Mad Rose Tavern, Clarendon - Closed

[lizzie]

Signs up on windows and paper down. Arlnow.com reports a mid-January opening, but it looks far from ready. Anyone know anything more about this, other than it is a bar with "great food, great times"?

[RWBooneJr]

Signs up on windows and paper down. Arlnow.com reports a mid-January opening, but it looks far from ready. Anyone know anything more about this, other than it is a bar with "great food, great times"?

From Facebook, it appears that Mad Rose is being opened by a Fado alum, and "will be featuring at least 40 different wines by the bottle as well as another 20+ by the glass.... 20 Draft beers on Tap, and a great selection of bottle beers as well. As for the shelf... we will be featuring a great collection of Scotch and Irish Whiskey to start."

This place will likely have a lot more in common with Spider Kelly's or Mr. Days than Eventide or Liberty.

[Chris Cunningham]

Actually, my friend and former chef at Dino and Enology- Johhny Neilsen is the chef The food should be pretty damn good and a cut above Spider Kelly's....I think it will give Eventide and the others a comparable run for the money. But they also will have a large patio area and the bar will appeal to all the little drinkers out there, so I think it will appeal to all the young drinkers and hopefully some foodies with what I knopw Johnny is capable of

[TSchaad]

Just got an email from Thrillist saying that Mad Rose Tavern expects to open this Wednesday. Based on the beer list and the menu items in the Thrillist article and the Mad Rose Facebook page, this could be a fun destination!

TSchaad

[SeanMike]

It was full of people yesterday...probably the soft opening? They were clearly still working too.

[SeanMike]

So went there last night with a buddy of mine. We started in the back bar then moved up to the front.

I ordered the Pigs in a Blanket. The Stachowski sausage was great - I wasn't a huge fan of the overly large pastry covering it.

My buddy ordered the Crab Balls, having been warned off by someone else at the bar of the Crab Deviled Eggs. The crab balls are basically deep fried mini crab cakes - they were also just kind of "ok".

The beer list was good. I'll warn you up front: the Southern Tier "Gemini" is a killer. An amazingly smooth and fruity double IPA that is 10.5% ABV and served as a pint at $7.

They're still getting their liquor list together - it seems not all the scotches are up yet, for one.

It is an interesting place. I guess Saturday night it turned into a dance club, though that wasn't the plan - last night it was fairly empty.

[Sthitch]

It appears that there has already been a change in management.

[SeanMike]

It appears that there has already been a change in management.

I went in there the other day. Given his quotes on ARLnow.com, I heard a rather different story from not-management there.

One thing I did hear from management is that they're going to be adding Yuengling and Stella onto their taps, I'm guessing at the detriment of two of the better beers on tap now. Ahhh, well, I mean, it IS so hard to find those two beers in Arlington!

Sounds like there will be some changes in interior decoration, too.

Then again, there was NO ONE in there when I went in, and even though it was a slow night in the Clizzle-dizzle, most of the other bars in the immediate area had mostly-full bar areas.

[BookGuy]

I went in there the other day. Given his quotes on ARLnow.com, I heard a rather different story from not-management there.

One thing I did hear from management is that they're going to be adding Yuengling and Stella onto their taps, I'm guessing at the detriment of two of the better beers on tap now. Ahhh, well, I mean, it IS so hard to find those two beers in Arlington!

Sounds like there will be some changes in interior decoration, too.

Then again, there was NO ONE in there when I went in, and even though it was a slow night in the Clizzle-dizzle, most of the other bars in the immediate area had mostly-full bar areas.

I walked past the place the other day and barely noticed it. I was walking up Clarendon Blvd to cross Washington Blvd. It is possible that the location is inhibiting people visiting as it is on the other side of the strip park from Liberty Tavern, Spider Kelly's, and a few other drinkers haunts.

[SeanMike]

Yes, I know a new chef is going there.

And they're redoing the beers.

And I didn't care for the food the last time I went.

But I tried again, and I did something I hate to do...

...I lied to the bartender.

I hate lying to bartenders. To mixologists? Oh yeah, I'll lie all the time. "I write a cocktail blog." "I know what I'm talking about." "No, no, no, baby, I love you for YOU, not for your looks." (The last only to Derek.)

"How's everything tonight?" he asked me as I poked at my meal.

"Oh, it's good," I said reflexively.

It was not.

