Chinatown is an up-and-coming neighborhood that is exploding with new and exciting restaurants, bars, and places to hang out. The craft beer scene is one thing that isn’t being over-looked here and you’ll find some great options to have a pint.
View DCBEER.COM – Chinatown Beer Guide in a full screen map
Iron Horse Tap Room
Iron Horse Tap Room is a motorcycle themed bar. Upon first entrance, you’ll think it’s fairly small. A cozy little bar to the left with 18 available drafts (no bottles). You’ll have a lot of the big names in craft beer available, such as Sierra Nevada, Heavy Seas, Lagunitas, and even some foreigners like Gouden Carolus. It’s fairly open the on the first floor, but if you’re looking for more space head downstairs. Ahead and to the right, as you enter, you’ll see stairs leading down to a huge basement area with skeeball, shuffleboard and a couple more bars.
Located at 507 7th Street NW
www.ironhorsedc.com
Beer List
District Chophouse
This classy steakhouse is one of DC’s brewpubs. District Chophouse offers eight drafts at all times with a rotating lineup of beers brewed right on-site. If you’re a bit of a beer geek, you’ll appreciate their chalkboard which lists the available styles, their bitterness, body and color, and their original and final gravities. They usually have a lager, amber, IPA, oatmeal stout, and some other rotating seasonals. If you’re looking for a nice steakhouse and some one-of-a-kind beers, give District Chophouse a try.
Located at 509 7th Street NW
www.chophouse.com
Beer List
Clyde’s
Clyde’s is an upscale restaurant attached to the Verizon Center. Focused mainly on providing a great dining experience, its beer offerings take a bit of a back seat. However, they do offer a nice bar environment (which may get a little rowdy around hockey season) and have two downstairs bars and one upstairs bar. Their selection is fairly standard, Bud/Miller/Coors, Blue Moon, Sam Adams, etc. But you will find an occasional gem like Starr Hill or Sierra Nevada, which will certainly do in a pinch.
Located at 707 7th Street NW
www.clydes.com
Rocket Bar
Rocket Bar is a basement haven for drinking and drinking related games. They have 14 taps with a few standards that are always on and some rotating beers to give you beer drinkers a reason to come back. They have pool tables, skeeball, shuffleboard, and various arcade games to keep you occupied while you throw back your next brew. Be aware that it tends to get pretty crowded on weekends. So, prepare for the crowd, or get there early.
Located at 714 7th Street NW
www.rocketbardc.com
Matchbox
Matchbox is well-known for its pizza and mini-burgers, but they do have a good offering of craft beer stand-outs. At their downstairs bar (you’ll see it when you walk in), there are 12 taps pouring the likes of Delirium Tremens, Bell’s Two Hearted, and Allagash White. Go for the food, but truly enjoy the beer. Matchbox is another place that tends to get crowded, so get there early!
Located at 713 H Street NW
www.matchboxchinatown.com/
Beer List
Asian Spice
This little Asian restaurant will surprise you with its bottle list. Located at the corner of 8th and H, Asian Spice has a small bar with a big list of delicious beer. They have 40 bottles with beers like Rochefort and Chimay hidden away, and Sapporo is on tap. Also, after a great meal, if you’re tired of those great beers, there’s always sake!
Located at 717 H Street NW
www.asianspice.us/
Fado
The quintessential Irish pub. Fado is decorated nicely with various Irish “artifacts” (my word, not theirs), and provides a great atmosphere for sipping a few pints of Guinness. The décor is quite impressive in the little location, but Fado truly excels in bringing Irish beers to the masses. You’ll find Kilkenny, Guinness, Harp, Bass, and Smithwicks, but not much else. Enjoy and pint or five, and don’t forget the shepherd’s pie.
Located at 808 7th Street NW
www.fadoirishpub.com
Beer List
RFD
Regional Food and Drink, known fondly as RFD, is brought to you by the people behind the Brickskeller. If you’re looking for beer in Chinatown, this is a great place to go. With hundreds of bottles and 30 drafts in a lineup that is constantly changing, RFD provides even the most seasoned beer connoisseur with choices that will boggle the mind. RFD has a large and spacious restaurant with multiple televisions and various seating areas throughout, including an outdoor patio and back room that can be rented for parties. The shining star, however, is the main bar with its endless supply of ever-changing beers.
