Fire Station 1, Downtown Silver Spring - Brewpub-Themed American on Georgia Avenue

[squidsdc]

The historic Fire Station No. 1 on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, which has been eyed by more than a dozen developers and hundreds of potential buyers since it went up for sale in July, will become a restaurant and brew pub with a firehouse theme. A firefighter and part owner of Hook & Ladder Brewing has a deal pending to purchase the property from the Silver Spring Volunteer Fire Department.

Full article in the Post here.

[JPW]

I was very excited to read this this morning. Rumors have been flying around about it for a while.

I would imagine though, that the renovations to the firehouse needed to get the operation up and running will take a LONG time

[Tweaked]

should be easy to get the fire hose beer bong up and operational

[Roger Troutman]

I've had their Backdraft Brown Ale and it's decent. It was available on tap at my favorite watering hole for a few months, before being inexplicably replaced replaced by Brooklyn Lager (ugh).

[Tweaked]

Restaurant Kolumbia has it (or at least did when I was their late last year)

Apparently they were giving out free H&L promotional T-Shirts at Porter's at 19th and Mst a couple Friday's ago.

[xcanuck]

Better late than never. The Silver Spring Pengiun reports that they broke ground last week for the new Hook and Ladder brewpub.

[Heather]

Better late than never. The Silver Spring Pengiun reports that they broke ground last week for the new Hook and Ladder brewpub.

I drove by Wednesday and there's a construction sign up now. I am betting on another 18 months before opening.

[Heather]

Construction seems to be proceeding! Man, I hope this place is good. The new Quarryhouse just isn't doing it for me as a watering hole.

[JPW]

Construction seems to be proceeding! Man, I hope this place is good. The new Quarryhouse just isn't doing it for me as a watering hole.

Well, the space can't be worse than the QHT. While I'm glad that Jackie stepped up and saved it and I have no complaints about food/beer/service, I get way too claustrophobic in there. Unfortunately, there's nothing they can do about that.

[fuzzy510]

The space will not be a full-on Hook & Ladder brewpub, but instead be a restaurant called, appropriately enough, Fire Station 1.

I'm a bit disappointed, because a lot of the menu feels like a cookie-cutter chain American restaurant, offering everything to try and please everyone. There's not anything on it that seems even remotely exciting or different, and the whole operation feels (to me, at least) to come off as saying "Hey look! We're a restaurant in an old firehouse! ISN'T THAT COOL?!" If a great meal comes out of the kitchen, that's a bonus.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and I will certainly try the place once it's open to give it a fair shake, but I feel like we've seen this script play out before.

[xcanuck]

Oh, my - the menu certainly does look disappointing and horribly generic. I had very high hopes for this place. We'll wait and see, but I'm already lowering my expectations.

[Heather]

Oh, my - the menu certainly does look disappointing and horribly generic. I had very high hopes for this place. We'll wait and see, but I'm already lowering my expectations.

I am too, and points off for having the same crummy kid options as every other chain restaurant. But, I am willing to be pleasantly surprised if it's good, and having another neighborhood dinner option is a good thing.

[tcarman]

Fire Station 1 Restaurant and Brewing Co. (minus the on-site brewing) is set to open this week or next. Details here.

[eatdrinkmore]

The word on this place is that the food is terrible and it is not much of a bar or a brewing company. Which is sad because it is a cool building. My brother lives in the area and was pumped for a new bar in Silver Spring, unfortunately this place falls short.

It's still new so I think it is fair to give them time to turn it around.

[fuzzy510]

Um, wow.

I'm not usually one to care much about Yelp reviews, but I'm not sure I've seen a place so widely loathed as what I'm reading here. Even the filtered reviews were almost all one-star reports:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/fire-station-one-silver-spring

And I know that there's apt to be a bit of exaggeration in some of those, but I'm shocked to see multiple claims of servers being clueless about the beers FS1 is serving. That's kind of important for a restaurant calling itself a "brewing company."

[eatdrinkmore]

Um, wow.

I'm not usually one to care much about Yelp reviews, but I'm not sure I've seen a place so widely loathed as what I'm reading here. Even the filtered reviews were almost all one-star reports:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/fire-station-one-silver-spring

And I know that there's apt to be a bit of exaggeration in some of those, but I'm shocked to see multiple claims of servers being clueless about the beers FS1 is serving. That's kind of important for a restaurant calling itself a "brewing company."

My brother posted a review of Fire Station 1 on my blog about it. He is not a picky eater by any stretch. He had pretty low expectations, just a good place to get a good beer and burger. Not a very high bar to meet.

I agree with Fuzzy510, Yelpers love to pile on bad reviews, however, across the board this place is getting panned.

[DanielK]

Went here today purely because they have decent size HDTVs over the bar, and we were looking for a place to watch the World Cup Final.

