Boundary Road

Stopped in for a late meal so I had to order off the late night Menu. Not an extensive selection for the late night menu but very well selected items. We had three of us so we ordered and tried quite a bit of the menu. Everything was on point. The food, the service, the atmosphere. This is a top notch establishment doing things the right way. I’m from New Orleans so I can be a harsh critic. Our waitress was extremely knowledgable of the entire menu and very pleasant. A++ The bartender is an experienced professional with a vast understanding of his craft. A++, and the chef keeps this place going with first class precision. We talked with all of the team members throughout our meal and couldn’t have been happier with our pick (nice to see this kind of dedication to dining outside of New Orleans) Thanks a lot guys, wishing y’all the best, keep doing exactly what y’all are doing and y’all will be very successful. Can’t wait to come back in town to experience the full menu.

Really wonderful place, and the service is fantastic. The lemon custard French toast with coffee ice cream is a genius culinary move. We also had the biscuits and orange marmalade, bread plate and argentine steak salad. All were delicious. The rapini salad was a bit sour and slimy and the mimosa poor was a little on the short side for the price. The ambiance was fantastic for a light Saturday brunch.

This is probably closer to 2.5 stars to me, but the caveat may be that I was here for dinner — this might be an excellent place for happy hours because of good happy hour specials, a variety of alcohol (beer, wine, liquor, mixed drinks), and a large menu of small-​plate items. I found the beer particularly intriguing because aren’t the usual suspects.
Meanwhile, the menu of full entrees is tiny. What they have is creative and prettily plated though. I thought the monkfish dish was alright, although the secondary components (vegetables and sauce) were _​much_​more flavorful than the fish (which also had a bit of an odd texture to me).
Boundary Road is a smallish place, and, while friendly, I felt like there was less-​than-​subtle pressure from the staff to move along as the place began to fill up.

Whoever is doing the ambiance gets a 5.
Whoever is doing the bar program gets a 5.
Whoever is doing the serving gets a 5.
Whoever is imagining the menu gets a 5.
Whoever is EXECUTING on that menu gets a 1. It might be a 2, but the reality is so crushing after the promise of the menu, that I deduct an extra star for heartbreak.
_​_​_​
On paper, this seemed like EXACTLY my kind of place. Globally inspired, incredibly interesting, a focus on seasonal things (our menu featured lots of ramps and chanterelles), and when you read the menu items your foodie heart goes pitter patter. Plus, the ambiance was that classy industrial/​reclaimed barn feel, with perfect light levels and lots of wood and pipes and fairy lights. I was so, so ready to call this place home.
But once the brilliant-​sounding, great-​looking food hit my tongue, it was letdown after letdown.
Have you ever cooked something, and then tasted it and realized you forgot the salt? That feeling of «something is missing from this that would have tied it all together, but now it’s mysteriously bland and maybe even a little weird»? That’s essentially everything we had.
STARTERS:
The asparagus with ramp oil and duck egg was… fine. It was well-​prepared asparagus. The ramp oil had no flavor, the duck egg was gooey and decent, and then the whole thing was plated on a black grainy smear that had a really odd, off-​putting flavor that we just couldn’t place. The server went to investigate, and it turned out to be pesto made from burnt bread. Like, they burned the hell out of toast, then crumbled it with oil and something else and put it on a plate. Why? Why would they think that’s a good flavor?
The other starter, a veg dish with some local goat cheese, was ok. The cheese was pungent and the ingredients were all good, but nothing popped. At all. It was like the kitchen missed a critical ingredient, but I couldn’t place what it was.
MAINS:
The grain dish was an incredible-​sounding risotto. This, too, was inoffensive, like the kind of risotto you’d end up with if you were trying to make one based on a picture of a risotto: it looked right, but tasted accidental. Slightly tough grains, but I didn’t really mind. Mushrooms were there, but the mushroom flavor was hard to find. Lots of other great looking ingredients were floating around, but I couldn’t taste much of any of them. I’ve honestly had porridge with more flavor than that, and it made me so sad.
The meat main was lamb with dandelion greens and a white bean side, all of which sounded luxurious described on the menu. The lamb was well-​cooked, the sauce was tangy, the beans were smooth and the greens were a nice offset. But it was just… so… ordinary. If you put a little of every piece on a single forkful, it mustered a lovely moment of «Oh, hey, these tastes are kind of neat together,» but it was never more enthusiastic than that. And that was the highlight of the meal.
DESSERT:
The dessert was a chocolate maple crème brûlée with spiced pears and a crumble, which was strongly recommended. It was not a crème brûlée — more a firm pudding, topped with pears, which had been torched slightly so that a couple of them had a speck of brulee on them. But hey, I get what they were going for, so no complaints there… but the flavor was just so WEIRD. So lackluster. I could kind of get the chocolate, but any maple additions just altered the chocolate in an uncanny valley kind of way rather than standing out on their own alongside it. The pears were fine, and the crumble was distinctly tasty (all six little nuggets of it on the periphery of the plate).
The first round of coffee was cheap diner quality, and weirdly watery, which I theorized meant the waitress brought us milk instead of half and half. The second round of coffee was astonishingly better, and I saw the little afterswirl of cream, so I think a fresh pot and real half and half helped a lot.
DRINKS:
I was drinking daquiris, which they do real craft cocktail snob credit to: just a really beautiful aged rum that almost tasted overproof, simple syrup, and lime juice, served ice cold in an old school champagne coupe. Aw yes. He was drinking scotch, and they had Lagavulin, so he was happy.
VERDICT:
We both agreed that everything was ok but forgettable. Which is so very much not what I went in hoping for. We ate it all, and tipped 20% on what was a nearly $ 200 bill, but left underwhelmed.
I feel like maybe we got the B-​team in terms of kitchen staff? It’s hard to imagine someone who thought up some of those menu items would have then been unable to execute them memorably. But who knows. All I know is, I’ll be back for drinks, but not dinner. I don’t think I can bear seeing such promise rendered with such mediocrity again.