Located at 810 7th Street NW
www.lovethebeer.com/rfd.html
If there are any places we’ve missed, please let us know in the comments. And also feel free to weigh in on your likes and dislikes for all of these locations.
Now, get out to Chinatown and enjoy this craft beer hot spot!
Header photo from revellphotography.com
Tags: Chinatown, clyde's, District Chophouse and Brewery, Iron Horse Tap Room, matchbox, Neighborhood Guide, RFD, Rocket Bar
Loading ...
My goto move for pregaming before caps or nats games is going to Ironhorse for HH ($2 off drafts) and bringing in a Potbelly’s sandwich (they don’t have a kitchen)
Chinatown Coffee Co offers beer as well. They only have a few options at a time and rarely things you cannot find elsewhere in town – but I would say the quality of the selection is still higher than a place like Clyde’s or Fado at least. Their online menu seems a little out of date, but they consistently have several Great Lakes, Bells, Oskar Blues and Founders options, among others.
Slightly outside of Chinatown proper, I’ve been impressed with Mandu’s taps at their 5th and K location. You don’t expect a Korean restaurant to have much besides OB, but last time I was there they had Founders, Great Lakes, and Bells on tap.
As the Head Brewer for the District ChopHouse and Brewery I’d like to mention that we also run a Happy Hour Beer Special Monday-Friday 3-7pm in the bars only. 2 Styles of beer are on Happy Hour for $2.50(tax included). The styles vary daily but I try to keep the customer favorites on, the Light Lager and Nut Brown Ale. Also try our Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout served at cellar temp served via hand pump, if you are looking for some big bold flavors!
Gordon Biersch is my go to in the area. Also, Cap City is probably technically “Chinatown” and Ella’s has a few good taps; certainly better than Clyde’s. Brasserie Beck probably isn’t Chinatown, but close enough for a mention as it outshines the rest. Againn is a gastropub which pretends to have good beer and there is Redline and Proof which I have never visited.
Bar Louie has as good a selection (or better) than Clyde’s I’d say- don’t know their drafts off hand, but I’ve always been satisfied. Also, their happy hour specials are pretty decent.
Great research, Jeremy. Two adds if we stretch Gallery/Chinatown a couple of blocks: Againn’s great beer list (about 10 taps and 30 bottles from USA, UK, and Cont. Europe) at 10 and NY Ave and Passenger at 7th and L (a few taps and nice bottles list). But I get that you need to draw the line somewhere…as long as it’s not before my faves
After Gordon Biersch’s recent assault against the craft beer industry, I’d encourage everyone to avoid if possible.
Good call on Ella’s. I think their selection tops the Chophouse, Clyde’s, and, depending on what you are looking for, Fado.
And to Jake Grover’s point, Againn doesn’t “pretend” to have good beer unless you know something I don’t. They actually do have good beer, from a variety of destiantions and non-standard selection. Their bartneders obviously know scotch better than beer, but Againn patterns their beer menu around UK and Scottish beers – a nice niche in the DC beer community I’d say.
Agreed that Iron Horse has a great beer selection, but its size is deceiving. At least half the time I\’ve gone there, a large chunk (if not the whole downstairs) has been closed for private parties.
Yeah, I actually should have said ‘pretends to know’ beer instead of ‘pretends to have’. In my defense, the one time I went they were out of my first two selections on draft so maybe what I said is appropriate as well. I generally didn’t like the place though due to its pretentious atmosphere and high prices.
They have plenty of good bottles but their draft selection is so-so for the number of lines they have and I they’re ostensibly not always available. Maybe it was just an off night, but I don’t think I’ll be back to find out.
Regarding Gordon Biersch, I really wouldn’t call the trademark lawsuit an ‘assault against the craft beer industry’. While I don’t necessarily agree with many of their corporate policies, that doesn’t change the fact that their DC-crafted beer is one of the best values in the city (half a liter for $5).