| Address | 2761 Washington Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201 |
|---|---|
| Hours | Mon, 4 p.m.-12 a.m., Tue-Thu, 11:30 a.m.-12 a.m., Fri, 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m., Sat 11 a.m.-2 a.m., Sun 11 a.m.-12 a.m; Big Screen Cartoon Brunch: Sat-Sun, 11 a.m. |
| Phone | (703) 778-9951 |
| Website | http://www.eat-bar.com |
EatBar has been through some transformations, like a younger sibling to its connected restaurant Tallula who cannot decide what it wants to be for itself. The latest apparition of EatBar calls itself a gastropub, with its focus squarely on wine. The comprehensive wine list is heavy on Old World selections, with some excellent lesser-seen choices from Austria and Portugal, and is very light on California. All wines are available by the glass, half-glass, and 10-ounce beaker (It's a gimmick. But it's fine), though, seemingly, not by the bottle.
The food has some pub grub aspects, like the now-required gourmet burger, along with onion rings, paninis, tacos, and wings. But all with a twist, you know, gastropub grub, the kind that makes it all the rage to order a burger because it's a special expensive foodie burger. Except for the wings, none has any sharp sauce that might clash with wine. The menu's focus seems to be on small plates, with a handful of “suppers” options, most priced not much more than the small choices. One good supper is the “big bowl of steamed Maine mussels”, which indeed is large. The broth is wonderful, but you'll need more bread to soak it up. The crisp and tasty EatFrites are a good compliment. For the same price as the mussels, you can get the charred octopus appetizer, but the quantity contrast is striking. The octopus, though a bit too charred and dry, was delicious, and yet its small size was a downer. Another choice that puts the "small" in "small plates" is the poached shrimp with red onion and pine nuts. You get three shrimp. Cold. But really good. The house-roasted olives appetizer is one of the few items whose quantity may last you for the evening.
EatBar's vibe is somewhere between a wine bar and your friend's underdecorated loft, with tiny tables and lots of couches among the brick. It works, but it's hard to tell why. It still has an in-crowd feel to it, and is always full, yet it's hard to feel uncomfortable there. One problem of the laid-back mood is the service; it's hard to tell who's in charge of your table, if you should order from the bar or flag someone, anyone, down. Expect some delays. Still, you could pick worse places to hang.
After hearing about EatBar via the Washingtonian (both touting their marvelous hush puppies and in the 'Burger Brackets'), we made it our mission to sample both the 'puppies and their burger.
We seated ourselves in the bar/lounge area and waited a while to be served. Service was spotty, but not much can be expected from a venue of this sort. I'm sure that everything was just a little nicer next door at Tallula, the parent restaurant. Now, it may just be due to the couple of drinks I had up the street at Clarendon Ballroom, but the hush puppies were good. Not as good as the ones I've had at Outer Banks, but they were pretty good. The burger was good as well-in fact I didn't even care about smearing ketchup all over my face in order to shove all parts of it into my mouth in each bite.
But, the bottom line is, I've had better versions of everything here somewhere else before. I'd rather eat french fries at Farrah Olivia or Sweetwater Tavern, and rather have the burger from Palena Cafe or Central.
I had 'The Rock Star', a super bubbly drink that still had a strong taste of wine. The area that EatBar is located in is far from the metro and is not a very attractive one at that. The decor is very confusing. I can't decide if it's Gothic-gastropub-chic or a weird mash-up of things that reminds me of the inside of a funeral home or a psychic/tarot reader in the country.
Glad I went, but not going again. Especially since the crowd that seemed to be around us was... "special". Not the kind of ambiance I'm looking for in a place.
We really enjoyed the food at Eat Bar when it finally arrived, but noted that it wasn't anything above and beyond what should have been expected. The french fries were everyone's favorite, a unique version of a bar food staple.
The wait for a table was minimal, but the service was absolutely horrible. We had not one, but two unfriendly and aloof servers. The majority of our appetizers arrived after the entrees, and glasses sat empty for the majority of our stay. Missing Silverware, condiments, and missing orders had to be requested numerous times.
If it weren't for the dreadful service, this may have been a nice evening out. Instead it was much more frustrating than enjoyable.
