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EatBar, Nathan Anda's Charcuterie Gets New Life on Barracks Row in the Former Kraze Burger Space - Closed


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I stopped by last week but they hadn't opened for the day yet, and I have not gotten back here.  (They open at 4.)

But, FWIW, I've heard great things from several people who have gone to the new EatBar.  The Calabrian deviled eggs (beet pickled) have gotten a few raves.  Photos I saw look really cool.  Also heard great things about what must be a special of bbq pork cheeks that were really tender and also pork burgers and beef burgers.  I believe sausage wrapped olives also got a mention. Raves on service as well.

Negatives:  really, really loud; no reservations.

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Been twice. The Chef's Choice charcuterie platter was outstanding. Peppery salami, a rich boar pate and a creamier beef one as well, a couple of johnny cakes, but the outstanding one was the prosciutto. Rich, fatty, and room temperature, it melted in my mouth. None of this dried, salty grocery store nonsense. The roasted beef ribs were sublime; I've done something similar on the Weber Kettle, but it took an overnight marinade and 5 hours at 225. Deep beer and wine lists (the sour ales are the perfect foil for the rich, tender beef). And a rocking free jukebox. Can definitely get a little loud (the vibe seems like this place was transplanted from U Street) and the staff occasionally will forget/misplace an order, but when our cocktails went AWOL, the bartender whipped them up post haste and they comped us some grilled broccoli rabe. Looking forward to revisiting.

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Our timing was perfect yesterday walking back from the Nats game and we stopped in maybe about half an hour after they had opened.  As it started to fill up more it definitely got louder but it still wasn't that bad.  I can see that it would be pretty loud when it's later and really busy.  I loved the free jukebox. They didn't have the sound up too high on it (probably a good thing, especially that early), and I could only sporadically identify what was playing from where we were sitting at the opposite end of the restaurant.  We had a great view of the Eat Bar cassette case mural on the front wall, though. Very fun.

We started with a snack of the mortadella from the charcuterie menu, which came with two little round bread disks.  Our waiter said they were some kind of Italian flatbread but I couldn't quite grasp the word he was using.  They seemed akin to crumpets that had been formed in some kind of round press.  Whatever they were, we liked them.  The hot mustard that came with this was fantastic.  My husband also got the fava tartine with whipped ricotta and some kind of ham essence as a flavoring.  I was starving and wolfed down my beef burger with gorgonzola dolce, roasted tomatoes, and marrow mayo.  The burger boasted an impressive layering of strong flavors that all worked together, no clash.  The roasted tomatoes were especially impressive, with all of their flavor condensed and amplified by the roasting process.

I'm glad we took the opportunity to stop in and check this place out.

 

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On 4/24/2016 at 8:53 AM, Pat said:

We started with a snack of the mortadella from the charcuterie menu, which came with two little round bread disks.  Our waiter said they were some kind of Italian flatbread but I couldn't quite grasp the word he was using.  They seemed akin to crumpets that had been formed in some kind of round press.  Whatever they were, we liked them. 

Odds are, they're the same thing Anda used at the Partisan: tigelles. And yes, they're awesome.

On 4/24/2016 at 8:53 AM, Pat said:

Our timing was perfect yesterday walking back from the Nats game and we stopped in maybe about half an hour after they had opened.

Incredibly jealous of you getting to see that game. The ninth inning was just starting on the radio when I was leaving my baseball game (the radio call on Harper's pinch-hit HR was outstanding); I was able to drive home, shower, and still watch the rest of the game, which was definitely unexpected. Amazing 16 innings. For future reference, does Eatbar open up later on Sundays? What time did you get in?

Thanks!

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2 hours ago, lhollers said:

Odds are, they're the same thing Anda used at the Partisan: tigelles. And yes, they're awesome.

Incredibly jealous of you getting to see that game. The ninth inning was just starting on the radio when I was leaving my baseball game (the radio call on Harper's pinch-hit HR was outstanding); I was able to drive home, shower, and still watch the rest of the game, which was definitely unexpected. Amazing 16 innings. For future reference, does Eatbar open up later on Sundays? What time did you get in?

Thanks!

We were there Saturday.  Parts of being there Sunday would have been awesome.  Six hours, not so much.

