I believe that's four strikes...

I’m not a big bar guy. Over the past year I’ve essentially stopped drinking, which in addition to saving me a ton of money, has also given me very little reason to ever set foot in a bar.

My favorite bar of my college years, Nanny O’Brian’s, has gone significantly downhill since the days when I would spend ridiculous amounts of money there on gin and cheap beer. So when a few friends of mine that I see once every ten blue moons decide to get together I figure that we should head to what seems to be one of the hot bars in DC at this moment: Bar Pilar.

Nestled in a wonderful spot in the U St. area, Bar Pilar has a relatively unassuming façade, but inside you’ll find a long, narrow room buzzing with activity, with every square inch packed – even as early as eight o’clock on a Friday night.

The actual bar is crammed over on the right side, taking up most of the wall – the left side is taken up by tables filled mostly by people eating. Desperately looking for a table for four, we had to settle for a set of two bar stools by the window (where a small counter stands).

Not too long after we take our seats we’re handed menus and order our food. I ordered a warm apple crepe, having had dinner earlier – and my friend Pat ordered a roasted chicken dish.

It’s around here where things started going downhill. The service was painfully slow – even though the place was at capacity, our waitress paid very little attention to us, as opposed to the tables next to us filled with people dressed significantly better than us and ordering wine like it was their job – leading one of my friends to comment, “She knows where she’s getting her tips from.”

Finally we’re served our food. My warm apple crepe was only slightly above room temperature, and very underwhelming. At four dollars, it initially seemed like a deal, but I would have been better off getting a couple of apple pies from McDonalds across the street for a buck.

Pat’s chicken looked decent – a skinless piece of chicken that looked tender, served with a side of greens, but there was one problem – it was raw in the middle…which is a bit of a problem.

After waiting fifteen minutes for someone to stop by and check on us, we were able to point out the uncooked chicken, and were told to not worry about the check. So with that we left, and honestly, I’ll probably never go back.

The bar itself is small, it was impossible to get a table, the service was slow, and the food was disappointing. The U St. area has a lot of great places to eat and meet up with friends; this just isn’t one of them.

Bar Pilar
1833 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
202.265.1751
http://www.barpilar.com