nightly special of Corned Beef and Cabbage ($8.95, ordered to go) was thick-cut, not gratuitously salty, virtually free of anything unhealthy, and was a generous portion to boot. If you prowl U Street, but haven't tried Duffy's, do go and try a pint of Kilkenny - you'll thank me, I promise!

Cheers,

Rocks

Fifteen minutes later, the froth remains ...

post-2-1271862873_thumb.jpg

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I do not know Andy Duffy personally, but I know him by his deeds. In January, after one of his bartenders succumbed to the effects of a massive stroke, Mr. Duffy turned over the bar to his family and friends for a fundraiser to help take care of some of the medical and funeral costs.

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Nothing much new to add here. Met some friends at Duffy's on Sunday to watch some football. They have a solid beer selection, and I enjoyed probably at least one more DC Brau "The Citizen" than I should have. I'd heard wonderful things about their wings, and after this experience they may be the best I've had in the city. Due to the consensus of the table we ordered ours medium, and they were both spicy and flavorful. Really delicious. The pulled pork sandwiches we used later to sop up the beer were nothing to write home about. But those wings were fantastic.

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