The Brickskeller

If you want to visit a bar that will not serve you or pay any attention to you whatsoever, by all means visit the Brickseller! Let me start off by saying that I'm from Miami, FL so I think I know a little bit about how bars in big cities should be run. So basically, my visit to the Brickseller was quite possibly the worst vacation experience I've ever had. I walked in with a group of 13 people which was a mix of family and friends. Right off the bat I noticed that the bar smelled old and musty. The red carpet was dirty, the wood tables were worn down, and the tablecloths were pretty nasty as well. But I had heard about this amazing beer selection, so foolishly, I proceeded. The extremely unfriendly wait staff walked us to the back corner of the bar where I knew it would be hard to get any attention. I found it odd that they would do this because there were plenty of empty tables in the main area. After EXACTLY 15 minutes of being ignored, I walked over to the bar and asked the bartender for some menus. As I'm walking away I hear him tell a couple of the waiters, ""Is anyone gonna help those people back there?"" To which one waiter replies, ""I'm not! I have too many tables already."" Then I walked back over to my table of hungry and thirsty people with menus in hand. We all knew what we wanted to drink and eat but after another 20 minutes of being ignored, we still had yet to speak to a waiter. As a matter of fact, on three separate occasions, waiters would peek their heads over towards us and then just walk away. So that's when we realized that something was up and decided to leave. As we were walking out, I fully expected for someone to ask us what was wrong, or why we were leaving but no one even looked at us! It was almost as if they wanted us to leave. This was definitely not how we wanted our night to end after a long day of sightseeing. To sum it all up, I can't tell you if the food was any good or if the beer was cold because the staff there is too inept to wait on a table of 13 paying customers. If you are in D.C. and you want some good bar food and a great beer selection PLEASE DO NOT EAT HERE! There are plenty of other great places around town that have a friendly wait staff and a much nicer/cleaner establishment. Pros: Nothing Cons: Everything more

A D.C. beer institution ""the Brick"" is a great place to try bears that you would otherwise not find outside of specialty liquor and wine marts. A knowledgeable staff makes this place a must stop spot for anyone who is looking to truly have a more than ordinary drinking adventure. Pros: Best selection in town Cons: Not an amazing draft selection more

So Brickskeller DOES have a lot of beer. But I've never been to a ""beer place"" that doesn't offer a single brew on draft. Personally, if I wanted bottled beer I could go to the package store down the street and save myself a bundle. But whatever--we heard it was good so we stayed. The place is a dark hole-in the wall, and I could see how, in a certain depressing kind of way it could be fun....but I personally would not be back. b/c not only was there no drafts available, but when I ordered an Irish beer they brought me an English beer (the offense!) AND the bartender had a really terrible attitude for someone who only has to take tops off bottles and hand you a napkin. Seriously??! Pros: Lots of choices Cons: ALL bottles. Plus the staff is cranky. more