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Old Angler's Inn, The DC Area's Longest Continuously Operating Restaurant - Chef Nick Palermo Has Departed


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I know this is fairly last minute, but I am headed to Old Angler's Inn and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations?

Is that HUGE "house" next to it Dan Snyder's new abode?

No, it isn't-- there are still trees leading down towards the towpath. This is a wonderful evening to sit outside on the deck, and the chef does a really nice job with local rockfish if it's available.
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I'm not. Keep driving. It's awful.

willing to be proven wrong, though. It would be nice to have a good restaurant nearby.

While not entirely awful, the restaurant wasn't nearly as good as the prices would suggest. However, the patio does provide a nice, relaxing atmosphere for some drinks.

Particularly disappointing was the tomato salad. I was expecting fresh heirlooms and got what appeared to be thin slices of barely edible tomato leftover from sandwhich toppings during the lunch shift. the "salad" was a terrible dissapointment.

The Rockfish entree was fresh, well executed, and did not disappoint. I would definately be willing to try it again, but only if it was slightly more affordable.

My overall impression was that the location/atmosphere is great, but the food was hit or miss, and overpriced. I will likely be back, but just for some wine/cocktails.

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Somebody please tell me what I'm missing here. I think about what Don and Sally Schmitt, and later, Thomas Keller, did with an old rundown, overgrown laundry house out in the middle of nowheresville California. Then I think about this place. It's hardly in a dicey neighborhood - Potomac is affluent, crying for places to eat. It's scenic, it's quaint, it has history, it's got plenty of patio space and parking and a romantic fireplace in the lounge ... so why, oh why, with all the wonderful chefs in this region, can't one of them (Eric Ziebold are you reading this???) find the backing to turn Old Angler's into a world-class destination?

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Somebody please tell me what I'm missing here. I think about what Don and Sally Schmitt, and later, Thomas Keller, did with an old rundown, overgrown laundry house out in the middle of nowheresville California. Then I think about this place. It's hardly in a dicey neighborhood - Potomac is affluent, crying for places to eat. It's scenic, it's quaint, it has history, it's got plenty of patio space and parking and a romatic fireplace in the lounge ... so why, oh why, with all the wonderful chefs in this region, can't one of them (Eric Ziebold are you reading this???) find the backing to turn Old Angler's into a world-class destination?

Amen to that.

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I ate there with some friends during restaurant week when they were running the lunch special. It was OK. I had the Caesar salad (pretty good) and eggs benedict (had to scrape off much of the hollandaise). One friend had the soup - if I remember correctly it was spiced carrot - and liked it a lot, and the other entree was linguine with shrimp which also got decent reviews. The general consensus at the table was that if it had not been restaurant week, we would have gone elsewhere. The food is pretty good, but not worth their regular prices. We went mainly for the atmosphere and history of the building.

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A friend and I took a twilight hike on the C&O towpath tonight, and decided to have dinner at the Inn rather than risk Bethesda at 8pm on a Friday.. We paid our check and left after at least an hour and a half, one bottle of wine, two soups, no entrees, and a waiter that actively avoided glancing our way. The manager? owner? did give us a generous gift certificate to make up for our lack of service, but I can't see coming back, unless it's for a quick beer after a stroll. Lovely setting, though.

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Went back last night after a glorious walk to the Potomac overlook, and this time sat on the back patio. What a difference. We ordered burgers from the limited menu, drank a serviceable Crozes-Hermitage, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Not the best burgers in DC, but cooked carefully.

We agreed that the back patio feels like a place at the beach - very casual, paper plates, gas grill setup. I'd go back for burger, not for the overpriced mediocrity of the front patio.

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Sorry to report that the abysmal service and substandard food has crept into the back patio as well. We stayed home this Memorial Weekend and decided to go for a nice bike ride with some friends, starting in Georgetown and stopping for lunch at Old Angeler's Inn. First, we called ahead to make sure they would still be serving lunch by the time we got there and we were told they were only serving their $28/per person brunch. We opted to ride there anyway, only to find out that they WERE in fact serving in the back patio, as usual. B) We had worked up quite the appetite and decided to eat there anyway for the convenience.

The staff was friendly enough to help us move some tables into the shade, but that was the extent of good service.

1 - 90+ degree weather and I had ordered another Lemonade, which took 3 request & 1 additional annoyed request to finally get.

