Bardo Rodeo

From DC-Beer Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Sorry - This establishment is no longer in business.

1 Replaced By
2 RIP
3 Notes
4 Navigation

Replaced By

Dr. Dremo's Taphouse

RIP

Beers: Wide variety of American, British and German Ales.

Bardo always has 12 of the following of their own beers on tap at any given time:
- Bardo Pale Ale (British-style Bitter)
- Beat My Wheat (American Wheat Ale)
- Berlin Alexanderplatz (Berliner Weisse?)
- Black Watch Scotch Ale
- Bubba's Sour Mash Ale
- Bundaberg Ginger Beer
- Buffalo Stout
- Centennial India Pale Ale
- Chaco Canyon Chili Beer
- Chinook Pacific Northwest Ale (American Pale Ale)
- Dillon's Extra Special Bitter
- Dremo Tibetan Bigfoot (IPA)
- El Jefe Hefeweizen
- Graceland Imperial Stout
- HeadLight (Light Ale)
- James Brown Ale (Brown Ale)
- Marion Berry Lambic
- Oil Can Porter
- Russ' Raspberry (Raspberry Wheat Ale)
- Slant Six Strong Ale
- Vincent Black Shadow (Golden Ale -- misleadingly billed as "American Pilsner")
- White Lightnin' (Barleywine 1994 GABF Silver Medal)
Guest beers on draft include a large selection of American and imported craft brews, including such things as Pilsner Urquell, Guinness Stout, Spaten Optimator, Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, DeGroen's Pils, and Rappahanock Red. Some bottled beers are available.
For non-beer drinkers, Bardo also carries Woodpecker Cider. For a non-alcoholic treat, try the Dominion Rootbeer, brewed by [micros.html#od Old Dominion Brewing Company] in Virginia.

Food: Unique!

Sangre De Cristo Black Bean Chili $5.99
With chopped onions and cheese.
Buck Nekkid On Ko Samui $6.22
Thai fire grilled chicken wings served with hot and sour glass noddle salad & dipping sauce.
She Was So Fine I'd Eat The Corn Out Of Her Daddy's Garden $5.99
BBQ (slathered in James Brown Ale) drunken chicken quesadilla with jack cheese, topped with grilled corn and tomato salsa and sour cream.
Honey, Where's The Keys To The Vincent? $6.45
Pizza layered with spinach, covered with blue cheese and mozzarella, brushed with garlic & olive oil and topped with onions carmelized in Bardo Porter.
Georgia O'Keefe Always Called Him Dennis Popper $6.45
Blue corn nachos heaped with black bean chili and covered in salsa fresca and sour cream.
Killin And Grillin Those Portabello Sandwiches $7.14
Grilled portabello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, boursin cheese, romaine leaves, multigrain baguette. Served w/ slaw.
Hopland Beer Garden Burger (vegetarian) $6.22
Lettuce, Tomato, Curry mayo, onions carmelized w/ James Brown Ale.
That Burning Ring Of Fire $7.14
Wet Burrito with Grilled chicken, black beans & covered with ranchera sauce and tons o' cheese.
One Off The Roo Guard $5.99
Drunken Bean Quesadilla with jack cheese and secret salsa.
Que Ese Vata Loco? $5.99
Mambo large salad with romaine and other esoteric seasonally available greens, topped with Bardo's own Wheat beer dressing.
Yah-Ta-Hey And Window Rock
A Genuine Dinsch (Navajo) Taco heaped with cheese, sauce, & lettuce.

Prices

Beers
- Mugs: $2.53 ($1.38 during Happy Hour)
- Pints: $3.92 ($1.84 during Happy Hour)
- Pitchers: $9.91 ($5.53 during Happy Hour)
Entrees range from $5.99 to $7.14. (See menu above).

Atmosphere

Like the beers and the food they serve, the atmosphere is unique. The building is a converted car dealership, and it doesn't look like much conversion has been done. They have a bunch of pool tables, a reasonable number of bathrooms, and a very large non-smoking section. At night, the place can be quite noisy due to the number of people there and the loud music. Early happy hour (5:00 pm - 6:00 pm) is a better time to go if you don't like crowds and noise.

Comments

Claim to be the largest brewpub in the US, capable of seating 800! This includes 500 indoor seats as well as 300 outdoor seats.
They have 132 taps and 24 pool tables.
An indoor sandbox is available, in which children can play under the watchful supervision of their parents.
Tours are available on Thursdays at 7:00 pm. For more info, call ahead or ask at the bar.
Bardo is certainly not for everyone. There are a lot of things to like about it, and probably just as many to not like.
Pros are:
- It's huge. You can go there with a large group of people and actually all sit down.
- During happy hour their own beers are $6 a pitcher, which is the least expensive pitcher you'll find in the DC Metro area.
- Located near the Courthouse Metro stop for easy access.
- Some of their beers are pretty good. The Dremo Tibetan Bigfoot is an egregiously overhopped ale that is sometimes very good. The Slant 6 Strong Ale is typically very good. Their estery White Lightning Barleywine won a silver at the '94 GABF.
- The food can be good and is, at the least, innovative.
Cons are:
- Their beers are not very consistent between batches. A given beer can be excellent one time, but undrinkable the next time you visit. The ones that seem to vary the most include the Buffalo Stout, Black Watch Scotch Ale, Oil Can Porter and El Jefe Hefeweizen (which at its worse tastes like banana juice, with no phenols to balance the intense esters).
- Some of their beers are just plain bad, including the Beat My Wheat, Chaco Canyon Chili Beer, Bubba's Sour Mash Ale, Russ' Raspberry, Vincent Black Shadow, and Headlight.
- Accoustics are terrible and it can get quite noisy.

Hours

Mon - Fri: 11:30 am - 2:00 am
Sat: 1:00 pm - 2:00 am
Sun: 4:30 pm - 2:00 am
Happy Hour: Mon-Fri until 8:00 pm; All day Sunday.
Pool Rooms: 5:00 pm - 2:00 am every day.

Address

2000 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 527-9399 (recording of hours/directions/etc) (703) 527-1852 (real person)
From DC go across the Key Bridge and right on Wilson Boulevard.
One block east of the Courthouse Metro stop.

Entry Last Updated: July 9, 1995