Eleventh Street Lounge - N Highland Street in Clarendon - Closed

[DonRocks]

Monday nights at Eleventh Street in Clarendon: half-priced salmon and half-priced wine by the bottle (if you order two small plates, or one entree).

So... here's a dirt-cheap date: two people can go and each order the grilled salmon - a good-sized wedge served with sliced young potatoes in a gratinee sauce with a little arugula salad - and a bottle of Domaine de Gournier Sauvignon Blanc.

How much will your dinner for two cost before tax and tip?

$27!

That's for two entrees AND a bottle of wine!

Rocks

[Meaghan]

Eleventh Street in Clarendon

How come I live almost in Clarendon and I've never heard of this place? Is it cluby?

[cjsadler]

How come I live almost in Clarendon and I've never heard of this place? Is it cluby?

It looks super-cluby from the outside. I was surprised to learn that it's a restaurant too. Don really leaves no stone unturned!

[Capital Icebox]

It looks super-cluby from the outside.  I was surprised to learn that it's a restaurant too.  Don really leaves no stone unturned!

It's not that clubby, and definitely worth a visit. I've only snacked there, but they have a decent Belgian beer selection and a very friendly waitstaff. It's packed on weekends, but it's a nice urban lounge-style alternative to its neighbors like Mister Days, and the Clarendon Grill or Ballroom. And there's no cover.

Edited January 24, 2006 by Capital Icebox

[Sthitch]

I have been wondering about this place. I have heard no buzz about it. Now that it has the official Don Rockwell stamp of approval, we will have to give it a try.

[Demvtr]

I've been there a couple of times, but I've never had anything other than water. It's in the site that used to house Cafe New Delhi, next to the Post Office on Highland. It's dimly lit, and the interior is reminiscent of New Orleans-goth (which, of course, is different from Skinny Puppy goth), but it's comfortable and not at all pretentious. It's rarely crowded on weekdays. Now that Don has pioneered actual meal-consumption at Eleventh, I guess the Arlingtonians among us should follow suit!

[Walrus]

How come I live almost in Clarendon and I've never heard of this place?

That's what I'm saying! [Adding it to the list as I type...]

[youngfood]

Sounds like this place has landed a real and talented chef...CLICK

[jpschust]

Robyn and I eat here all the time on weekend evenings. It's got a fun bar feel, a little clubby, but not pretentous at all. The crowd is a little older than some of the bars- skewing more towards the upper 20's to early 30's. The drink prices and food prices are reasonable and the food's pretty good.

Funny story- I wasn't let into Days because I was wearing a hockey jersey, coming right from a game and I didn't want to take it off to go to, well, a sports bar. They said being in hockey wear wasn't appropriate. So I took the jersey off and walked across the street into 11th street to drop like 225 for myself and my friend on drinks and food (we drink hard on weekend nights and we tend to buy shots for pretty women- this is before I started dating Robyn). The irony: I was wearing a designer shirt under my jersey

[Lydia R]

Sounds like this place has landed a real and talented chef...CLICK

This week, Burrell will unveil his new menu. Eleventh Street, he says, "is known as a nice place to have drinks. We want to establish it as a place that you can also have a very good meal." He's introducing a selection of small plates and snacks--think roasted olives and charcuterie and cheese plates--plus entrees and sandwiches. "It's food that's really conducive to sitting, chatting with friends, having a glass of wine," says Burrell.

Will Antonio's new menu keep the bargain Don mentioned upthread?

[Antonio Burrell]

Will Antonio's new menu keep the bargain Don mentioned upthread?

So to answer some questions 1) Don's bargin was one of two available on monday. The other is any two small plates gets you the half price wine. That's the one we are keeping, which is a great deal. Also, we have $10.99 ribeye's on tuesdays. So we are keeping the specials, just tweaking them abit. 2) the new menus are in, and will soon be posted on the website. 3) Valentines Day special: four small plates, two glasses champagne, one dessert to share $65

per couple, great deal!!!