2 - After biking all day 2 friends and I opted for the healthy sounding seafood kabobs that came with a side salad for $14/each - Imagine our surprise and disappointment when we were literally slung ONE paper plate onto the table with 3 kabobs on it and told "This is for you 3." When we gave her the perplexed look, she said "Do you want plates?" WTF? :D Ummm, not only did we want plates, but napkins and utensils would have been nice too! Still perplexed and VERY annoyed, we asked about our side salads, when ONE 6 inch salad came out (with maybe 7 leaves of lettuce). We asked, "Do we have to share this salad too?" She laughed and said "No, our 2 additional salads would be out soon". So....it was $14 for just ONE seafood kabob which only had ONE square inch of fish, ONE scallop & ONE undercooked shrimp & a side of 7 leaves of lettuce. The shrimp was still transparent!! I usually like medium rare, but I had to send it back to the teenager who was cooking on the outdoor grill. What happened? Did we have to pay an upcharge to be served individual plates with our ONE kabob and 7 pieces of lettuce?

The 3 of us who ordered the seafood kabobs were not only seriously disappointed, but we were still left quite hungry. My friends ended up ordering an additional $10 veggie sandwich to split because they were still so hungry. I was so disgusted that I refused to order anything else.

3- My 12 year old stepdaughter didn't fare much better. She ordered the chicken wings (only 5 to an order) :) While the glaze was tasty, these were the TOUGHEST, OLDEST chicken wings I'VE EVER HAD!! They were inedible!! She refused to eat it & didn't want to order anything else, SMART GIRL!! She herself was aghast at having to ask for individual paper plates, napkins & utensils AFTER the food arrived, and getting plastic utensils, especially considering what they were charging!

4- My husband was the only one that did OK by ordering the burger. We were all looking forward to tasting his fries which looked pretty good on all the other food orders coming out. Imagine our surprise and disappointment when he got chips out of a bag!! He didn't want to say anything and just wanted to get our meal over with so we could all just leave. Surprise, surprise, the next burger order that went to the next table had what....fresh french fries! Grrrrr!!!

I am SO disappointed. Last year when I went & had dinner on the outdoor back patio after a lovely evening hike on the Billy Goat Trail, it had become one of my favorite places to go on a Thursday night. There was a nice band playing Gypsy Kings type music and their Ceasers Salad with salmon was just perfect! Oh....what a loss!!

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Everytime I watch Kitchen Nightmares I think of this place. The menu should be cut by at least a half and updated. I also don't see how they can have the turn over to keep this much fresh food given the menu and still make a profit. I suspect lots of use of a freezer and can and packaged foods (e.g., your bagged chips). I can only imagine how scary the kitchen must look.

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I was there once years ago and had similar experiences. But people, please: We should all know by now that any restaurant with the words "old," "inn," or also "home," "family," "fixin[g]s," "great," "style," "country," even honest monikers like "cookin[g]," and not-so-honest ones like "chef," should be avoided by the epicure as a vampire avoids holy water--even if they occur in the signposts of venerable-looking establishments with vulture-infested dumpsters in their parking lots in the middle of wealthy metropolitan suburbs. ("Angler" I think is still permissible, though horribly abused in this case.) I have applied this simple standard wherever I go in this great country land of ours and it has never failed me.

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And I am among the few who actually remember those halcyon days in the late 90s.

In the '70's this was the best dimly lit room in America for a first date. Plush sofas, fireplace, candlelight-the food didn't matter. Old Anglers Inn was the legend.

...and to think that who I took there are now grandmothers...

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Im looking for chef de parties and sous chefs at old anglers in if anyone is interested

Wrong message board. Try help wanted. Perhaps things can improve there. Menu needs an overhaul IMHO - needs to be slimmed down and chef should concentrate on doing a few things extremely well. With current menu suggestig high daily food cost and their traffic, I have a hard time believing everything is fresh.

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Has anyone attempted Old Angler's in the past year since the new chef came in?  There's a Living Social for them now but I'd want to hear something remotely positive to consider using it.

I had lunch at Old Anglers Inn with ol_ironstomach yesterday, and having had Nick Palermo's cooking in the past, knew it was going to be good, but I didn't know it was going to be *this* good.

I've never really understood the dish Soup du Jour ($8), as it seems to be different every time I order it. Anyway, yesterday it was a Cream of Mushroom soup with mushroom fricassée, and it reminds me of why I've been having a renaissance of late with mushrooms. For awhile, I'd over-ordered them and got long-term sick of them (which is how I am right now with scallops), but recently, I've found myself falling in love with them all over again. This was a great soup, piping hot, with essence of mushroom both in the broth and the fricassée, aggressively but not over-salted, and along with the fireplace and the charm of an inn serving diners since 1860, a wonderful welcome to today's winter chill.

