Old Dominion Brew House
1219 9th St. N.W.
I’ve only been reporting to you, the readers, for a couple of weeks now, but in actuality I’ve been an active drinker for a couple of years. Something I’ve noticed along the way is the surprising lack of sports bars in this area, so my challenge for this article was to find a sports bar worthy of advertising in this here Hatchet.
Sept. 23 marked the beginning of fall. The weather’s cooling down, you’ve begun skipping classes and, most importantly, the football season is in full throttle. In the religion of football, the players are my gods – beer, their blood and sports bars become my church. The sports bar atmosphere is vital to the game-watching experience. You need crazy fans, cheap draft beer and big-screen televisions in order to claim sanctuary. I’m sure you have your own picks for this college season, but I’m keeping my eyes on Alabama and West Virginia – mostly because my friends would kill me if I didn’t glorify these teams, and then who would report to you?
This weekend we ventured to Old Dominion Brew House to root on Alabama along with dozens of sweet home fans. About a 15-minute Metro ride, the bar is located about a block away from the Convention Center/Mount Vernon stop. Old Dominion Brew House is fairly new and well-kept with a ton of screens displayed throughout the room.
The top reason for going there, however, is the (drumroll please.) MIGHTY BEER TOWER! For $20 you can purchase a beer-loaded tube that pours out about ten to twelve cups. For those up to the challenge, every person at the table should get his or her own and compete to see who finishes first – it’s a guaranteed good time. If the beer tube is a little too intimidating, you can buy a bucket of Bud Light, Dos Equis, Amstel or Heineken for about $12. I’m pretty sure there are drink specials too, but please don’t be that guy or girl who sips on a drink during a football game. If I ever see you out doing that, I will make fun of you.
In addition to great beer contraptions, the food is pretty enjoyable too. Appetizers and wings tend to run pricey, but you can bypass the expensive stuff with a $3 eight-inch pizza. The wait staff accommodates the crowd surprisingly well, but watch out for a certain waiter going by the name of James – the Little Richard look-alike didn’t take kindly to replacing our towers every five minutes.
Across from the area overrun with Alabama fans was another bar that was for the more social drinker. This portion of the Brew House didn’t have any tables or chairs, but it did draw me in with a particular jukebox. When Alabama started to lose I scurried over to purchase a little tune that would keep my spirits high, but unfortunately it didn’t work.
Another amenity that surprised me about this bar was the bathroom. I know it seems like I have a creepy obsession with them, but when you are a girl drinking lots of beer, you tend to bond with the bathroom scene and inevitably judge a bar based upon it. Well, this bathroom had it all – I’m talkin’ cribs-worthy. It was clean, large, high-tech and, best of all, it had a television. Perchance there was that doomed line, fans could still watch their teams duke it out on the flat panel hanging above the hand dryer. Classy, right?
If you’re up for the hike there, Old Dominion Brew House was a great venue for the football fanatic. For this holy site, I’m singing Hallelujah!
Bar Belle Rating: three of four bells.
