From: og@access.digex.com (Gary Goldberg)
Subject: REVIEW: Capital City Brewing Company
Organization: Personal Account - Digital Express Greenbelt, MD
Distribution: dc
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 01:24:12 GMT

My wife and I had a late lunch at the Capital City Brewing Company today
(09/12/92 Sat). I wanted to share some comments with you.

The brewpub is in a large, ground level, corner of a building across the street
from the DC Convention Center on H Street. It has a fresh, new and industrial
look to it. The front entrance is filled with burlap bags filled with malt
and we were met by a hostess who seated us. The restaurant was not busy.

The place reminds me of the Hard Rock Cafe, without the memoribilia and the
music wasn't as loud. We sat in a booth across from a large, oval shaped bar
which had two also-large brewing kettles in the center. There are yellow
catwalks stretching all over the second level, and several cross overtop
of the vats. The walls are painted yellow to match, and the cathedral ceilings
and brushed copper bar and vats, as well as the (I think) wood floors give it
a very informal feel. There are many stools around the bar and the booths and
tables are black formica.

The service was exemplary. We had three people serving us and waiting on us at
various times. It wasn't intrusive, but we weren't sure who to ask for. I can't
imagine they can sustain that level of service over time or when they're busy.

My wife had a Cobb Salad that she said was very good, but she couldn't finish it- it was too much food. It came in a clear serving bowl I would have thought
could feed a family of six. She also had Iced Tea; refills were brought
without having to ask and the tea was dry and clean, not 'machine-y'. She also
muched on the salted hard pretzels they served automatically before we
ordered. The pretzels were served with a tangy sweet mustard/horseradish sauce.

I had the (VA) New York Lager in the half-pint size (driving after lunch). It
was a medium rich lager that stayed fizzy throughout the meal. I would have preferred a darker lager, but apparently, an extremely busy last night (Friday)
cleaned out most of their stock of beers. All the MD ales and lagers were gone.
While they said the date of first brew has been pushed back slightly, they
expect their liquor licenses to be complete in one to two weeks. (Licenses
appear to be the reason they're not making their own yet.)

For my lunch I ordered a bowl of the corn & crab chowder, a rich vegetable and
meat soup that was quite filling. It had a cream base that coated my toungue
well. After that, my turkey club arrived, with fries and pickle. The fries
seemed to have been cooked in a batter; they were crunchy and my wife kept
eating them off my plate, so I only had about half of them. The club was full
of a very tender cut of sliced turkey, with what they said in the menu was
maple-cured bacon. I thought it was alright, but not outstanding.

Price for the meal was $25.68, and I left a 20% tip for the good service.
Pros - fresh clean atmosphere
       excellent service, the hostess was especially friendly
       good location
       the copper colored bar and vats
       soup and Cobb Salad

Cons - maybe the Turkey Club
       they were out of most beers (Every restaurant should have
           this problem!!) Nothing they could do about that.
       Somewhat more expensive for dinner then I expected
           (~$12-$16ea. for dinner, average for lunch)

I didn't think the music was too loud - they were playing Springsteen and
Jackson Browne, among others. I memntioned to the hostess that we had heard
of the CCBC on Internet, and she said she'd heard others mention the
references here.
-- 
- Gary Goldberg og@access.digex.com Bowie, MD KA3ZYW
And NO organization to represent. ' ... Free, free at last ...'
Info on 'The Simpsons'? Let me know.

Newsgroups: dc.dining