Dave stuck with a second small plate for his main, and got a fabulous Roasted Spanish Octopus ($13) with black-eyed pea ragu, olives, and tomato fondue. Hinging on the quality and execution of the octopus, this was a triumph, the firm-but-tender octopus legs cut into thick coins and served on a beautifully seasoned mound of primary black-eyed pea ragu. If you have any inkling (get it?) for octopus, do not hesitate to order this fine and hearty appetizer.

Unless, of course, you want to celebrate Thanksgiving early like I did, ordering the Roasted Amish Chicken ($20) with Granny Smith apple and chestnut stuffing, chorizo, brussel sprouts, and chicken jus. First of all, the chicken: it was darned near perfect, with a crackling, crispy, skillet-hot skin encasing brined, moist, tender meat - even the breast meat was interesting and "¦ no, it wasn't "interesting"; it was excellent. Filet mignon and chicken breast are two dishes I consider to be chef-weeders because nobody seems to have the ability to cook them - there's absolutely nothing wrong with either cut of meat, but so few people are able to pull them off. Well, this is in the running for "best chicken in the DC area." And the stuffing was just wonderful, intelligently not relying on too much of anything - with the possible exception of chestnuts, any one of these ingredients could have ruined the dish had it been too prominent, but it was not the case. The brussel sprouts were peeled into nori-like sheets and not served in the "death-ball" format that Waitman so throughly despises. Just when I was insisting that you order the octopus, along comes this chicken. Get it!

Old Anglers has a "lunch deal" where if you order an appetizer and entree, you can get 50% off dessert, and our charming, enthusiastic server was raving about pastry chef Tressa Wiles, so Dave and I "bit," so to speak, ordering one dessert apiece and splitting them both. My Rosemary and Fig Cake ($9) with roasted figs, and yogurt-and-fromage-blanc sorbet was lovely, especially the firm figs and homemade sorbet, my one niggle was the actual cake which was a bit too similar, both in form and flavor to the rosemary focaccia we got in our bread basket - this of course is somewhat coincidental, but I would advise Chef Wiles to change up the cake itself while leaving the rest of the dish intact. Dave went straight for the Gingerbread Cake ($10) with poached pear, and molasses-and-vanilla ice cream, the entire dish being a winner with me, and the little cuts of pear being similar in size to the small figs on the other plate. It was tough to say "I've had enough," and pass the last bite of each back across the table while I finished my Cappucino (a painful $6 because I had two, and Dave had one).

Of note: seated right next to us was none other than Sam Donaldson. A gentleman of manners and politesse, standing up until his companion was seated, standing whenever she stood, wearing an elegant blazer and speaking in a commanding voice. I was very impressed with his presence in this quiet, mostly empty restaurant, until his cell phone rang, and he began having a conversation right then-and-there, in a raised cell-phone voice. I understand that Mr. Donaldson is 79 (and fresh off a DUI dismissal!), but unless this was President Obama on the phone, it would have been nice had he waited to take the call until after lunch, or excused himself from the table. Still, I'm willing to cut him some slack simply because of his age.

Old Anglers Inn, long-forgotten by the DC restaurant world, is suddenly a serious contender for Best Restaurant in Suburban Maryland, with deferential nods to Sudhir Seth and Jeff Heineman. Make no mistake, it's right up there with The Red Hen in quality, and in fact, I see something of a similarity in style (distant cousins) - if you like one, I think you may like the other. Give it a try - it's been too long.

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I am not alone in disliking qualitative stack ranking based on spot data, especially when there are other worthy contenders, but this new Old Angler's, the one yesterday and not the one of my youth, was a pleasant surprise and these few dishes were superb.

Picking two difficult and very different meats was not an intentional challenge, but one of those opportunity moments when you see a really promising description on a menu and know that it should not be attempted by someone who doesn't know what they're doing.  And even so, they knocked both of these out of the ballpark.  Don's chicken, in particular, was as close to perfect as I've seen - moist throughout without being underdone, flavorful, and without greasiness in the crisp skin.  I'm used to well-regarded chicken scoring on two counts, but very rarely three.  Maybe we just lucked out yesterday.

I have little else to add to Don's commentary, other than I understand his reaction to the similarity between the rosemary shortbread and the focaccia; they are not the same, but the shape of the pieces, their crusts, and the savory rosemary do echo each other too strongly.  Service was attentive and "old school", as befitting a cozy country inn.  I didn't try any alcoholic beverages, and the bar appeared to be stocked with a non-craft selection of standard items.

