The Slip Inn

Do: drink beer on the river
Don’t: eat any food. You may die. The frying oil hasn’t been changed since the Reagan administration.

I would give zero starts except it was sunset on a beautiful night. The food was horrible and took a really long time.

Very convenient, however the food leaves something to be desired. I wish the same restaurant from the bowling alley would get the contract here, that would make this place perfect.

For the location I would give it 5 stars. Sit outside at the waters edge and enjoy the view and fresh air. The restaurant however just offers bar food, and its just ok. I asked for my wings crispy, well I could tell they didn’t cook them any extra because they were barely warm.
So for food offerings they have fried chicken, wings, ½ smoke, ribs. ¼ chicken, sausage. there are a few sides to buy separately and that’s it.

I give the convenience of the place 4 stars, but the drinks, prices and food were just OK. I do give them props for copper cups for some decent moscow mules.

Open Tuesday thru Saturday! Smoked brisket is as good as it can be — live music every Friday… waterfront happiness

The talked about untapped potential is coming to life. The slip inn has improved its food, staff, drinks, hours, and events. I give it a four star now but when I was sitting on the deck with half an IPA and half my George wings and smoked ribs with great live music on a Friday afternoon life was complete and then is when the slip inn earned a five star. Check out there event schedule cause there are many more big events coming. Like 4^th of July block party and reggae on June 17^th. All events free what? Ok another five star feeling.

Update — they’ve done some work/​updating to the menu — Fried chicken and brisket options. Lots of fat and kinda rubbery brisket… chicken and tots it OK. Still LONG wait for food.
There’s a Bud Lite –a-​Rita machine now! (the ladies love it)
STILL a great and relaxing view of the Potomac and casually watching Reagan airport ops with a cold drink is pretty cool. Justin (who also works at the Bolling Club) is a good man behind the counter.

Went there today with a couple of friends to catch up and have some lunch. Weren’t expecting much foodwise, but what we got was a disaster. Pretty much everything on the menu is fried, so if you don’t like fried stuff don’t bother coming here to eat. They have a very small section of «bbq» stuff, so we ordered ¼ bbq chicken with a side of slaw. The chicken came wrapped in some greasy paper and what I found inside was scary. It looked like half a chicken caracas that had been on the side of the road in the sun for too long. On top of that it still had feathers on it. $ 9.99 for something that went straight into the trash… what a waste. Like some of the other folks said… great location and sooooo much potential, but somehow MWR never seems to be able to bring in a decent renter for the bar. Too bad! Definitely won’t come back to eat.

Been here about three times.
The food is okay and the workers are very nice. Being able to be next to the river is wonderful.
Everything is good but I don’t like the chicken. When I had it the breading was very thick and because of that they couldn’t tell that they over cooked the chicken.
The menu is very small but they are open for only a few days a week out of the year and there food and beer is cheap and its right near home so that’s a plus for me.
Some other people might like it better. My husband loves it but me personally not so much.

If Spike TV could find a way to get on JBAB to film an episode of «Bar Rescue,» the Slip Inn would be prime candidate #1. Took the family to «Reggae Night» last week and it was an unmitigated disaster. I mean, I do enjoy watching Bar Rescue, and I thought I was in an actual episode at the Slip Inn! There were easily 100 – 125 patrons jammed on the deck and inside the restaurant, with only two cooks, one bartender, one cashier, and one waitress tending to the chaos. The line for ordering food was 15 – 20 people deep. We waited nearly 40 minutes for a basket of ok wings, a couple plates of watery jerk chicken & rice, and greasy fries. The manager was walking around, just hanging out in the bar area, not engaged, and not very helpful. Several people waiting in line just gave up and eventually left the place. When food was finally ready, there was no organized way to deliver it to the customers. You’d think that JBAB MWR management would hire more staff for a well advertised event like reggae night. They must have known more than just the average Friday night crowd of 10 – 15 patrons would be showing up. Total fail on management’s part. I’ll try the place again on a ‘regular night’ and see if things get better, but I’m not holding my breath…

It gets one star mainly because it wasn’t open at 6pm on a Saturday. In fact I don’t think this place is open at all on the weekends. What in the world?
Other than that they have cheap drinks (for DC), the food is okay and it is nice to sit on the deck when it is nice outside.