[FunnyJohn]

Although Clarendon is regarded as "flyover country" by at least one member of this Board -- noted principally as the site of such notorious purveyors of mediocre food as La Tasca and the Cheesecake Factory -- those of us who have watched this district develop in the last five or so years would point out that it pays not to be so dismissive. Eleventh has been serving as the spillover/after the other joints have closed location in this neighborhood for a couple of years now and from Thursday-Saturday nights has quite an active bar scene. Now, with Antonio assuming command in the kitchen, I would hazard that a visit at any time for a nice reasonably priced evening will be a key to putting this place on your maps.

I made my final stop last night at the bar where the bartender, Anthony, who is a refugee from Harry's Taproom, runs a good show and asked for Antonio. He came out to say howdy, and even though I responded to his invitation for a snack with "I'm stuffed, thanks" graciously provided a plate with slices of his housemade pate and fois gras terrine/with hazelnuts. The pate was extremely fresh, so fresh that I think it might be better when it has had a chance to spend more time compressed and with its ingrediants getting to know each other a little more, but it was very refreshingly tasty. The terrine was sooo good that I had to eat just about every bite despite my already excessively full stomach. OK, at most places this kind of food would not be cause for much notice, but at Eleventh, which strikes the casual observor as basically a smallish dive, it really is an anomally. I looked over the new menu and if features such things as duck confit. Go soon and see for yourselves...

menu

[cheezepowder]

Go soon and see for yourselves...

menu

I think the menu on the website is still the old menu. The new menu focuses on small plates and has some burgers including a mushroom bulger burger if I'm recalling that one correctly. I think the new menu goes well (better?) with the bar/lounge-ness of Eleventh.

which strikes the casual observor as basically a smallish dive

While it may look like a dive from the outside, it seems to have an upscale/sophisticated feeling on the inside.

[FunnyJohn]

Cheezepowder is correct. The website menu needs to be updated. I guess my perception of Eleventh as a dive versus Cheezepowder's is generatlional

[Roo]

The GF and I had dinner last night sitting at the bar and had a great time. I hadn't had a chance to sample Chef Burrell's food before but I left impressed and glad that Eleventh is just two blocks from my GF's condo. The two highlights were the chef's crostini of the day with duck pate and carmelized onions, and the beef tartare. I'm not a tartare connesseiur by any means, but this was very good. Probably a higher ratio of mixings to beef than in other versions I've had, but I thought the flavor was well balanced. The BBQ shrimp and leeks were very flavorful, with a good amount of heat, and the leeks lent a nice texture to the dish. We also had the duck confit with egg, which was very rich. I wouldn't put it in the same class as what I had at Corduroy but that is an admittedly high bar. These four "small" plates left the two of us very full. Add in the $3 wine special (perfectly drinkable) and we had a great meal for a bargain price.

I look forward to trying quite a few of the other dishes, as we had a hard time just settling on the four we had.

[Antonio Burrell]

The dress code thing is fairly new, but it is only enforced Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings after 9pm. Monday-Wed come on in in anything you wanna wear and we'll take care of you

[Antonio Burrell]

So if I come in dressed like Robyn are you going to comp us our meal? Don't write a check your assless chaps can't cash

depends...Robin the batman sidekick? I might sping for half your tab. Robyn your wife? Are you sure you want everyone knowing your kinky little games?;-)lol

and to make this food related, all small plates are 1/2 price on thursdays.....

[jpschust]

OK, so we did it. I went dressed in my chaps. These chaps had an ass. You might call them pants.

Anyways- Robyn, her friend and myself all ate at 11th Street last night for dinner. Holy hell was it good.

I started the evening with a shot of GM & a Delirium. It had been a long day. Robyn had a french martini and her friend had a mojito. Both too sugary for me. Thats just my taste though. Staff inside was very nice.

So we ordered:

Robyn's Friend- Fried Green beans and Sweet Potato Fries- you know for a girl about 5' even she can really put away the fried food. I tasted both and both were good, though not quite my personal favorites.

Robyn had the beet salad which was gorgeous and I didn't get to taste because she was hoarding it. She said it was excellent.

I had the tartere which was perfectly flavored and the mustard has a serious horseradish kick to it. It's a large portion for 8 or 9 bucks. I was laughing because the girl sitting at the bar said "This is America, we don't serve our meat raw." and all I could think was, "This is America, try something besides the burger you order here all the time."