Like others, I skipped over this place for years as "that great location with the meh food" - apparently completely missing the Tom Power era :(  They've got their work cut out for them to overcome that reputation, but right now I'd be excited to go back and try the rest of the menu.

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I'm a sucker for a beautiful setting and Old Anglers both indoors and outdoors is one of the more charming settings in the region....by a long shot.  I dined there a good bit in the 80's and 90's.  After reading the above two posts its tremendously encouraging.  It was very interesting then to visit their website, which appears to be very new and very reflective of the changes described above.  It was further interesting to read the history page on their site and see reference to the fact that the kitchen lost its way and they have addressed that issue.

They met the enemy and it was them and it appears they recognized it and have corrected it.  Kudo's to Old Angler.

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Do they still give the stink-eye to hikers, and others who don't carry that "blonde and botoxed" look, and chase away elderly women who ask for help when their cars have broken down?  Just curious.

This is a fairly lovely restaurant, and I would not want to go in there in hiking shorts (I know that's not what you want to hear). But they were as nice as they could be, and I'd bet hikers would be welcome in the outdoor heated beer garden.

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Do they still give the stink-eye to hikers, and others who don't carry that "blonde and botoxed" look, and chase away elderly women who ask for help when their cars have broken down?  Just curious.

Do they still throw Supreme Court Justices, cabinet members and U.S. senators out onto the street? (Admittedly -- all liberals and thus probably riff-raff)

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Hello everyone, I just wanted to introduce myself formally. Nick Palermo here, executive chef at Old Anglers Inn. I will be keeping everyone updated on menu changes and hopefully pictures. I look foreword to seeing modern feedback about our food and I will simply use it to make us better everyday. Cheers.

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Good morning everyone, just wanted to keep you all updated on Old Anglers as we move in and out of spring it seems. As posted earlier we did have a recent sous chef join our team, marking the first time I've had a legit sous chef in the almost three years that I have been here. He began work last week, and its looking pretty good, I expect great things moving forward. Also we are working on some changes inside the kitchen as well. Currently we are relocating our dish area so that we can expand our hotline, which will greatly improve our ability to maintain food quality as the busy season progresses. This past weekend we also debuted our outdoor grill/smoker on the second terrace of the restaurant. Its a trailer hitched smoker that will eventually find its home in the beer garden. Currently we are offering Roseda Beef burgers and hotdogs, along with salads, cured meats and cheese. But this will greatly expand once our garden is up and running to include pulled pork, brisket, ribs, wings etc. And lastly as per Mr. Rockwell's request the amish chicken has stayed on the menu. I have changed from sous vide to roasting the breast whole on the bone however, its pretty special. I also to a tasting of the new green circle chicken this past week and compared it with my amish chicken. It was very close, the green circle chicken had a little bit more flavor and texture in the meat, but not enough to make up for the almost 2.5 times the cost.

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And lastly as per Mr. Rockwell's request the amish chicken has stayed on the menu. I have changed from sous vide to roasting the breast whole on the bone however, its pretty special. I also to a tasting of the new green circle chicken this past week and compared it with my amish chicken. It was very close, the green circle chicken had a little bit more flavor and texture in the meat, but not enough to make up for the almost 2.5 times the cost.

Noooo, it was perfect the way it was! I know I carp about sous-vide, but that's because people abuse it and don't know how (and when) to execute it. That was the best chicken dish in the area, and there was nothing about it you should change.

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Had a really nice dinner here with friends on Saturday night.  Had a quick drink at the bar before heading upstairs for dinner.  Two of us had the chicken discussed above and both enjoyed it, myself more so.  Wife had the rockfish which I managed to get a small bite and would not hesitate to order again.  Last entire was the lamb which I din't get a chance to try.  Service was great all night.  Wine list was I bit pricey in my opinion.  One minor quibble was the proliferation of stink bugs in the upstairs dining room, which really took away from the experience when spending a substantial amount of money on a meal.  We must have had at least 8-10 stink bugs on us or the table, including plates throughout the night.  The waiter when informed noted it was a problem but offered no other solution.  It was not a big deal to me but pour friends were bit freaked out as the bugs kept landing in her hair.

Looking forward to getting back there in summer after a hike with the kids to try out the beer garden.

