Logan Tavern

While I was away, it seems Logan Circle became the happening place for restaurants. Or so the word on the street goes. High on the list of "must try" restaurants was Logan Tavern, with its reputation for home-style comfort foods, like fried chicken, mac 'n' cheese, and meatloaf. So, with high hopes for an 8 p.m. dinner on Saturday night, we made our way down to Logan Tavern, directly across from the Whole Foods on the corner of 14th & P St in Logan Circle -- or, as the real estate agents like to call it, Dupont East.

Logan Tavern was packed full on Saturday night. They don't take reservations for parties of less than 6, so upon our arrival, we spent about 45 minutes at the bar, drinking down incredibly alcoholic concoctions, like a Caipirinha that was all alcohol and almost no sugar, and a blueberry mojito, which had fresh blueberries floating it in but no blueberry taste. The restaurant is mostly booths, with a few large tables in the center.

We were seated at the front of the restaurant at a large booth. It took about 10 minutes before we were given bread and our drinks. In fact, the service throughout the evening was slow, although our waiter fully made up for it in character. The only thing our waiter had more of than tattoos were opinions, largely about the food. And, to be fair, he was right on all counts. Though we'd be recommended the "comfort foods" at Logan Tavern, we were quickly steered away. The fried chicken was, we were told, "boneless, skinless chicken breasts thrown in a deep fat fryer," and the meatloaf was "meatloaf, like you could make at home." Instead, he recommended we try the pork, the seafood stew, the steak, or the fish. If there's anything we've learned in our year and a half of food blogging, it's that when a waiter offers suggestions, you better listen.

We started our meal with two appetizers, Baby Back Ribs w. Honey-Hoisin Glaze and Buffalo Shrimp w. Blue Cheese Sauce . Both were fantastic. The ribs were succulent and the meat fell off the bone, as ribs should. The buffalo shrimp were large and the buffalo sauce was mixed together with cheese, creating a think sauce that was so good we got extra bread to dip in it. Through the rest of the meal was excellent, I'd say the appetizers are by far the best food in the house. Entrees all come with salad or soup, so we each had a house salad as our second course. The salad was fine but nothing spectacular and the soup didn't sound especially interesting.

For dinner, I had the pork chop special, an incredibly thick pork chop served with garlic mashed potatoes and apple sauce. The pork chop was excellent, as was the mashed potatoes. The apple sauce was, well, apple sauce. There's really not much you can do to apple sauce. I'd definitely recommend it. One of my dining companions had the Roasted Pork Loin in Sweet Asian Mustard on our waiter's recommendation and said it was divine. The other had the Grilled Salmon, which she said was great, too, although by that point her Caipirinha and wine had left her a bit tipsy, so I wouldn't trust her recommendations. We passed on dessert, although they looked incredible.

The only downside to the evening was the speed the food came out. It took a very long time between ordering and the delivery of the appetizers and an equally long time between the appetizers and the main course. Once they get those wrinkles worked out, though, I can see it being an excellent neighborhood restaurant.

Total bill for three people, including wine, two appetizers, and three mains, was about $110 before tip, not including our alcoholic concoctions before the meal.

Logan Tavern is part of another D.C. trilogy of restaurants, eatwelldc. The other two are Merkado Kitchen, directly next door, and Grillfish, at 1200 New Hampshire Avenue.

Logan Tavern
1423 P St. NW
Washington DC 20005