I also had the duck confit with soft egg. This comes with a frise salad, but if you've ever eaten with me you know that if I want a salad, which I regularly do, I'll order a salad. In this case it got knocked to the side. It looked pretty, but not what I was interested in. Soft egg makes the world go round, especially in the world of confit. The flavor meshing here was truly astounding. This is a go to dish. It reminds me a lot of what 11 Madison Park was doing with their confit a few years ago.

Antonio then brought out some samplers for us- one was a flatbread with goat cheese, some chive and smoked salmon. Wonderful. I love these flavors. Though it did strangely remind Robyn of Lox and Bagels, which to some extent it is.

We also tried the quail over bacon polenta. Again, excellent, if not a touch too sweet for my tastes, but the qual was cooked with some honey as well.

A truly fabulous meal, and if this sounds like bar food to you we need to take you to a bar to eat

[jparrott]

Dude. This burger friggin' rocks. And Wi-Fi!

[jpschust]

Dude. This burger friggin' rocks. And Wi-Fi!

OK, I'll bite- the burger is darn good, but with all the other stuff on the menu, who wants a burger?

[Yentruoc]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it Schust. I love this place- nice servers, good cocktails and yummy food too. This place is a welcome addition to the Clarendon "scene"- if sports bars and grown up frat parties are NOT your thing. (And who knew? Sietsama didn't even like it.)

[jparrott]

OK, I'll bite- the burger is darn good, but with all the other stuff on the menu, who wants a burger?

At 2:30 PM, I did.

[mktye]

I also had the duck confit with soft egg. This comes with a frise salad, but if you've ever eaten with me you know that if I want a salad, which I regularly do, I'll order a salad. In this case it got knocked to the side. It looked pretty, but not what I was interested in. Soft egg makes the world go round, especially in the world of confit. The flavor meshing here was truly astounding. This is a go to dish.

Apparently, you are not the only one to think so. Click.

[DPop]

Last night we stopped by eleventh to sit outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather. We had the mini burgers (good, but not my favorite), the beef tartare (excellent) and the truffled deviled eggs (great, very interesting flavor). All of these plates are only $5 at happy hour and a total steal, as with two more you could easily fill up two people. We decided to try out the regular menu, however, and were very happy we did. The smoked salmon reuben is quite possibly the best take I have had on the original. The gruyere meshed perfectly with the salmon and the bread was toasted just how I like it. Really an excellent sandwich. We also tried the grilled calamari, which had a nice sherry vinegar sauce that gave the fish a little bite. Very light and healthy, a great dish especially if you are out to have some drinks and do not want to feel very full for the rest of the night.

Kudos to Antonio, who has turned eleventh from 'a fun place with a great happy hour, but eat only if very hungry' to 'a fun place with a great happy hour and excellent food that is all under $12'. Our experience was so good that you have converted my girlfriend, who I had to practically drag there last night because she was so disappointed with her food the last time she went (before your time). She made me promise that we would go back soon so that she can get her smoked salmon reuben fix!

[jpschust]

Well, he's done it again. After I had drinks at 2941 I met Robyn and my realator who is a close friend of mine as well at 11th street for dinner. We saw Antonio and asked him to just make us whatever he was in the mood for. I'm going to leave out the part of this story where I'm a complete jackass and manage to break a small plate and knife because I'm eating on a postage stamp sized table and flip my food and my plate off my lap.

Anyways here's what we ate:

Beet salad - wonderfully flavored, nice use of sugars in it, stunning presentation.

Scallops atop watermellon and guacamole - exquisite presentation and a nice mesh of flavors and textures. The use of the sweetness of the watermellon in contrast to the savory elements of scallops was awesome.

Crab salad wrapped in cucumber - again with the presentation (who expects this from a random euro style club complete with stella on tap) the blend of the salad along with the clean fresh cucumber taste was stunning. And this from a guy who hates cucumbers.

Tuna tartare- again with the beets- chef has to be obsessed with them currently, but they add some richness and sweetness to a dish everyone seems to be doing these days, but this version stands out with the difference in texture.

Small lamb t-bones- perfectly prepared, flavorful, yummy (ok, it's the best word I can come up with, I need coffee, badly)

Chocolate cake which I only had a bite of since I'm not a big sweets fan was very good

Cheese plate complete with my favorite Garroxata and Morbier and one other I can't recall off the top of my head was wonderful as well.

