The Tavern at Ivy City Smokehouse, House-Smoked Seafood

[DPop]

Starting another new thread here on a restaurant worth talking about in Ivy City Smokehouse, tucked back on Okie Street in a surprisingly bustling block in Ivy City.  My wife and I hit this place for a casual lunch/dinner on Sunday and really enjoyed the food, if the service left a lot to be desired.  We walked in and headed straight to the large, fairly open bar, our preferred seating in casual places as we have found the service to be better and we were in a bit of a hurry to get out to Zoo Lights that night.  We were half greeted by our somewhat surly bartender, who I would have thought was having a bad day if not for her pleasant demeanor with other patrons at the end of the bar.  Perhaps she didn't like my face?  She wouldn't be the first to have that problem, although one would think in the service industry that you would try to "put on a good face", but I digress.

Thankfully, the food was great, even if it took about twice as long as you would reasonably expect for it to come.  The Smoked Wings come on a small skewer and were perfectly seasoned and cooked, with a significant but not overbearing smoke flavor and perhaps the best wings that I have had in this area in recent memory.  The Alabama White Sauce they come with is pretty forgettable, but I'm not sure that you need a sauce with these, as I loved them dry.  

The Crispy Fish sandwich brought back memories of the best days of Eamonn's.  The fish had a fairly heavy, well seasoned batter that was just barely stuck to  moist fish, and came with a buttery soft roll that would only be good with something that had a crunch like this fish.  This, a 3 Stars Ghost White IPA, and a couple good football games on TV put me in such a good mood that even our dismissive bartender couldn't dampen my excitement to come back here again some time soon.

[lhollers]

Also some of the best peel and eat shrimp in the area!

[MC Horoscope]

Been here a couple of times here on weekdays for lunch. The wings WERE good! I had a shrimp poboy first time and lox and bagel the second. Really enjoyed the lox! Big menu! Want the try their oysters. There's a fish market next door. Small, like District Fishwife in Union Market. 

If you are heading south on Okie the left side is free parking. Meter parking on the right.

[saf]

Ate here last Saturday after a trip to Don Ciccio for tasting and a drink. I had fried chicken. The boy had a version of the fish special. And our friend had a crab cake sandwich. We all tried to order other things, but half the specials were sold out, and so... Service was good. We sat at the bar, and folks were friendly. The beer list was OK. Convenient if you are down there, and affordable, but do NOT go late if you want the specials! (And we weren't even that late.)

[Bob Wells]

12 hours ago, saf said:

Ate here last Saturday after a trip to Don Ciccio for tasting and a drink. I had fried chicken. The boy had a version of the fish special. And our friend had a crab cake sandwich. We all tried to order other things, but half the specials were sold out, and so... Service was good. We sat at the bar, and folks were friendly. The beer list was OK. Convenient if you are down there, and affordable, but do NOT go late if you want the specials! (And we weren't even that late.)

Don Ciccio? This is the second DC place I've seen named after someone who got zotzed. (The other being Masseria) Why not name places after guys who come out on top?

[saf]

13 hours ago, Bob Wells said:

Don Ciccio? This is the second DC place I've seen named after someone who got zotzed. (The other being Masseria) Why not name places after guys who come out on top?

OK, I had no clue who this was, and had to google.

The name here is apparently his grandfather's nickname.

[Bob Wells]

8 hours ago, saf said:

OK, I had no clue who this was, and had to google.

The name here is apparently his grandfather's nickname.

Yeah, I read that too. Still, if you've watched Godfather 2 more than a couple times, you think of this guy.