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Thanks for the reply jandres374. Sorry about the stink bugs, but in our neck of the woods its a tough issue. Although I do wish the foh would have had some solution. FYI there was a treatment done for them the following evening. Also we are currently opporating the "beer garden" on our second terrace in the front patio until the back bar is ready. We have a pretty impressive smoker/grill up there. Actually its kinda badass. We hope to open the back bar by mid April.

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Good morning everyone. Here's a few quick updates on the Old Anglers Inn operations. The beer garden is officially open on the weekends. Our smoker/grill menu seems to be working out pretty good, at least more successful than last year. After four attempts I think that we have the pulled pork figured out. It was a challenge smoking it over night and took some trial and error. Our kitchen expansion should be completed in the next couple of weeks. I am really looking forward to this project, it should allow us to broaden the menu and also offer up some lower price point items. Also we have a new beverage program going into place. It should be starting up this week actually. The style of the cocktails will be pre-prohibition. We will to producing everything from scratch, including liquor infusions and fresh juices. This is a very exciting program for me because it's something that we have been lacking for some time.

P.S. If anyone does come by the restaurant feel free to start up a conversation with me. I would love to hear feedback, positive or negative, it only makes us better. In fact if you mention that you have read this on Donrockwell.com I will send out a free appetizer for your table. Until next time......

Cheers,

Nick Palermo

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... The beer garden is officially open on the weekends. Our smoker/grill menu seems to be working out pretty good, at least more successful than last year. After four attempts I think that we have the pulled pork figured out. It was a challenge smoking it over night and took some trial and error. Our kitchen expansion should be completed in the next couple of weeks. I am really looking forward to this project, it should allow us to broaden the menu and also offer up some lower price point items. ...

Yes Nick, I believe y'all have cinched it -- I appreciate that you've gotten Ron Johnson (Smokin' Jarhead) on his pit in your back patio and have a more casual venue going. I can honestly see coming off the trail and tucking-in there.

Next time, maybe, we'll be able to try more of your new menu. Your April post noted that you'd have some lower price point items -- I didn't really see any on the attached menu -- is there a "secret" bar menu like the one at Corduroy?

oldanglersinn.pdf

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Nick asked me to pass along to everyone that he'll be gone from now until July 3rd FOR HIS HONEYMOON in case anyone comes in and he's not there!

Congratulations, Nick! Who's the misfortunate lady?

(Please tell her there's still time to change her mind?)  :lol:

I expect the sous-vide-started fried chicken back on the menu when you return! Many of us agree that this is the best fried-chicken dish in the area right now!

Cheers,

Rocks

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Brunch Sunday at OAI was my first visit since the BBQ that Nick held for us in the beer garden and marked the first visit for my friend.  We lucked out and the rain held off on Sunday so we had a lovely table on the front patio next to the fountain.  The brunch menu includes two courses for $28.  Both my companion and I chose the berry salad and the french toast.  The salad was beautifully composed with a mix of greens, roasted beets, berries, peaches, pecans and a couple of pieces of St. Andre drizzled with honey.  It really did taste like summer!  The french toast was a very large serving served with warm maple syrup, two slices of bacon and a pile of fresh fruit.  Service was attentive and it was a truly and enjoyable brunch.  OAI has always had a great setting, now they finally have a kitchen that can produce food worthy of it!  

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Sorry haven't posted in some time. Thanks Son. I have recently added (starting tomorrow) the green circle chicken to the menu and it is just ridiculous. If your not familiar it is the chicken that is fed from the scraps from the four star restaurants in NYC. What an unbelievable bird, it will literally change your life. Thanks Judi for your post and I'm glad you enjoyed. We have also changed the structure of the brunch menu so that you are not required to get two courses. Fall menu debuts next week.

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Here is our fall menu, we have lowered prices all around and have added some more approachable dishes to the menu. We also offer a few verbal specials on the week ends, usually shortrib, dover sole, and something else. As far as the green circle chicken goes, its an organic amish chicken raised by dartagnan. The diet that the chicken is fed comes from the vegetable and bread scraps from 4 star NY restaurants.

09.26.2014.pdf

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Well, this is kind of crummy news, but there's an upside: Nick Palermo's last day at Old Angler's Inn will be February 28th.

The upside is that Nick plans to stay in the DC area, so aside from a brief hiatus, there will be minimal Palermo downtime. :)

Old Anglers Inn has been a breeding ground for some great chefs (recall that Tom Power was Chef de Cuisine here - no, really!), so there's a good chance that they'll be able to fill the gap.

Note to prospective chefs: They haven't hired anyone yet, but you'll need to move quickly.

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