Argonaut Tavern

The restaurant is broken up into 3 sections: the first floor bar (small), the remainder of the first floor is the restaurant/seated area, and the top floor is primarily a bar, but during the day also seated restaurant. When we arrived at 9pm there was barely standing room... it cleared out 45 minutes later. I love going to this place late-night — it seems to be crowded for dinner, but clears out fairly quickly and is removed from the large crowds often found at DC bars.

The menu is much more impressive. Brooke claims a bold "best fish and chips" she had ever had! Tina loves the sweet potato fries. I was able to score a funnel cake which was ridiculously awesome — it was set on a plate with blueberry syrup underneath. This alone made me love Argonaut, but there is so much more to love beyond the food.

They support the DC Roller girls, which I love to go to. I like when bars support the local community. I've found the bar service hit-or-miss. When they are busy, takes a good 5 minutes to make eye contact with the bartender...which is surprising for how small the bar section is. But once it clears out a bit they are quick and friendly... maybe they just prefer the late-nighters, who knows.

The draft selection is great (see 'the deal' below), but they also have an extensive bottle selection (20+?) that has something to please everyone.

the deal:
M-Sat, 5–7pm
$3 Booty Draft (was Redhoook IPA when I went)
$4 Stella Draft
$4 Harpoon Draft
$4 Dogfish 60 IPA
$4 Rails
Tues/Thurs Half-Price Bottles of Wine

Argonaut Tavern

Dr Granville Moore's

This is a great place to educate yourself and take your beer-drinking up a notch. It has an authentic feel with wooden tables and low lighting. The well educated staff are ready and willing to let you know anything and everything about all the beers they have on the menu and up on their chalk board.

I asked what they had on draft, and they only had one beer. When I asked why, my waiter enlightened me — most Belgian brews are bottled... I found a good summary of what he said on another site (http://www.beermad.org.uk/)

"Most of the best Belgian beers are "bottle conditioned." This means that the beer hasn't been pasteurised and filtered before it's bottled, so it's still a living thing, not dead like, for example, Newcastle Brown. The reason for this is twofold; first pasteurising beer inevitably has a bad effect on its flavour; that's why Real Ale tastes better than keg. Secondly, because the beer is still alive, it continues to mature in the bottle like a fine wine and can continue to change and improve for many years. This also means that a bottle conditioned beer will still taste superb many years after the pasteurised equivalent has become un-drinkable..."

Here are a few snapshots:

board posted on the second level with all beer in stock, not currently on the menu

Mmm! Delicious.

This is one of my favorite spots in DC. The food is FANTASTIC (Tim & I loved the Frites and the antipasto plate), and they are well known for having great mussels (I myself am not a huge fan of mussels, in general, so I can't comment). Dr. Granville Moore's is a bit hard to get to since it is in the Atlas District off H-street and does not participate in the free shuttle most other venues in the area share. Know how to get there before you jump in a cab as they tried to take us across DC despite citing the address, area, as well an neighboring bars. The trip will also be more expensive than the average trip to another bar because of the quality of food and drink, but treat yourself to this one. It was good homework for my trip to Belgium next year!

last note on a bit of trivia of the name — Dr.Granville Moore was a neighborhood Doctor who twice a week provided pro-bono work for the sick and ailing members of the community. The place blends into the rest of the street well so keep your eyes open for the wood door or you might walk right on by.


the deals:
Varies day-to-day

Monday:
$10 Mussels
$1 Off Drafts
(5pm-7pm)

Tuesday:
1/2 Price Wine Night
(Bottles Only - With Purchase of a Sandwich, Entree or Order of Mussels)

Wednesday:
$5 Bavik, Hoegaarden and Affligem all night!

Thursday:
$1 off Chimay Red, White and Blue

Dr. Graville Moore's