Morris American Bar, Bartender and Director David Strauss Has Departed - 7th and K Street near Mount Vernon Square

[aspgirl99]

Morris is opening next month (Feb).  It will be the sister establishment to Sheppard.

Quotes from DC Eater:

"Located at 1020 7th St. NW, Morris will be twice as big as The Sheppard and divided into two stories spanning 1,400 square feet. Morris, which is backed by Mendelsohn, business partner Vinoda Basnayake, and Strauss, is now shooting for a March opening."

"Potential offerings include: East New York Flip (bourbon, tawny port, honey, egg yolk, cream, nutmeg); American Trilogy (rye, apple brandy, brown sugar, orange bitters); Ivy City Swizzle (vodka, lime, mint, peychaud’s); and Feminist Gent (vodka, luna amara, lime, orange, ginger, soda), among others. Cocktails are priced at $12 each; cheese and charcuterie pairings from local provider Cheese Monster will be available for sale. "

Website

[funkyfood]

David Strauss is one of the best bartenders and nicest guys in the city. $12 per drinks for these drinks is way under market too.  I'll be there all the time.

[funkyfood]

"Glamorous Cocktail Bar Morris Is Ready To Shine" by Tierny Plumb on dc.eater.com

I suspect this will quickly become one of the best bars in the city. 

btw this is Mt Vernon Triangle, not Penn Quarter

[Mark Slater]

What a cool looking space. Dark, dim spots are getting tiresome. I like the bright look. Drinks here, dinner at Uncoventional. Seems like a natural.

[Marty L.]

As mottos go, you could do a lot worse than "Humility and Ice"

[DonRocks]

On 1/29/2018 at 2:53 PM, funkyfood said:

"Glamorous Cocktail Bar Morris Is Ready To Shine" by Tierny Plumb on dc.eater.com

I suspect this will quickly become one of the best bars in the city. 

btw this is Mt Vernon Triangle, not Penn Quarter

Morris opened in early February, as planned. 

One gripe I have with "the internet" is that everyone seems to glom on to (would you use "on to" or "onto" here?) places when they 1) make themselves known, via signage, government records, etc., and 2) right before they open (in other words, the press releases are cut-and-pasted). After a cursory search, the only post-opening mention of any value - and even this seems like more of a reformatted email than an actual experience (the date of the piece was updated from Jan 31 to Feb 8 ) - is this:

Feb 8, 2018 - "First Look: Morris American Bar Brightens up DC Cocktails" by Travis Mitchell on drinkdinedc.com

funkyfood, have you become a regular yet? What are your thoughts?

[funkyfood]

I go there about once a week, for a few reasons.  First, full disclosure, I've become friendly with the owner and staff there.  But the staff is incredibly knowledgeable and accommodating; they can make you any cocktail for $12.  The space is usually busy but you can almost always get a table, and the music is not too loud to preclude conversation.  The menu changes every month too, so it's fun to see what they come up with each month.  Finally, their patio is shaded and dog friendly, which I love.

They don't do anything experimental or groundbreaking ala Columbia Room, but you're also paying much less than you do for a drink at Columbia Room, and there's none of the pretense.  

I'd highly recommend going and let me know what you think.

[DonRocks]

22 minutes ago, funkyfood said:

First, full disclosure, I've become friendly with the owner and staff there. 

[The disclosure is much appreciated, and there's no reason you can't write about Morris as much as you wish (throwing in the disclosure from time to time). The only danger with this is saying the same thing, over-and-over, but your track record of posting doesn't reflect that at all - readers here would really appreciate being kept updated about their current offerings.]

If you can, see if you can post their current menus, so we can develop a historical trend over time.

[DaRiv18]

8 hours ago, funkyfood said:

They don't do anything experimental or groundbreaking ala Columbia Room, but you're also paying much less than you do for a drink at Columbia Room, and there's none of the pretense. 

I've been to the Morris three times, always alone, and I can expect a decent cocktail there each time.  They got the classics down, it is a cheerful locale, and I would rather meet a friend there and catch up than geek out alone on the drinks.  Their experiments there, that I have witnessed, are pretty remedial and are more recipe-chasing than it is exploring a certain style or developing a process.  My impression.  It is also on a challenging block where all neighbors are having a hard time driving traffic their way, so hopefully that gets taken care of sooner than later.  Once the Apply flagship arrives, and that office across the street gets filled, maybe they will be cooking with gas.  But, for now, they are a bit too expensive on the happy hour side and not really distinctive enough for the exclusive set.  They should aim for the latter.