From 4-8 it's half price beers according to the sign, though both of mine ended up somehow being $3.50 despite only one of them being $7 to start. Ahhh, well, it was a difference of $.50 I realized at the end of the night and didn't want to argue. They were out of the Southern Tier Gemini, which I adored last time I had it here, possibly because Stella and Yuengling are on tap now, and the menu didn't have them listed (perhaps one of those took its place?).

I ordered fried chicken, despite my hesitation. Primarily: it's listed as chicken tenders, and when the line on the menu says "Fried Chicken" I think chicken parts, not tenders. If they are tenders, you say "tenders". I, for instance, prefer dark meat for my fried chicken, and it's rare to get dark meat tenders.

(I really don't feel like changing that last sentence. Please, make your jokes and be on your way.)

The "fried chicken" - supposed to have a gravy that was fairly flavorless. The texture on at least one piece made me think liver more than white meat. Worst off, it was served ON TOP OF the mac & cheese accompaniment. Not cool

The mac & cheese - egads. No depth of flavor whatsoever. Mac & cheese, I've increasingly come to believe as SO MANY places put it on their menu, is very hard to great. Strike that - even to get decent. It's easy to get a thick, cloying, one-note cheese flavor over meaningless macaroni. I would rather have had Kraft brand, and I regretted not taking the bartender up on his offer of Sriracha sauce, even though that would not have done enough good to help it. I dosed it thoroughly with black pepper but ... sigh. And it stuck like glue to the chicken to where all I could taste on some bites was the "cheese".

The green beans - do you ever get those plastic bags of pre-washed green beans at the store that you throw into the microwave and the bag expands up and then you poke it and eat them? And they're usually all hard and at the same time meh and not so good? These were like that. And also buried UNDER the mac & cheese, so all you tasted was...well, cheese.

I'm still hungry. And kind of sad I wasted $13 on that food.

I thought "what would DonRocks do?" and I realized that going to another restaurant, ordering a malty beer or wine I have never heard of before, eating another meal, then coming back and writing some witty and pointed review that everyone reads isn't an option since a) I didn't feel like going anywhere else, though Ray's was really really tempting and b ) I don't actually expect anyone to read what I write, so I bought a bag of Doritos and a case of Miller Lite and went home for a cigar.

THE END

(I'll probably go back there sometimes for beers, as I do like their craft beer selections, and the patio was INSANE packed! But the dining room and front bar? Not so much, while everywhere else in the Clizzle-dizzle was crazy insane mondo packed.)

[goodeats]

I'm still hungry. And kind of sad I wasted $13 on that food.

Golly - it's pretty bad if you give the bleak sign of death on here! If it's any consolation, it was better than dropping $52 on a place tonight, by myself, and then buying gummy worms as some comfort food on the way home....

[DonRocks]

Yes, I know a new chef is going there.

And they're redoing the beers.

And I didn't care for the food the last time I went.

But I tried again, and I did something I hate to do...

...I lied to the bartender.

I hate lying to bartenders. To mixologists? Oh yeah, I'll lie all the time. "I write a cocktail blog." "I know what I'm talking about." "No, no, no, baby, I love you for YOU, not for your looks." (The last only to Derek.)

"How's everything tonight?" he asked me as I poked at my meal.

"Oh, it's good," I said reflexively.

It was not.

From 4-8 it's half price beers according to the sign, though both of mine ended up somehow being $3.50 despite only one of them being $7 to start. Ahhh, well, it was a difference of $.50 I realized at the end of the night and didn't want to argue. They were out of the Southern Tier Gemini, which I adored last time I had it here, possibly because Stella and Yuengling are on tap now, and the menu didn't have them listed (perhaps one of those took its place?).

I ordered fried chicken, despite my hesitation. Primarily: it's listed as chicken tenders, and when the line on the menu says "Fried Chicken" I think chicken parts, not tenders. If they are tenders, you say "tenders". I, for instance, prefer dark meat for my fried chicken, and it's rare to get dark meat tenders.

(I really don't feel like changing that last sentence. Please, make your jokes and be on your way.)

The "fried chicken" - supposed to have a gravy that was fairly flavorless. The texture on at least one piece made me think liver more than white meat. Worst off, it was served ON TOP OF the mac & cheese accompaniment. Not cool

The mac & cheese - egads. No depth of flavor whatsoever. Mac & cheese, I've increasingly come to believe as SO MANY places put it on their menu, is very hard to great. Strike that - even to get decent. It's easy to get a thick, cloying, one-note cheese flavor over meaningless macaroni. I would rather have had Kraft brand, and I regretted not taking the bartender up on his offer of Sriracha sauce, even though that would not have done enough good to help it. I dosed it thoroughly with black pepper but ... sigh. And it stuck like glue to the chicken to where all I could taste on some bites was the "cheese".