Cheers to the chef and looking forward to returning.

[Walrus]

Tripewriter and I finally made it here last night. We had a very pleasant server -- whose name, unfortunately, I didn't catch -- and some excellent food. First, let me note that happy hour lasts from 4 pm to 8 pm every night. Yes, 4 hours, every night. We were very, very hungry and started with the miniburgers and devilled eggs. The burgers were delish, though I could have done without the chips (which, although homemade, were a bit thick for my personal preferances). The eggs were intriguing, and I thought the contrast in textures fun, but they weren't my favorite thing. We then moved on to the flatbreads. I had the bacon version, and Tripewriter had the lamb sausage. I liked them both, though I really preferred the lamb sausage version, so it was to my benefit that Tripewriter had decided to also order the lamb T-bones and thus was willing to trade much of his lamb sausage flatbread for some of my bacon bread. For me, though, the absolute star of the evening was the sweet potato fries. I'm not always a huge fan of sweet potato fries, as in my opinion, they seem to often be greasier and less enjoyable than "regular" fries, but, man, were these fries good!!! They were so good I moved them as far over to my side of the table as possible to discourage sneaky snacking by Tripewriter. I even considered getting another cone (ok, this one I would have shared ) instead of dessert but was swayed by the description to order the Magic Cube. Unfortunately, the cube -- two flavors of mousse covered in chocolate -- was stale (it tasted of old fridge), but the ice cream and cherries on the plate were delish. Tripewriter did finish off every bit of the berry tart. Did I mention that we were hungry? Add five beers and one caparinha, and the total (kindly minus the Magic Cube, which was an unexpected but pleasant turn of events) was about $75 before tip. We will definitely be back -- Antonio, we've joined your fan club. Please save some sweet potato fries for me!

[Antonio Burrell]

Having been slightly chided in the past for shameless self promotion I feel compelled to let ya'll in on a little secret. I will be teaching a steak 101 class through TasteDC next saturday, June 9th at 11th street. The class will begin at 12 noon and will run approx. 2.5 hours. It will be an instructional demo, demo of dishes and a four course lunch to follow. For more info or to sign up go heretastedc. I now return you to your regularly , self promotion free, programming

[Antonio Burrell]

Having been slightly chided in the past for shameless self promotion I feel compelled to let ya'll in on a little secret. I will be teaching a steak 101 class through TasteDC next saturday, June 9th at 11th street. The class will begin at 12 noon and will run approx. 2.5 hours. It will be an instructional demo, demo of dishes and a four course lunch to follow. For more info or to sign up go heretastedc. I now return you to your regularly , self promotion free, programming

nevermind.....

[DPop]

Had another great meal last night at eleventh, trying a few of the new menu items along with a few old standbys. The crab and cucumber is a creamy delight with HUGE chunks of crab dominating the hockey-puck sized gathering. If you are sharing this, fool your companion into not trying it with the marinated red peppers and cucumbers so that you can horde them all for yourself. The calamari salad, as usual, was light and outstanding, I loved the smoke flavor that you get in each bite.

For the second round, we went with the hot dog on the new barbecue menu, which comes with a great spicy mustard and some onions and relish. Antonio was even nice enough to throw in some of those great sweet potato fries on the side, which was a nice gesture and a perfect addition to the plate. We also ordered the smoked salmon pizza, which was tasty (the woman loves it) not my favorite thing on the menu. For $4, however, you will never hear me complain.

A couple of half price Belgians and mojitos later, we are out only $44 poorer after tax and tip. Can anyone think of a better happy hour deal in the DC metro area where you get close to the same quality that comes out of eleventh's kitchen??

[ladle]

I'd been reading about Eleventh Street on here for a while and finally made it there for dinner last night. The raves about the sweet potato fries are certainly an understatement - they were some of the best I've ever had. I also had the crab and cucumber dish, which was light and fresh and perfect for a summer night. When I was eating it, I kept trying to figure out the other element of the dish was because it went perfectly with the rest. A trip to the website this morning shows that it was tiny pieces of green apple. My +1 had the gorgonzola burger and was a happy man.