TVs worked as advertised, and the service from the bartenders was great, especially since we sat for nearly 4 hours.

Food was about as bad as discussed above. A Chef's Salad was 2oz. of tasteless cheese, 2oz. of tasteless deli meat, 1/2 hardboiled egg sliced, on a pile of wilted lettuce. The beer list pretty much sucked too, but nothing was as bad as the wine list, which had absolutely nothing drinkable on it.

No reason to return.

[jayandstacey]

Went last weekend as my son is 7 and into fire trucks. Plus we could watch baseball, racing, tennis and something else over the bar.

My chili-cheeseburger was really bad. I asked medium well and it was charred dry, like it had been forgotten. My standards are pretty low - I'll still eat at Roy Roger's - but this was bad. The sides (chips, potato wedges) were A-OK. My wife got a portobello burger (no meat) and was very pleased.

Difference from me and Daniel K - I will be back, as Joe's record paradise is across the street and Roadhouse Oldies is down the block. And for a guy that collected (and eventually owned a business around) new wave and soul 45s, this may be the epicenter of my musical universe.

But probably not my food universe.

[fuzzy510]

Ended up here for trivia last night with a friend, and it was just awful.  Our server was totally clueless, and was only able to recall Yuengling and Hoegaarden from the beers on tap.  Then our Yuenglings were delivered only to find that they were incredibly bitter - I'd be willing to wager that their tap lines hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

However, the beers didn't get sent back, nor did we order food, because our server didn't pop back around for about another 45 minutes or so.  And by that time, I just didn't care anymore.  You probably shouldn't either.

[DonRocks]

Ended up here for trivia last night with a friend, and it was just awful.  Our server was totally clueless, and was only able to recall Yuengling and Hoegaarden from the beers on tap.  Then our Yuenglings were delivered only to find that they were incredibly bitter - I'd be willing to wager that their tap lines hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

However, the beers didn't get sent back, nor did we order food, because our server didn't pop back around for about another 45 minutes or so.  And by that time, I just didn't care anymore.  You probably shouldn't either.

I've driven past Fire Station 1 twenty times, and haven't had the temerity to go in. Does it have anything to do with Hook and Ladder anymore?

For that matter, when's the last time anyone has seen a Hook and Ladder beer? I'm not asking this facetiously - I honestly haven't seen one in a long time now.

[Xochitl10]

I've driven past Fire Station 1 twenty times, and haven't had the temerity to go in. Does it have anything to do with Hook and Ladder anymore?

For that matter, when's the last time anyone has seen a Hook and Ladder beer? I'm not asking this facetiously - I honestly haven't seen one in a long time now.

Snider's used to have six-packs of Hook and Ladder.  I haven't been looking for it specifically, but I don't recall seeing it recently.

[fuzzy510]

I've driven past Fire Station 1 twenty times, and haven't had the temerity to go in. Does it have anything to do with Hook and Ladder anymore?

For that matter, when's the last time anyone has seen a Hook and Ladder beer? I'm not asking this facetiously - I honestly haven't seen one in a long time now.

They never had anything to do with Hook and Ladder, at least not for as long as they were open.  Hook and Ladder pulled out of the project before it ever initially opened to the public.

And I had actually heard for the first time today (while ranting to a co-worker about last night) that Hook and Ladder went out of business altogether.  This was the first I'd heard of it, but it would help explain their practically non-existant website.

[jayandstacey]

... but it would help explain their practically non-existant website.

At least the website is welcoming.  Some aren't. 

[Kev29]

Hook & Ladder never really was much of a business anyway. Just a couple guys who had some generic beers contract brewed for them in Utica or PA or somewhere. They were a local beer in name only. Maybe they had some aspirations of becoming an actual local production brewer but never really came close.

As for the disaster that is the Fire Station, they have the occassional regional beer - mostly stuff from Baltimore like Heavy Seas. For awhile I think they were selling this stuff from White Marsh, MD as kind of a house brand - http://www.redbrickstation.com/beers.html

For some reason my parents continue to eat there. I've had exponentially better experiences at highway exit Ruby Tuesdays.

[DonRocks]

Hook & Ladder never really was much of a business anyway. Just a couple guys who had some generic beers contract brewed for them in Utica or PA or somewhere. They were a local beer in name only. Maybe they had some aspirations of becoming an actual local production brewer but never really came close.

As for the disaster that is the Fire Station, they have the occassional regional beer - mostly stuff from Baltimore like Heavy Seas. For awhile I think they were selling this stuff from White Marsh, MD as kind of a house brand - http://www.redbrickstation.com/beers.html

For some reason my parents continue to eat there. I've had exponentially better experiences at highway exit Ruby Tuesdays.