[funkyfood]

On 5/5/2018 at 7:43 PM, DaRiv18 said:

I've been to the Morris three times, always alone, and I can expect a decent cocktail there each time.  They got the classics down, it is a cheerful locale, and I would rather meet a friend there and catch up than geek out alone on the drinks.  Their experiments there, that I have witnessed, are pretty remedial and are more recipe-chasing than it is exploring a certain style or developing a process.  My impression.  It is also on a challenging block where all neighbors are having a hard time driving traffic their way, so hopefully that gets taken care of sooner than later.  Once the Apply flagship arrives, and that office across the street gets filled, maybe they will be cooking with gas.  But, for now, they are a bit too expensive on the happy hour side and not really distinctive enough for the exclusive set.  They should aim for the latter.

I don't disagree with anything you say here

[DIShGo]

I enjoyed a couple of cocktails here with a friend before heading to Unconventional Diner for dinner. I love the look of this place. I much prefer its ambiance to that of Unconventional Diner. Based on our first order (and flavors we told the bartender we prefer) she created two original cocktails for us, and her creation for me was delicious, creative and right in line with what I like to drink.

[DonRocks]

2 hours ago, DIShGo said:

I enjoyed a couple of cocktails here with a friend before heading to Unconventional Diner for dinner. I love the look of this place. I much prefer its ambiance to that of Unconventional Diner. Based on our first order (and flavors we told the bartender we prefer) she created two original cocktails for us, and her creation for me was delicious, creative and right in line with what I like to drink.

Morris is one of the absolute best bars in the city. The night we went, it was positively empty (despite its handsome, Delft blue interior, and world-beating cocktails); Unconventional Diner, on the other hand, was a fustercluck, with drinkers standing 6-people deep at the bar, and the noise so loud you needed to scream. And the food? A lesser version of what Family Meal used to be when it first opened (I haven't returned since they contracted back to just one, Frederick location).

Drink at Morris, eat at Corduroy (or Baby Wale) - that's my strategy in that area.

[funkyfood]

On 6/16/2018 at 1:00 PM, DonRocks said:

Morris is one of the absolute best bars in the city. The night we went, it was positively empty (despite its handsome, Delft blue interior, and world-beating cocktails); Unconventional Diner, on the other hand, was a fustercluck, with drinkers standing 6-people deep at the bar, and the noise so loud you needed to scream. And the food? A lesser version of what Family Meal used to be when it first opened (I haven't returned since they contracted back to just one, Frederick location).

Drink at Morris, eat at Corduroy (or Baby Wale) - that's my strategy in that area.

Don, surprised you didn't suggest Kinship, across the street from Morris. Que paso?

[DonRocks]

42 minutes ago, funkyfood said:

Don, surprised you didn't suggest Kinship, across the street from Morris. Que paso?

Oh, Kinship is my personal favorite restaurant; I was really thinking "at the Convention Center" (which Corduroy kind of is - it's pretty much right across the street from Unconventional Diner).

I mean, you'll never go wrong walking a couple of blocks to Kinship.

I cannot remind people enough of their upstairs, $30, 3-course at the bar - it's ridiculous. $5 cheaper than Restaurant Week, every week of the year - yes, it's a subset of the regular menu, but so what - other than Convivial, I can't think of any Restaurant Week menu in this immediate area that compares to this (Convivial really crushed Restaurant Week this year).

Restaurant Week is example A1 of human mob mentality.

[funkyfood]

Ah, ok. For clarity, baby wale and cordoroy are on 9th Street. Both kinship and Morris are on 7th.

[Genevieve]

On 6/18/2018 at 1:14 PM, DonRocks said:

I cannot remind people enough of their upstairs, $30, 3-course at the bar - it's ridiculous. $5 cheaper than Restaurant Week, every week of the year - yes, it's a subset of the regular menu, but so what - other than Convivial, I can't think of any Restaurant Week menu in this immediate area that compares to this (Convivial really crushed Restaurant Week this year).

Is Kinship's bar menu available online anywhere? I could only find the dinner menu.

[funkyfood]

1 minute ago, Genevieve said:

Is Kinship's bar menu available online anywhere? I could only find the dinner menu.

He's referring to Corduroy

[Genevieve]

He's referring to Corduroy

Oh! Sorry I misunderstood. (Now, that would've been a hell of a deal.) Thanks.

[DonRocks]

4 minutes ago, funkyfood said:

He's referring to Corduroy

2 minutes ago, Genevieve said:

Oh! Sorry I misunderstood. (Now, that would've been a hell of a deal.) Thanks.

Yes, sorry, that was very ambiguous and poor writing on my part. (The Corduroy menu is still one heck of a deal).

[funkyfood]

Dave Strauss has left Morris,  though I'm not sure why or where he's headed next