Our waitress Stephanie was very nice and helpful - she suggested a great wine to complement the crab and recommended the scallops for next time. All around, it was a great meal and I can't wait to come back. Next time though, I think I'll try to make it for happy hour. The deals look great!

[jpschust]

run don't walk to get the broccoli cheddar soup. the best i've ever had.

[JLK]

What are dinner prices like? The web site is very nice, but doesn't say much, if anything, about prices. I understand things change, but a range would be helpful at the very least. I'm dining with a very price-conscious work group tonight. Ray's was rejected as too pricey for our group. Yeah, I know...

[DPop]

What are dinner prices like? The web site is very nice, but doesn't say much, if anything, about prices. I understand things change, but a range would be helpful at the very least. I'm dining with a very price-conscious work group tonight. Ray's was rejected as too pricey for our group. Yeah, I know...

If you get there between the hours of 4-8, you will not find a better price for the quality anywhere in the area IMO. Happy hour specials are outstanding and even the plates that are not discounted do not go north of $13/per (and most are cheaper than that).

Highly recommend this place for the type of outing you are having, you will not be disappointed.

[jpschust]

What are dinner prices like? The web site is very nice, but doesn't say much, if anything, about prices. I understand things change, but a range would be helpful at the very least. I'm dining with a very price-conscious work group tonight. Ray's was rejected as too pricey for our group. Yeah, I know...

The prices are a little less than Boulevard Woodgrill if that gives you any sense. And the food is about 100 times better.

[Antonio Burrell]

Due to a vast amount of vacation requests and other assorted reasons, I shall be manning the bar this Monday evening. Come by, say hi and see if I can pour a proper drink also.....new menu revisions rolling out on Wendsday.....yeah!!!

[FunnyJohn]

Stopped by Eleventh St. last night during the proceedings. Antonio asked me if I ws hungry and I realized I was and probably should put some solids to accompany the liquids already sloshing around in me, so I asked what was the best thing he recommended on the menu. A few minutes later I was wolfing down delicious, perfectly seared tuna served on a bed of onions and smoky bacon with a nice preserved lemon relish and salsa verde on the side. Thanks for saving a life, Antonio.

[Walrus]

Now that we have regular plans four nights a week, it's harder to get up to Eleventh. This is made me vow to be there next week!!!

[Andelman]

My wife and I are thinking about going here tonight for an early dinner (around 6 PM). We will have our 5 month old with us (the 3 1/2 year old will be with nana...). Will this be an appropriate place to go? We will most likely try and sit outside, does anyone think it will be difficult to get an outdoor table around 6 PM for some small plates and a few drinks? I am just trying to be prepared. Thanks.

[DPop]

My wife and I are thinking about going here tonight for an early dinner (around 6 PM). We will have our 5 month old with us (the 3 1/2 year old will be with nana...). Will this be an appropriate place to go? We will most likely try and sit outside, does anyone think it will be difficult to get an outdoor table around 6 PM for some small plates and a few drinks? I am just trying to be prepared. Thanks.

You will have no problem getting a seat and it should not be a problem having a little one there that early.

PS Order the Gorgonzola Burger or Smoked Salmon Reuben and the Casserole of Peas. They all go great with 4-5 half price Chimays

[u-bet!]

Dinner Tonight at Eleventh Street:

This was my second visit here. The truffled deviled egg appetizer was as good as I remembered from my first visit last summer. The bartender was charming. I also ordered a Delerium Tremens to start, after which I noticed that the Goulden Carolus was listed on the menu card as a 1/2 price happy hour special, so I switched to that. For the main course, I ordered the ribeye ($11 on Tuesdays, dontcha know) and, to my disappointment, was told that the sweet potato fries which used to accompany this dish are now a mix of sweet potato and regular fries. Nothing wrong with the regular fries, it's just that I had such fond memories of the sweet potato fries from my first visit, I was quite looking forward to having them again. Getting what amounted to a half portion left me feeling a little cheated.

The ribeye itself seemed a little thinner than I remembered and somewhat stringy, although it was flavorful and cooked to order (rare), and the mixed greens with vinaigrette (a very underrated part of this menu item, IMO) were just as tasty as I remembered. BUT... there was no anchovy/olive butter, as the menu states there should have been, and as I remembered having from my last visit. This, combined with the adulterated potatoes (which were also cold, BTW), significantly diminished my enjoyment of this entree.

