kneelconqueso

since no one here has written about it yet, i would like to chime in and recommend going to lunch at liberty tavern. the 10 dollar burger and a pint special is a great deal, and one of the very best burgers around.

the meat was very flavorful, surely fresh and hand-pattied, covered in white cheddar cheese and topped with iceberg, tomato, onion, and two slices of bacon - which i am told is house-made, and probably the best bacon i've ever had in my entire life. very smoky, not too salty, just the right amount of meat-fat ratio, and properly cooked (tender-crispy). all of it sits on a house-made bun unlike any other i've ever eaten. the fries are great as well. all of it goes down very smoothly with a pbr (personal choice, i always loved the stuff) or one of their other beers. great value at 10 bucks.

i wish these guys would give more insight into what they are going to do with the murky space.

well, sadly, it looks like murky is closing either way. according to their website, they are moving to chinatown and opening up 'wrecking ball coffee' and the owners of liberty tavern will be taking over the space, renovating, and opening a coffee shop in the old murky space in clarendon.

i hope that the new owners will keep the same sort of ambience. i love liberty tavern's food and service, but if they duplicate that same decor and ambience, its going to ruin it.

also, i while i hope this turns out to be an april fools day joke, i sincerly doubt it is. nbc 4 has picked up the story and claims it is not a joke. sad.

http://www.murkycoffee.com/2009/04/letter-...-customers.html

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

from Nick

Letter to our customers

April 1, 2009

Dear valued customer,

It's with great sadness that I announce that in a few weeks, murky coffee will be relocating from here in Clarendon to a new location in Washington DC.

The property here at 3211 Wilson Boulevard was sold last year, and market rent is simply more than we can afford.

In the coming months, I hope that you'll join us in welcoming a new coffee shop here, brought by the talented folks at the renown "Liberty Tavern" just up the street. They'll be bringing their years of experience, a full renovation of the building, and top-quality service. We are proud to call them our friends, and plan to support them in setting up their coffee program. That said, we ask that you'll join us in welcoming and supporting them.

Our new home (at 5th & H Streets NW, two blocks east of the Chinatown Gate) will be a brand-new shop (called "Wrecking Ball Coffee") in a new neighborhood. While we're excited at new possibilities, leaving Clarendon isn't going to be easy. We've made many friends here, and we're very sad to leave. All of us here at murky are heartbroken about this move, so please be sensitive to our feelings during the transition.

We've been honored to be a place for you to visit over the last four years--especially our regular customers, but also those who we see less frequently.

Thanks for your friendship, love, and patronage. In so many ways, our customers have inspired us to work harder at providing you the best coffee experience we can, and for that, we cannot than you enough.

We hope that you'll be sure to visit us at our upcoming location. Dates for this move are yet to be specifically determined, but renovations will begin soon, starting with the upstairs.

I welcome your questions or comments: nickcho@murkycoffee.com

Sincerely,

Nick

posted at 1:08:00 AM -5 comments-

How are the seekh kabobs? I stopped by for the first time last week and ordered only the lamb. Definitely some of the most tender kabobs I've had in a while. And yeah, the chickpeas were superb too.

Best Pakistani food I've ever had remains Shalimar in San Francisco.

the seekh kebabs are really awesome. when i lived in ballston i used to eat ravi at least 3 times a month. i always had trouble choosing between the seekh and the lamb chops.

i can't give enough love for either.

That got me thinking. Someone should convince the Heidelberg Pasty Shoppe to sprinkle around Arlington a good half-dozen or more of that BBQ Cart they sell the grilled wursts w/ fixings on Saturdays outside their store. That would be a winner.

you totally missed the opportunity to say 'that would be a weiner'

i've been thinking about trying to set up a deal with some local kitchen to share space to cook up some meat and toppings for a taco stand in clarendon.

i'm also really curious as to why noone has a cart near the clarendon metro on thursday, friday, and saturday nights. seems like a goldmine with all the drunks wanting salty/greasy food.

Welcome, kneelconqueso!

To clarify, did you let her know about the overcooked burger and the greasy mac and cheese when you were served, or only after you got the check and were ready to leave?

i was starving, didn't want to wait on my entire order to be recooked, so i mentioned it at the last minute.

i wasn't expecting to be comped or anything, but it would have been nice to at least have received my burger at the price i expected.

And we look forward to seeing you.

Seems the Going Out Gurus already made it by. They nailed it as far as the congestion when it gets busy, but it is a problem we are working on diligently.

By the way, we are offering 1/2 price bottles of wine on Sundays and 1/2 price burgers on Mondays in addition to beer specials through the week.

i was really excited about spider kelly's and finally got to stop by last night. our waitress was really nice. my girlfriend had already eaten, but came along for dessert. unfortunately, spider kelly's was out of both of the desserts she wanted to try (chocolate creme brulee and the cookies and milk). so my lady was very disappointed.

after seeing the daily special was half-priced burgers, i ordered the spider kelly burger medium rare with cheddar and the cardiac mac and cheese (i am a mac and cheese ADDICT).

the burger came out VERY well-done, another big disappointment. it was still pretty tasty, the pork fat really helped. but it was extremely crispy, more like breakfast sausage than a burger. the mustard, roasted tomatoes, and the honey-onion marmalade were all awesome.

next the mac and cheese. it completely lacked sauce. the noodles themselves were perfectly done, but it seemed the cook had simply mixed together some cheddar and macaroni and baked it, leaving a bunch of rubbery cheese on top, and a huge pool of yellow grease on the bottom.

after i asked for the check our waitress brought it back promptly, but charged us full price for the burgers. i inqured about what i had assumed was a mix-up and she said 'oh, thats only till 8'. neither my girlfriend or i could remember seeing time restrictions for the special on the menu. this was another big disappointment. especially since we were charged 9 dollars for a burger that didn't even come with french fries. she was very nice and courteous and asked if we liked everything about our meal and i told her the burger was FAR past medium rare, and the mac and cheese was greasy, but she offered no recourse.

i still have a bit of confidence in spider kelly's but i won't be going back often at those prices with that number of issues. 25 dollars for a burger, side dish, and two beers is over the top, especially given the service issues.