Logan Tavern: Never-disappointing chic American fare in D.C.
Logan Tavern is an accurate nod towards the booming neighborhood taking over the residential desirability that was once in nearby Dupont Circle. Situated across from Whole Foods, Logan Tavern aims to be a shabby-chic restaurant with a varied New American menu and casual atmosphere for the young, but equally chic, neighborhood professional.
The restaurant, less than a dozen blocks from the White House and Pennsylvania Avenue, opens to a wine bar with a chalk board featuring wines-by-the-glass and a list of specialty beer brewers; some of the after-work crowd lingers there for hours on end. The two-room restaurant is lined with dark wood booths and tables, but the middle of the main room features a family-style table with candlelabras, dripping with wax, inviting people to dine together if they choose.
The wait for any table on Thursday evenings through the weekend can be an hour or more, particularly in summer; but the diners are rarely dissatisfied with service or food. The wait staff pays exceptional attention to its customers and often a free dessert will appear on the table should your food take longer than expected to arrive.
Its menu features comfort foods with an upscale twist – mac & cheese with Maryland crab, rack of lamb with polenta, and seared scallops are three never-disappointments. Flavorful and light salads with red beets and jicama, roasted dates wrapped in bacon, artichokes with parmesan and lemon horseradish are a few ways to start the evening.
Save room for dessert: the bread pudding is always a good bet, as is the chocolate cake. Its brunch menu is also equally tasty: the Crabcake Benedict is a must if you’re a crab fan.
The restaurant sees its fair share of Washington’s celebrities, i.e. politicians. Logan Tavern was the scene of the revelation where a New York congressman drank a few too many at the wine bar and later revealed he had a secret family in Virginia.
Not all nights at Logan Tavern will end up on page six of The Washington Post, but good times are always expected to be had there.
Posted by Rin-rin Yu
