Complaint Hub

Bell’s Brewery: Brands

I stopped in Whole Foods to pick up some dinner (Salmon and asparagus, at the wife’s request), and saw they had a Bell’s brand I’d never seen - the Consecrator Dopplebock.  It’s still getting cold in the fridge, so I can’t give a review yet, but Bell’s crappy new website calls it “a well balanced, full bodied beer”.  It turns out it’s only available in February, and not even the whole month.

I feel sorry for my West Coast brothers-in-law, both lovers of Bell’s, who can’t get it locally.

I have to say, it’s more fun to drink a beer with a cool name.  I mean, Consecrator Dopplebock?  That’s awesome.  It’s up there with Rogue Dead Guy Ale (A great beer) and Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre (Another great beer).

We were at Science Club on 19th Street Saturday night.  I’ll try not to pass judgment on the crowd, because I was kind of tired and not really up for a crowded bar.  I went because some good friends were going and we didn’t want to call it a night.  I had a good time, but it was definitely the company, not the bar.

Anyway, if you’re going to go with a themed bar, you have to GO with the theme.  This place threw a few things up on the wall and left it at that.  We were down in the basement, and they have a periodic table on the wall, a picture of Einstein, and a microscope on a shelf.

How hard would it have been to look up geeky science stuff on Wikipedia?  Or give some GW student a free happy hour in exchange for covering the walls with differential equations?  Shame on you, Science Club.   You  get bonus points for having organic beer on tap, though.

The wife and I had a little date night last night, having dinner at Coppi’s on U Street and then drinks at Saint Ex on 14th.

Coppi’s was courtesy of my occasionally blogging brother-in-law (As opposed to the others who don’t blog at all) and his girlfriend, who stayed with us a little while back, and were overly generous in expressing their gratitude.

In any event, Coppi’s was great. I beat the wife there by a bit, which meant I sat at the bar, chatted with a woman who was probably the manager, and drank an organic beer.

Then the wife arrived. We each had a salad and an entree, all delicious, and then shared a dessert. My salad was the Bietole al Forno, which was very good. For dinner I had a really nice lasagne. It was a bit more cream sauce than red sauce, which would not have been my first choice, but was very good anyway.

And then we shared the dessert. It’s not on their online menu, but it was recommended by the waiter. It was peaches with a wine and brown sugar sauce topped with ice cream, and it was quite good.

As for the restaurant itself, it was a great experience. The service was excellent, the place crowded but not uncomfortably so, and the music was eclectic and interesting.  I would highly recommend them for dinner.  Reservations are probably a good idea.

I’ve been to Saint Ex before.  It’s one of the wife’s favorite bars.  And it was, again, a nice place to hang out.

Last night was the grand opening of The Heights, a new restaurant a few blocks from us. The wife and I went with a friend of hers visiting for the weekend.

First of all, it was packed. We waited probably half an hour. It wasn’t too bad - we found a spot at the bar to wait. The staff all seemed a little nervous, but very friendly and attentive. The food was very good. The buffalo shrimp appetizer was very good, and my tilapia with rice was also very good. The wife tried their frozen mojito, which she liked. We had a caramel banana cake thing for dessert, which was quite nice.

The staff was a little overwhelming. We had at least 5 people bring us things or take things from our table. But the service was good, and everyone who did come to the table was very pleasant. It was a little warm in the restaurant.

I really liked the bathroom - nice stone tiles and funky orange walls. The finish on the construction left a little to be desired. However, they plainly aren’t quite finished with the construction. The floor of the entire restaurant is still bare concrete. So maybe they’ll polish off the bathroom soon.

Anyway, I’m glad to have them here in the neighborhood. And it will be really cool when they open up the outdoor patio, which I think will just about double the capacity.

Afterwards, we went up to the Marx Cafe in Mount Pleasant. That just might be my new favorite low-key bar. The place looks like a barn or something. Lots of exposed wood, as if it’s still being built. The wife’s friend said it looked kind of like a wine cellar - they have bottles over the bar on some kind of strange shelves.

The beer selection is odd but good.  They serve beers I’ve never heard of in glasses with the name of the beer on it.  The service was great. The waitress even laughed at a marginally funny comment I made, which is always nice.  There was a slightly obnoxious group next to us, but not too terrible.  And the music was fantastic.  Apparently the DJ for most of the night is only there once a month or so, but he played nothing I’d ever heard before, and nothing I didn’t like.  Not that I would go out and buy everything he played or anything like that.  But you know how the bar always plays some really horrific stuff at some point, like some Jane’s Addiction or some other intolerable crap?  This bar played none of that.  And they have a really interesting menu, although we didn’t try anything.  Maybe next time.

Anyway, I heartily recommend both.

We were at RFD last night, and I couldn’t resist the Dogfish Head Raison D’Extra. I probably should have resisted, but I didn’t. Now I’m paying for it.