I always wondered where Hook & Ladder brewery was, but could never really wrap my arms around the whole set-up; now, everything seems obvious. I'm a little surprised this product didn't catch on more than it did.

[JPW]

I always wondered where Hook & Ladder brewery was, but could never really wrap my arms around the whole set-up; now, everything seems obvious. I'm a little surprised this product didn't catch on more than it did.

Because, in the end, it really wasn't all that good.

[DonRocks]

Because, in the end, it really wasn't all that good.

Sigh, I suppose not. Do you know who their contract brewer was?

[JPW]

Sigh, I suppose not. Do you know who their contract brewer was?

Sorry, can't recall.

[Kev29]

Sigh, I suppose not. Do you know who their contract brewer was?

Seems like it was Lion Brewery, Wilkes-Barre, PA

http://lionbrewery.com/home/contract-brewing/home/

[rbh]

Genesee sticks in my head.....   I did like the Hook and Ladder Backdraft Brown

[dracisk]

Ugh, my husband wanted to go here today, and I didn't push back. A food loving friend had told me it wasn't good, but I hadn't read anything here or seen the 2.5 stars on Yelp. Not much new to say except that it remains terrible.

Our server was nice but clueless. My 2-year-old started demanding juice as soon as we sat down (she associates juice with restaurants because she doesn't really drink it at home), so we ordered some apple juice at our first opportunity, and it took forever to come. They weren't busy. Thankfully my daughter's meal came quickly, but the runner put a piping hot plate down in front of her. No harm no foul, and I appreciate that they rushed the kids meal out, but does it make sense to put a piping hot plate down in front of a two-year-old? The pulled pork nachos consisted mainly of mushy pork, greasy chips, and Velveeta-esque cheese. I had a Cuban sandwich with very muddy flavors. I'm not even sure what it consisted of, although I did see some pickles. My husband's Buffalo chicken sandwich looked very dry (and he confirmed it was dry). The homemade potato chips were decent.

My husband asked if they could put the Red Sox game on, and that never happened despite the fact that they bill themselves as a sports bar.

How is this place still in business? I want it to go away.

[Tom Power]

The good news is that Rare Essence will be celebrating James Funk's birthday there August 5th!  

[jdc]

11 hours ago, dracisk said:

How is this place still in business? I want it to go away.

I think I may be single-handedly responsible for Don putting this place at the bottom of the Silver Spring list, and while I haven't been in years, it is truly abysmal in almost every way. I think I've been three times (never by choice) and have, at best, had middling sports bar/cafeteria food, and at worst, found a piece of broken glass on a plate that was apologized away with no corrective action or even appearance by a manager (this is why I haven't been back). It's a shame, because the sports bar vibe is somewhat rare in Silver Spring (the only places I can think of with as many TVs is McGinty's), but in every sense, FireStation is not a place I'd want to sit and linger.

[dracisk]

I very rarely actively loathe a place, even if it's sub-par or worse, but I LOATHE this place. What a waste.

[dwt]

5 hours ago, dracisk said:

I very rarely actively loathe a place, even if it's sub-par or worse, but I LOATHE this place. What a waste.

+1. Food is bad, service is unprofessional. And yet it has been crowded all 3-4 times I've visited 

[DaveO]

31 minutes ago, dwt said:

+1. Food is bad, service is unprofessional. And yet it has been crowded all 3-4 times I've visited 

I have to add something.  The bar school in my sig has placed thousands of grads in what has to be thousands of places in the DC area.  Its very broad.  It includes places never mentioned here, places written about in DR.com, places that are applauded here and get many comments and places that are panned.  I virtually never comment.  Virtually never and yet there are at least hundreds of places referenced here where our grads have worked or work.

As far as Firehouse #1.  We have placed quite a few grads there over the years.  I have no idea if any work there now or not.  Its a sports bar.  Its very very definitely not a destination for foodies.  In fact, in my mind most sports bars are not real foodie destinations.  They may offer a few "better dishes".  I think that is about as good as it gets.  There was recent reference here to Kilroy's in Springfield.  KN referenced it and I'd acknowledge they offer a nice roast beef (or did).  Jimmy's Old Town Tavern in Herndon has been referenced, though its probably more for their Buffalo and Canadian references to Beef on Weck and Poutine.  Its a sports bar.  I don't see it as a foodie destination.  Jimmy's got a bit of local press btw:  Before being chosen for his new opportunity, Senator Tim Kaine was there serving people beer.  Former governor, current Senator, and now nominee for VP...he sometimes goes to Jimmy's and serves up some brewski's.  Its still not a foodie destination imho.

All that being referenced...I found it interesting to see dwt's comments.  Visited 3-4 times and it (Firehouse 1) has always been crowded.  And the food and service stink and evidently have for the almost the full decade its been around.     Live and learn.  Actually sort of stunning.

