City Tap House, A Philadelphia-Based Beer Bar in South Mount Vernon Square and Dupont Circle

[seanvtaylor]

We tried City Tap House last night, the new DC incarnation of a Philadelphia beer bar, and walked away reasonably satisfied. The service was fine--the server informal but knowledgable about the menus (beer and food). The beer menu wasn't bad, but there were about 5 interesting beers that were on the menu but not available, which was surprising for a list that looked like it was printed daily. But we found enough interesting beers to put together a few rounds for each of us. I might be wrong, but it seems like the beers here are just a touch cheaper than several of the other beer-centric restaurants in DC.

The food was good. My pork flatbread was nicely baked, with flavorful chorizo and a few other pork types that were less interesting. The roasted shishito peppers were also nice. The bacon popcorn looked good on the menu, but was less interesting than we'd hoped, and in retrospect, hasn't popcorn approached the realm of trite foods? My friends' entrees--the rabbit bolognese and the pulled pork sandwich, were both fine according to them.

The space is nice, perhaps a bit loud, but this would be a fine spot prior to a Capitals game--it's head and shoulders better than RFD, which is the other close-by beer option (though there are probably others by this point--there seem to be so many worthwhile places to drink beer in DC right now).

[Seanchai]

We had the opportunity to stop by last night and enjoyed it very much.  The atmosphere is woodsy yet sophisticated (I know that sounds like a PR blurb but it fits).  The food menu was varied and hitting a lot of the expected beer/food pairings (wings, mussels, flatbreads, sandwiches, etc).   It sounds like the execution of our food compared to SVT above was a little higher.  The Korean short rib tacos were very tasty (if a bit small) but I'm not sure what made them Korean as there wasn't the spice kick I was expecting. Likewise the blue crab mac and cheese had lots of crab but was a bit lost in the fontina cheese sauce.  On the other hand, the 10 spice wings did have a nice restrained kick to them and were excellent.  The restaurant, being in the middle of the Penn Quarter/tourist hotel vortex, is probably aiming toward the middle/safe with their food choices a bit more than I'd like but was still of high quality.

The beer selection was pretty solid with local representation from Three Stars, DC Brau, and Atlas.  I enjoyed a refreshing Three Star Saison with pomegranate.  No DC Brau On the Wings of the Armegeddon but they did have Victory DirtWolf, so they get points for that.  In contrast to the visit above, the service was actually a bit more formal than expected albeit friendly and knowledgeable.  That could have been due to the GM making the rounds of the floor, checking in on all the tables.  All in all, a very pleasant experience and we will return.

[bettyjoan]

Jason and I stopped by yesterday to watch some football and check out the beer list.  It's a decent list, but it's never a good sign when the first beer you ask for is kicked (and I was frustrated reading the "Next Up" portion of the menu, which lists the beers that are upcoming - apparently they switch more like Tuesday/Wednesday, and not whenever a variety is sold out).  They do have some interesting beers in the bottle, which is at least something to play around with if the drafts are readily available elsewhere in DC (which is what we found to be largely true).

We didn't have a ton of food, just corn/crab hushpuppies (actually quite good) and lamb neck gravy with ricotta (tasty, but they never give you enough crostini/bread to sop it all up, and by the time we got more, it was cold).  It seems like they are going for an upscale sports bar kind of vibe, but I found the prices for the food VERY high (and not a particularly good value for what you got, judging on nearby orders).

Service was very spotty at the beginning (the bartenders were paying more attention to each other than to customers), but I think we were there during a shift change - once they had some more staff show up, they were more attentive and friendly.

As someone mentioned above, I think this is a great option before a Caps game (and it will certainly be a big draw for tourists staying at the nearby hotels), but I'm not sure I would make a special trip.

[belowparallel]

Came here with 3 others for restaurant week. Turns out it was the perfect amount of people as we got to try everything on the restaurant week menu so I have a pretty full number of dishes to talk about. Let me preface this by saying I was expecting this to be a sort of upscale-gastropub-with-a-predictable-affection-for-pork type place. And it is. The decor confirms this frankly, as did the general beer-obsessive vibe of the place. I was expecting to overpay and for them to underachieve. I was happily mistaken - the food here was much better than expected, and definitely worth talking about. Also, the portion sizes were generous, which is quite uncommon. The beer list is solid, and the service was good, although there was a strange 20 minute sojourn between entree and dessert. Onto the food, hope I can remember accurately.