Bottom Line Up Front:
Come here for a beer on the patio on a nice work day. Do not come here for food.
Pros:
Good location
Good parking
Remodeled outdoor deck
Beer
Cons:
Unpleasant staff
Poor and very limited food selection
Contract management (hint: get a new vendor!)
Untapped potential
CWA cooks with attitude
$ 7 for a bad hotdog w fries
Removed burgers from the menu, likely because that won’t go from the freezer to the deep fryer
Overall, this place disappoints for lunch, but if you left work early to come here for a beer, it’s passable. This place would be out of business if it weren’t on the base. Base contracting should get a whole new crew/​vendor in here. It’s untapped potential. Why is the base Burger King and BX packed, yet the Slip Inn has no more than 3 of 10 tables filled for lunch should be telling.

Great food, staff needs a little kick in the rear but with a little time and better hours could be an awesome place. Also has great views from outdoor deck would be better with music playing on the unused stereo system.

I enjoyed starting my birthday celebrations here a couple of days early, though I’m not sure if that was because of the food and drink or because my boss let me leave work 5 hours early. Oh right, the latter.
I tried to go here once before and the gate guards dicked up the directions something fierce, so for those of us who aren’t land nav savvy, here you go: from the south gate, turn left onto the street where the Commissary is (the same road where the Class 6 is for the drunkards). Turn right onto the first Arnold you come to – it’s a loop so there are two. Go straight a block and a half (through one stop sign) and the Slip Inn is a little tiny unlabeled shack on your left with parking on your right. The inside of the bar is newly remodeled, but it’s still a hella small shack that you may miss if you blink.
The food is very ehh. It’s edible but is reminiscent of bowling alley food. I had the pulled pork sandwich. FYI potato wedges and french fries are apparently the same thing even though they’re on the menu as two distinct sides. For the pork, hamburger bun and a side of «wedges,» it was $ 6-​something but seemed like it should have been maybe $ 3.50 considering I’d expect an Air Force DFAC to serve better chow.
The beer is a step up, with nine beers on tap and others available by the can or bottle. I was impressed that none of the drafts were anything «lite» though two of my coworkers still got Bud Lite and Coors Lite. Sigh. The pitcher of Starr Hill amber ale was certainly the better option. Other choices include Shock Top, Devil’s Backbone and Blue Mountain. It’s nice to see some local choices rather than just the major national brands. And they have a full bar if beer isn’t your thing.
As for the «nice view» everyone mentions… umm, it’s the Potomac. It’s dirtier than the shack with its flies inside and out. And being by Reagan as a perk? Sorry, I’m not a four year old boy. The only nice view I had was of the Coasties taking a 240B off one of their boats. Yum. Unfortunately I’m talking about the gun not the Coasties; the thing was damn near as big as the boat. All the same, if the location is convenient, it’s a nice enough place to sit outside with ample umbrellas and reggae music, and a great place to start a five hour vacation from work.

On a visit to DC while staying on base came in for dinner and drinks on one of those hot sultry nights. Food was okay for an on base venue, you have to go inside to order, and then they call your name when it’s ready. The setting was good, right on the Potomac, and the outdoor bar was cool on the hot, late spring night. Closes pretty early, but we had to get an early start the next day anyway.

It’s a bar with a view. A really great view, which overall gave them another star. The beer is reasonable (often the case on a military base) and the food is, well, meh. Sitting outside make up for that, though the occasional giant rat sightings also detracts things.
If you want to have a beer and enjoy a unique view of the city (or if you are one of those people obsessed with watching planes land and helicopters fly over you?) this is a nice place to visit.

CWA (COOKS WITH ATTITUDES)
So much more can be done with the place! Old wings, bad DJ, more like a dive! Get with it BAFB… the surrounding bases and now the national harbor has way more to offer.

I stopped by the other day after a long day at work. The sun was out, grill was hot, and the pitchers of beer were cold. Not sure what else there is to say…
This is a great spot to sit back and watch the day go by with some friends and a few beers. Decent food at a reasonable price and Yuengling make this a great happy hour joint.
I will definitely be back when the weather clears up.

Great place if you can get on the base!
I liked the idea of being outside on a spring day, with a cup of Yuengling, and a basket of wings. Oh, all while sitting next to a marina off of the Anacostia. Great way to spend some time with classmates after a grueling eight hour day of classes.
My only complaint? The noise from DCA. But hey, I guess you can’t have everything when you’re in DC. But this is one of those little best kept secrets that I’ll have to hit up again when it’s toward the evening hours and the planes stop running.