[dracisk]

1 hour ago, dwt said:

And yet it has been crowded all 3-4 times I've visited 

I'm happy to report that it wasn't crowded yesterday at mid-day, but I'm sure that's not usually their busy time.

24 minutes ago, DaveO said:

Its a sports bar.  Its very very definitely not a destination for foodies.

I'd argue, though, that it fails even as a sports bar. My husband asked them to put the Red Sox game on, and they put the Nats game on thinking that that would satisfy him. Hello, two different teams. Granted, the Red Sox aren't in our market, but usually sports bars have access to out of market games. Also, no one ever came back to tell us they couldn't get the Red Sox game. They just put the Nats game on, then when our waitress noticed my husband was watching the Red Sox via the mlb.tv app on his phone, she realized they never put the Red Sox game on one of the TVs. The bartender said, "Oh, I thought you just wanted the baseball game, so I put the Nats game on." Just total incompetence.

I didn't go there expecting haute cuisine, but this was many levels below even minimally competent pub grub.

And why do they call themselves a brewing company when they don't brew any beer??

[DaveO]

14 minutes ago, dracisk said:

I'm happy to report that it wasn't crowded yesterday at mid-day, but I'm sure that's not usually their busy time.

I'd argue, though, that it fails even as a sports bar. My husband asked them to put the Red Sox game on, and they put the Nats game on thinking that that would satisfy him. Hello, two different teams. Granted, the Red Sox aren't in our market, but usually sports bars have access to out of market games. Also, no one ever came back to tell us they couldn't get the Red Sox game. They just put the Nats game on, then when our waitress noticed my husband was watching the Red Sox via the mlb.tv app on his phone, she realized they never put the Red Sox game on one of the TVs. The bartender said, "Oh, I thought you just wanted the baseball game, so I put the Nats game on." Just total incompetence.

I didn't go there expecting haute cuisine, but this was many levels below even minimally competent pub grub.

And why do they call themselves a brewing company when they don't brew any beer??

I agree with you.   That stinks.  Idjits service.  (I hope that wasn't a grad).  at least the server was observant.  Hey the food can't be far worse than minimally competent pub grub and if so...that gets mighty low. 

BTW:  on the other side of the river near where I am, there is one sports bar in this area that is sooooooooo miserable it has no activity.  The market has reacted.  Nobody goes.  Basically every aspect is weak, including food that is a step down from minimally competent pub grub (an excellent phrase)  It has one saving grace and when that comes into play it gets incredibly crowded.  Poor misguided folks.  They only have a "hundred" alternatives and at least several in this area...but some old "reputation" sends customers there on occasion.  I still think most sports bars and foodie places are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  But they both can work, which is pretty amazing. 

[dwt]

3 hours ago, dracisk said:

I didn't go there expecting haute cuisine, but this was many levels below even minimally competent pub grub.

Thanks, dracisk. @DaveO, this ^ is exactly my sentiment. I don't expect much from a sports bar. A decent burger would be nice. Don't expect anything decent @ firestation1 or you will be mightily disappointed. I don't enjoy trashing places. I generally avoid posting negative comments about restaurants. And this will be my last post regarding FS1.

[DaveO]

17 minutes ago, dwt said:

Thanks, dracisk. @DaveO, this ^ is exactly my sentiment. I don't expect much from a sports bar. A decent burger would be nice. Don't expect anything decent @ firestation1 or you will be mightily disappointed. I don't enjoy trashing places. I generally avoid posting negative comments about restaurants. And this will be my last post regarding FS1.

I don't mean to imply that I'm defending it; mostly just commenting in a general sense.

[Kev29]

I want this place to stay in business just so the Yelp reviews continue: 

Quote

8/16/2015

My day started with a scoop of ice cream from the shop next door. I came to Fire Station one because my parent recommended it because of drinks and food. They exclaimed their food and server were amazing, and being in the service industry myself I was impressed until..... 

I went to buy cigarettes from the 7-eleven a cross the street mr after talking to another table about my piercings and that's when the owner cane and asked to talk to me outside. She then accused me of accepting dates and then accused me. Of being a PROSTITUTE !  I was having drinks and eating a burger. Never once offered my number to these clearly out of my league older gentlemen or even gave them a hint that's the type of ball game I was on... I was extremely offended.  She was rude and disrespectful, unprofessional and didn't speak much English to handle the situation she had started. After I had asked to talk to the other owner she refused and claimed he was not in the building ( when I had saw him walk past during our talk) she is a liar and an instigator. And it explains exactly  why her patio is empty on a Sunday afternoons at 2:00pm because she is a bad host and a horrible business owner. Pure prejudice and racism. Pure.