I then decided to order dessert, and had my eye on the chocolate cake which is mentioned on the Web site (and a few posts upthread) , only to be told "we don't have that anymore". Being a chocaholic, I was crestfallen. I opted for the pecan pie and a decaf coffee, until I was told "we don't have decaf". Hmmm. Well, then, how about regular coffee? "We don't have that, either. How about espresso?" All right, then, I'll just pull an unexpected all-nighter.

A good 30 minutes later, after no sign of my coffee or dessert, I asked for the check. The bartender said she would take the dessert off my check. Really? You mean to tell me you're not going to charge me for something I was never served? Oh, thank you Jesus!!!

The bill came, and listed each of the happy hour beers at $7.00 each. So I felt really special having just had three $14.00 beers for $21.00... until I realized that $7.00 was probably the full price, and that I didn't get the happy hour price after all, and then I didn't feel quite so special anymore, I just felt like I had been cheated. I should have been suspicious when the bartender warned me that happy hour was over as I was ordering my last beer, even though the menu card said that happy hour lasted until 8, and I had placed the order a little after 7:30.

So, to recap, my second visit to Eleventh Street was an exercise in unfulfilled (albeit low) expectations, with a little false advertising thrown in for good measure. But at least the music was good...

[legant]

Congrats, U-bet, on your first post!

One question: did you ask about the HH price discrepancies when you paid up? Or, did you just pay the tab?

[MAdinolfi78]

I live close by eleventh and go there somewhat regularly - i've also experienced billing mistakes on numerous occasions - usually on thursday's when they have the 1/2 priced small plates - which is frustrating, because the food is pretty good value at that price.

From my experience the slip ups are more common when its packed (ie Thursday HH) as compared to off nights or at slower times.

[u-bet!]

Congrats, U-bet, on your first post!

One question: did you ask about the HH price discrepancies when you paid up? Or, did you just pay the tab?

Normally I would question something like this, but it didn't really register until I was already out the door. I think this is because the way the bill is calculated is somewhat confusing; namely, each item is listed at full price, and then a single amount is subtracted from the total and noted as "50% discount". This was for the Tuesday ribeye special, but the total I paid was about $38.00 and change (before tip), and the discount amount was listed as $10.00, so I'm pretty sure that couldn't have included the happy hour beer prices.

[JLK]

Anyone know who the new chef is?

[thetrain]

This is a long overdue post about 11th Street's delicious brunch. We've been far too irregular customers over the past two years, but their savory waffle topped with poached eggs and herbed cream sauce (with your choice of mushrooms or sausage) is divine. The mushroom waffle is the bees knees. At $8, it's easily one of the best breakfast dishes in town - kind of wild considering that when you walk in on most Saturday or Sunday mornings, it is not uncommon to be the only table in the restaurant.

Double bonus - mimosas are $1, and the wait staff has always been helpful and on top of their game. This morning, my gentleman caller surprised me at home with an 11th Street brunch. Found out later that the restaurant was happy to pack a waffle kit with eggs and sauce for at-home-assembly, and Mr. Fantastic enjoyed the wait with champagne at the bar.

My only fear is that the current lackluster brunch crowd will mean the demise of my breakfast mushroom waffle (I don't like the sweet stuff). Not sure about the dinner or bar experience, but the place is worth checking out for leisurely breakfast grub.

[dcs]

ARLnow.com is reporting a new office development that will take up the whole block bounded by N. Washington Boulevard, N. Garfield Street, N. Highland Street and N. 11th Street. It is unclear whether Eleventh Street Lounge will survive the transition. It is scheduled to break ground in the spring of 2002, but we have seen such plans delayed before. See e.g., the long empty former location of Dr. Dremos.

[DanielK]

It is scheduled to break ground in the spring of 2002, but we have seen such plans delayed before.

That's about the most appropriate typo I've seen in a long time...

[dcs]

Closed.

[DPop]

Was wondering when that would happen, but thought it would be because of declining interest, not a new building. IMO the place lacked an identity since Antonio left and was trying to become a club or something. Hopefully something good comes in its place if they don't wind up coming back, it's really a nice location and a pretty big space when you include the basement.