Appetizers:

Lambneck gravy with ricotta and crostini - hearty, full flavored, and rich, this was the standout of the apps. Basically braised/stewed lamb in a tomato sauce with a dollop of ricotta in the center. Like any dish ever involving crostini, they could have used about twice the amount. Definite recommendation.

Baby kale green salad with pomegranate seeds, figs, shaved parmesan, walnuts? - not sure of the dressing - something creamy but light. This was a totally serviceable salad, well balanced flavors and the kale was tender. Didn't blow my hair back but can't complain in the least, definitely an enjoyable, a solid salad.

Crab hushpuppies with old bay remoulade/aioli - above average hushpuppies due to inclusion of crab and old bay (they didn't skimp on the crab either, not that it was a ton but this is an obvious place to cut corners, and I would say they did not). This or the Kale would not do you wrong, depending on what you're feeling.

Caesar salad - totally unremarkable Caesar salad, which is probably why it's offered. 

Entrees

Duroc Pork Collar with cheese grits, collards, and jus - I rate this highest purely for the grits, collards and jus. The grits were great - very defined cheddar flavor that did not overwhelm - creamy but still kept the consistency and texture of grits. Combined with the jus or a bite of the very delicious collards (w/bacon), this was a highlight. The pork itself was good - tender, and substantial. It was a tasty hunk of pork, but did not taste of anything else but a hunk of roasted pork. I'm not sure it set out to be anything else, however I thought it was worth noting that it was nothing else but that. I would happily eat this again.

Rabbit bolognese - I was totally surprised that this was actually good. Perfectly al dente pasta + tender, generous portions of rabbit, and a rich, savory ragout all infused with the sharp, salty bite of parmesan. Medium dice vegetables throughout, it was a very solid pasta dish with balanced flavors. I would have been happy to eat this at another Italian restaurant.

Monkfish osso bucco - sort of a silly name, it's monkfish with the bone in. I didn't really taste much of this dish, so I'd rather stay quiet on it, but what I had was a piece of fish that was cooked properly, so there's that.

Steak frites - ordered medium rare but received very rare. The owner or manager stopped by and asked how our meal was (once at apps and once at entrees), we told him about the steak, and he apologized and gladly comped the meal, despite our protests. Seemed like he was truly interested in hearing our feedback and told us this was an ongoing problem he was aware of and was working to correct.

Dessert -

Pot au creme - unremarkable, would not really recommend

Apple crisp with cherries and citrus? and caramel ice cream - way too citrusy, not very crispy. The flavors were totally out of wack on this. Definitely would not recommend.

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So there you have it. I was pleasantly surprised by this place.

[Tweaked]

Expanding to Dupont.  In the corner restaurant space at 1250 Connecticut and 18th and N (for years was California Pizza Kitchen and then a bunch of failed restaurants, most recently STK).

 

[Kev29]

54 minutes ago, Tweaked said:

Expanding to Dupont.  In the corner restaurant space at 1250 Connecticut and 18th and N (for years was California Pizza Kitchen and then a bunch of failed restaurants, most recently STK).

 

Interesting choice of location. Though, somewhat surprisingly, the Dupont area is relatively lacking in nice bars to get a good beer (yes Paradiso is wonderful but super cramped)

[Tweaked]

Having never been to a City Tap House, it sort of strikes me as being similar to the Daily Grill, which has been at the corner of 18th and M for years. 

[cheezepowder]

On 8/21/2017 at 12:32 PM, Tweaked said:

Expanding to Dupont.  In the corner restaurant space at 1250 Connecticut and 18th and N (for years was California Pizza Kitchen and then a bunch of failed restaurants, most recently STK).

On 8/21/2017 at 1:29 PM, Kev29 said:

Interesting choice of location. Though, somewhat surprisingly, the Dupont area is relatively lacking in nice bars to get a good beer (yes Paradiso is wonderful but super cramped)

On 8/21/2017 at 1:37 PM, Tweaked said:

Having never been to a City Tap House, it sort of strikes me as being similar to the Daily Grill, which has been at the corner of 18th and M for years. 

Opened in Dupont Circle on Oct. 9, 2017.

[Mark Slater]

On 8/21/2017 at 1:37 PM, Tweaked said:

Having never been to a City Tap House, it sort of strikes me as being similar to the Daily Grill, which has been at the corner of 18th and M for years. 

Daily Grill has a much larger menu. Pizza to surf&turf