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Got the mortadella melt today.  It's a bologna and cheese panini, essentially.  Really good. I love bologna but am wary of getting it because I don't really know what's in it. Knowing they make it themselves makes it appealing, even though I still don't know exactly what's in it.  I like being able to trust them. That's a hard thing these days. Had fun with the jukebox too.

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Met some friends here at the bar yesterday afternoon. They have much expanded hours now. Saturday afternoon has both happy hour and brunch specials. We shared an order of the Nashville hot chicken wings, which came with a ranch dip.  These were really well-executed, and the heat was distinct but moderate with a finishing kick, not unbearably hot.  We were trying to figure out the coating/frying situation on these, as they had a hard thin puffy outer shell that reminded me of something but I couldn't think of what. One friend guessed there was a tempura batter, which turned out to be right.  The bartender explained the lengthy preparation process (brining, coating in cornstarch to remove all moisture, then tempura-type breading with vodka, rice flour, and some other things). He compared it to Bon Chon, which is when the light bulb went on and I realized what seemed familiar. These were super super moist inside.

I drank $5 Atlas Ponzi IPAs, which I hadn't seen anywhere before and quite liked. My friends drank wine.  The happy hour wines were rose and red, so the devoted white wine wine drinkers ordered from the regular menu; the person who had rose liked that selection.

Once again: love the jukebox.

 

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Did the Saturday brunch/happy hour at the bar with friends again.  More Atlas Ponzi for me and Happy Hour rose for the others. We sampled a greater variety of food than the last time.  The chicken wings were different than the last visit and even better. Now they're made with Valentina Mexican hot sauce. The heat is more forward than with the previous iteration. We ordered these with the Alabama White Sauce they serve with the beef fat fries rather than the ranch listed on the menu. These were my favorite of the food offerings, and I think I ate a disproportionate number of them:ph34r:

We also got a sampler of three snacks. (Note: Looking at the menu prices, that only saves 50 cents over ordering the items individually.)  This included perfectly round Parmesan and Herb fritters the size of large marbles, which came with kind of a Russian/Thousand Island dressing dip. (Or maybe Marie Rose sauce?)  Then there were Sausage-Stuffed Olives and Housemade Potato Chips with Cacio e Pepe Dip.  I don't typically like house made chips. They're too thick and/ or too greasy. These were pretty thin and better than the usual effort. I found I liked them more as they sat for a while and became more crispy and less greasy. The Cacio e Pepe dip was great with them.  My one friend says the olives are her favorite thing on the menu there, and they were quite good snack bites.  Neither the sausage nor the olives dominated.

We felt we should order something green and asked for Fried Brussel Sprouts, Bacon, Red Wine Vinegar Glaze.  These are totally blackened and seemed more like they'd been roasted than fried. They definitely encountered very high heat. I liked them but don't think we needed them.  It was a bigger portion than we expected, and something (possibly the glaze) attracted some tiny insects as the remainder sat on the back edge of the bar while we talked. 

The friend who was treating insisted we get dessert and ordered both of the desserts on the menu: Lemon + Ricotta Donuts and Nutella + Banana Panini.  I was stuffed and had only one of the donut holes, which was well-made and, as with the olives, subtle and balanced in its flavors. The lemon was not overpowering at all. I don't really care for Nutella but found myself eating more and more of the panini because the banana slices in the stuffing were fantastic.  This was the size of a regular sandwich cut in half. 

Service here is pretty casual, at least at this time of day, which is well-suited to just hanging out and socializing and nibbling.  It was clear we weren't in a hurry and, whether it was intentional or not, the plates came out slowly enough that we weren't overwhelmed with food.  There were times that getting a little faster attention would have been good, but that's nitpicking and may have had to do as much with the time of day as anything.

Um, I didn't find it necessary to have dinner:rolleyes:.

 

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Had a quick dinner at the bar here last night. I was craving a burger, so I ordered the Standard Angus Burger off the Red Apron portion of the menu.  "Single Black Angus patty, white American cheese, pickles, shaved onion, special sauce, iceberg lettuce, tomato." At $6.25, this was a really good single patty burger, not overwhelmingly big, but just right. The whole package was very satisfying. I also ordered onion rings ($4.99) from the regular Eatbar menu. They came with a Marie Rose-type sauce. They were good but the coating on them was smooth rather than the more textured beer-battered type I'm used to.  Nothing wrong with them, just my expectations.  With a  happy hour can of Atlas Ponzi, the meal was a little over $20, with tax and tip.

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