Restaurant Finder

Dogfish Head Alehouse

Cuisines: Burgers/Bar Food Pizza Neighborhood: Gaithersburg

Based on 4 reviews.

Address	800 W. Diamond Ave., Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Phone	(301) 963-4847

City Paper Review

The gap between the wait staff’s beer knowledge and its food knowledge tells you practically everything you need to know about the Dogfish Head Alehouse: Suds rule here—and with an iron fist. Dogfish Head’s wide-ranging selection of beer is so dominating that the pedestrian pub grub on the menu pales by comparison. Located in a clubby, two-story structure on W. Diamond Avenue that has hosted a succession of failed restaurants, this gastro-pub is the first franchisee of Sam Calagione’s Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach. Unlike the other businesses housed at the Gaithersburg address, Dogfish Head is actually succeeding—just not on the strength of its food. The wood grill is the focal point of the kitchen. The slices of wood-grilled steak draped over a roasted-garlic Caesar look mouthwatering, all thin and rosy and moist, but they’re as chewy as jerky. The grayish-pink salmon sports polite grill marks but little trace of smokiness; its pleasures are derived from an all-engulfing butteriness. Even the pizzas are wood-grilled. In fact, the pesto-sauced “Chesapeake” with lump crab and asparagus would have been terrific if not for its flaccid, limp crust. Montgomery County, which so loves to regulate alcohol, might not like to hear this, but the bar should be your first and only stop here. Pull up a stool and ask the bartender for one of the regular pulls (maybe a snifter of 90 Minute IPA, an amber-colored liquid whose hoppy bitterness is perfectly balanced with a caramel-like sweetness) or one of the limited-edition brews (such as the Chateau Jiahu, a sakelike beer based on a 9,000-year-old recipe meticulously re-created from molecular evidence clinging to ancient pottery in Northern China). If you drink enough of these mighty beers first, which can run at 20 percent alcohol by volume, you might even dull your taste buds enough to dare crack open a menu.
—Tim Carman, December 1, 2006

Rater Comments

These comments express the opinions of individual Restaurant Raters, not those of Washington City Paper.

Review by epascal on January 25, 2008

Review by MCAllan on September 22, 2006

Don't come here for culinary delights. It's a bar. Come for the onion rings and fries, which are great, the pizza, which is decent, but mostly for the beer, which is so good it may make you stop noticing that most of the food is only so-so. I was disappointed in the food -- the original Dogfish Head restaurant in Rehoboth was terrific the few times I went, and this did not hold up. But the beer, the beer! The 90 minute IPA will make you happy happy happy, and apparently they're going to be bringing the 120 Minute IPA in within the month (that's a 20% alchol beer, BTW, so be careful with it.)

Review by jenn7 on July 17, 2006

Though the contents of the menu suggest a TGIFriday's, the food is much higher quality than your standard bar food. The beers are fantastic, which probably goes without saying, and the space is attractive and pleasant. Unlike the previous reviewer, we've found the wings to be perfectly done, spicy and flavorful. The sandwiches are large and full of tasty grilled ingredients, and we've fairly consistently enjoyed the pizza with crabmeat (though on the last visit there was less crab than in the past, when what must be a half-pound of meat has covered the surface of the pizza). The service is sometimes a little less attentive than one might like, but all in all this is a great neighborhood place with great beers and consistent food. We go pretty much weekly.

Review by grim on November 21, 2005

“It’s beer first, then the food,” says Marty Ryan, co-owner of Dogfish Head Alehouse in Gaithersburg, Md. He’s right. Distinguishing this two-story, suburban bar and restaurant from an Applebee’s or TGI Friday’s is doable thanks to the beer, a Delaware microbrew with a cult following, for good reason. One recent Sunday night, the chicken wings had the right crisp and kick, but were overcooked. The burger, served on wood-grilled focaccia bun, was a tad dry, and the signature dish of this Alehouse’s parent in Rehobeth, De. – a pizza that is “thin, crisp, and chewy” – was merely thin and chewy. The service was uninspired, with servers acting as if they were delivering diet cokes instead of some of the best beers that can be found on the East Coast.