The green beans - do you ever get those plastic bags of pre-washed green beans at the store that you throw into the microwave and the bag expands up and then you poke it and eat them? And they're usually all hard and at the same time meh and not so good? These were like that. And also buried UNDER the mac & cheese, so all you tasted was...well, cheese.

I'm still hungry. And kind of sad I wasted $13 on that food.

I thought "what would DonRocks do?" and I realized that going to another restaurant, ordering a malty beer or wine I have never heard of before, eating another meal, then coming back and writing some witty and pointed review that everyone reads isn't an option since a) I didn't feel like going anywhere else, though Ray's was really really tempting and b ) I don't actually expect anyone to read what I write, so I bought a bag of Doritos and a case of Miller Lite and went home for a cigar.

THE END

(I'll probably go back there sometimes for beers, as I do like their craft beer selections, and the patio was INSANE packed! But the dining room and front bar? Not so much, while everywhere else in the Clizzle-dizzle was crazy insane mondo packed.)

How was the cigar?

[SeanMike]

How was the cigar?

Pretty darn good, in fact! On a night like this it's keeping me from being too bummed out about the meal!

[RWBooneJr]

I went before the shake-up, and thought that it was fine but would be the last place I'd go of the places on Clarendon square. I also thought it wasn't the tenth place I'd go in the neighborhood for food or drinks (though the latter were good) and maybe not the fifteenth. I hope the shake-up means better food or atmosphere eventually. But, assuming the owners were the ones that decorated, they badly misjudged me and the neighborhood (it looks like they wanted to open a club on 14th). Regardless, I will think of this place as a non-entity unless or until they do something different.

[dcs]

On a Capitals playoff Sunday with the rest of Clarendon bustling, I just watched two guys duck into the Mad Rose Tavern only to bolt out less than 3 seconds later. "Whoa, there was barely 5 people in there. The staff was like, 'Customers!'"

If ever there was a place that knew how to make itself barely visible in the heart of Clarendon, this is that place. I know the food has taken some knocks, but there were plenty other mediocre restuarants in the area doing a brisk business. The place looks hidden in plain sight.

I feel bad for any establishment that finds itself in this predicament. It has been reported that the owners spent a lot of money on renovations, and I am sure plenty of good people make their living there. That said, I smell doom.

[SeanMike]

So I went back last night. "What the heck," I thought, "I'll give them a second chance." It was before 8, so I'd be there in time to hit the half price beers and some of the $6 bar food.

There were a few big groups in there - not huge big, just 6-10 people maybe - and no one at the bar. I sat down and attempted to order a Green Flash West Coast IPA, the tap of which was right in front of me. The manager was confused. I pointed at it. He turned around and started looking at the wall of whiskey. Fortunately, the bartender showed up and got me the right beer.

I looked over both menus. Nothing really intrigued me but the wings. Offered both grilled and fried - I'm a big fan of grilled, myself - and in a number of flavors, they were still $6 at happy hour rather than the regular $9. So I ordered them, getting them half "Cajun" and half "Jamaican".

When the wings finally came out I was sipping on my second beer (a Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest). The wings were decently sized, but fairly dry on the inside. They definitely seemed overcooked. The sauces were slightly different, but I couldn't tell you which one was which - there was a hint of allspice or something like that familiar in the Jamaican, but not enough for me to recognize after about one. The sides were small pieces of celery and carrots and some blue cheese.

If I was the type of person to dunk my wings in the blue cheese - a practice that I typically find abhorrent except in rare occasions - that might have helped. But generally, I was a bit disappointed with them.

The beer prices after happy hour were a bit shocking...$8 for a Rogue Dead Guy? Eep. But $3.50 or $3.75? Very nice.

I might try again at happy hour sometime. I'd really like to get some decent wings that a) aren't fried chicken and b ) aren't buffalo!

[dcs]

A Massive Bar Dedicated to Bao To Open in Clarendon in March - It replaces Mad Rose Tavern, by Laura Hayes, Jan 17, 2017 2 PM on washingtoncitypaper.com