First Look: Tacklebox

Here's Apple's take on our visit to Tacklebox a couple days ago...and here's the very blurry picture I took of her with Chef Barton Seaver:



Went last night with a few friends from work-- this place is (not surprisingly) pretty great. For $13 I had a plate of at least 8 lightly-fried oysters, a big pile of some of the best collards I've ever had, and a fresh and tasty frisee salad with basil-walnut vinaigrette. Everybody else seemed quite happy with their food too. But what really makes this place great (again, not surprisingly) is Barton Seaver, who was in the "kitchen" (/behind the counter) last night. Turns out his cooks accidentally made two of one friend's meal-- so we got the extra plate too (more oysters? more asparagus? sure!). When my plate came out with a green salad instead of the potato salad I requested-- no problem, here's some potato salad, enjoy! And when a third friend's plate took a little longer than the rest of ours (its an order-at-the-counter-and-wait type place, so this is to be expected) Mr. Seaver came out to hand-deliver it with a big slice of amazing blueberry pie as a token of apology. And it was all very tasty.

I think he's got a big winner here-- the inside of the space is cute and homey already, and it was more than full by the time my crew and I left to enjoy Ben & Jerry's free scoop night. The staff makes it clear that you are their priority. At $13 for a plate of good, carefully prepared food, its a bargain on M Street. And with enough options to please just about any picky eater (the mac'n'cheese was reportedly fantastic, and there are both hotdogs and hamburgers on the menu), I see this becoming a go-to spot for tourist families looking for a quick, easy, and "DC-special" place to grab lunch between splurges. And lets be honest, the Georgetown kids who are missing their traditional summers on the Cape won't hurt business either.