Anyway, the beer is 18% alcohol. It cost $19.95 for a 12 ounce bottle. And it’s pretty good. It’s not something I would drink very often. It’s very sweet, a little bit in the wine direction but not too far.

And I was thinking - with that much alcohol, drinking one of those is more or less like drinking a six pack of Miller Lite.  Except you can be much more smug about it.

The waiter almost got his arm ripped off, though.  He actually tried to take the glass when there was still a swallow left.  Ordinarily, I probably would have let him go.  But that was like $4 worth of beer left.  So I punched him in the face.

Not really.  But you get the idea.

Above And Beyond: Sierra Nevada’s Cool, Refreshing Customer Service - Consumerist

Total Wine said they’d exchange the beer for different cases — (hopefully they’ll have Sierra Nevada from this year) and Sierra Nevada said that they would send a check to reimburse the full cost of the cases if Total Wine didn’t exchange the old beer!

Story from Consumerist of a couple who bought three cases of Sierra Nevada for their wedding (The wife and I had Sierra Nevada at our wedding, too - certainly it follows that the couple in this story are just good people.) that turned out to be quite old.

Now, I’m not sure why they went straight to the brewer, but they did, and Sierra Nevada made sure they had fresh, delicious beer for their wedding.  Well done, Sierra Nevada.  To be fair, Total Wine, the place they bought the beer, did exchange the old cases.  But you can never have too much good service.  I don’t think.

Logan @ the Heights

The Heights is the quintessential neighborhood restaurant: perfect for a quick weekday bite, a night out with friends, or a lazy weekend Brunch.

The Heights is opening this Friday, according to signs in the window. I’m excited. I know it’s not the neighborhood bar/restaurant that they’d like you to think it is. I mean, this is their fourth one, which is approaching chain-status. But Merkado is pretty good, and I’ve heard good things about the others, and this one is ours. Now we can tell those snooty Mount Pleasant jerks that they can keep their crappy bars.

I’m just kidding, really. The only Mount Pleasant bar I’ve been to is The Raven, and it’s a cool place. And aside from the occasional “your neighborhood has more crime than our neighborhood” potshots, which are probably deserved, I like the people I know in Mount Pleasant. To be fair, that’s really only one couple, but still.

Anyway, the wife has a friend in town Friday, so maybe we’ll stop by the opening. Or maybe they have other plans. I don’t really know. But you can be sure I’ll try out The Heights eventually. And no, I don’t plan on calling it Logan @ The Heights unless they call the one down there The Heights @ Logan.

The wife is in Vegas for work, so I’m left on my own until Thursday. Last night, I cooked a frozen pizza for dinner, but tonight, I thought I’d do something a little nicer. When I was in college and lived near my paternal grandmother, she used to cook me dinner sometimes. It was nearly always the same thing. Steak, steak fries, and peas. She always had Coke to drink, and always had something for dessert. Here I’ve substituted a Red Hook Long Hammer IPA for the Coke, and I was too lazy to cook the peas, but the rest of the dinner is all there.

I made a pretty big greasy mess of the stove, and I overcooked the steak, but it was immensely satisfying nonetheless. The wife, apparently, is going to a sushi buffet with some coworkers tonight, and ordinarily I would be jealous. But not tonight.

I do miss the wife, but she’ll be back soon, and I also appreciate the time alone. The cat and I are hanging out (she was helping me cook. And by “helping me cook” I mean “poking around in the trash and sniffing the bit of leftover gristle in there”), watching some tv, and enjoying our freedom.

You can see the rest of the pictures of dinner here.

It’s actually quite a nice day out.  It was a little cold this morning as we lost our flag football game, but it’s 47 and sunny now.  Excuse me for a moment . . . Ahh, that’s better.  Sorry, just had to take a quick break and drink a little Bell’s Oberon that we got from Whole Foods just half an hour ago.  We were there trying to find key limes for a pie, but had to settle for regular limes.  Hopefully our hosts this evening won’t notice.  The wife will probably tell them.

Anyway, I took a little detour down the beer aisle, because I knew they had Bell’s, and wanted to see if they had anything new.  Turns out they did, as they did not have Oberon last time.  It’s out of season now, so this is maybe the dregs of the summer run, but, contrary to what Budweiser might tell you, beer doesn’t have to be bottled in the last week to taste good.  And honestly, lukewarm skunked Oberon is better than freshly bottle Budweiser anyway.

So we picked up a little sushi, and a little Bell’s, and even a new flavor of Odwalla bar.  It’s so new it’s not even on their website yet.  It’s called Choco-Walla, and I haven’t tried one yet, but it’s sure to be delicious.

The cat is currently trying to drink my beer.  I might have to lock her in a closet.

Now Whole Foods has Bell’s, too!  What a great time to live in the DC area.  You West Coast deserters (You know who you are) can kiss my Bell’s-drinking behind.