Service in training wasn’t too rough except for 1) the extra grilled bread we requested but never arrived– which ended up working out with the fries filling us up, and 2) our cheques coming back with zero pens. Printed charcuterie options were half out of date, but our first server informed us of the changes before we got our hopes too high and was able to steer us into a solid recommendation.
We were seated by the door, which is as far from the kitchen as possible, and excitedly opted to start with the veal sweetbreads. Not long after, we started looking around to see which table had set their paper menus on fire with the mood candles, but no fires. Then the smell got stronger as our app arrived at the table a couple minutes later, and I leaned down and sniffed: yup, this was the source of the odor. You could see where the sweetbreads’ surfaces had sat on the grill for too long. We carved off bites for each of us from the least blackened sections, but all we could taste was the burnt yogurt. I hate sending dishes back, but I sent it back so I wouldn’t have the cut the burned sections off myself, after which our server had other people check on us for the rest of our stay. It was charred with so many tiger stripes that she thought we’d sent it back without tasting it. The chef emerged to chat, and admitted he never laid eyes on our particular plate, but that despite my fondness for sweetbreads, it must have been cooked as intended. I took a deep breath to avoid asking him why a properly executed dish should temporarily fill the restaurant with the stink of carbon, and we agreed that perhaps it would be safest for us to have the cod cheeks instead.
The cod cheeks were okay, pleasantly flaky and complemented by the olives and chorizo, but skippable. The slender hand cut fries were good with and without their sriracha mayo, and comes as a heaping pile to share. Cocktails were balanced, and the entrees were all delicious. I preferred School Days over Canard Dans Le Verre, and the cachaca old fashioned was tastier than the ITAGAvespa. Bison short ribs were tender enough to fall off the bone and just moist enough. Bison steak was the simplest entrée we got and it still came with yummy sweet potatoes and other accoutrements. No regrets with my duck leg confit and boudin noir, as each of our proteins were flavorful and cooked perfectly.
Cute interior, lots of street parking in the area. The bar is on the small side, and was packed for happy hour. I dig their seasonally rotating menus and look forward to coming back for brunch or dinner, hopefully while When Pigs Fly is still available.

We were looking for a place serving brunch before going to a 1pm mixology class in the area. Checked out a few menus and decided on Boundary Road. I put together a breakfast of 2 eggs, potatoes and thick cut bacon. My dining partner ordered the french toast with concord grape ice cream and lemon curd. I guess we weren’t feeling that adventurous so he opted to have the lemon curd and grape ice cream on the side. The lemon curd is normally in between the french toast slices and I believe the grape ice cream is normally on top.
Lets talk about the french toast. This creation is really really good. Although apprehensive at first with the combination it is a very good mix. Hats off to the chef who came up with this. The grape ice cream is more like a sherbert, very smooth and not too sweet. And the lemon curd is not too tart. Next time we’d feel comfortable ordering it as normally served.
The pancakes look delicious too and are huge — they take up the entire plate. Made note to self to try those next time around.
We were pleased with our decision to eat here. Only 4 stars because their systems went down and we had to pay cash. I don’t think our waitress understood our urgency to check out as she moved a bit slow when we explained we needed to go as we had somewhere to be. So we paid our bill with our best estimate as to what it would cost and said we would come back to get the change. Turns out we did some good math but I feel like she should’ve calculated our bill by hand for us. We couldn’t wait around because we had that mixology class to get to!

5 stars for …
Ambience
Décor
Wait staff
2 stars for the food we ordered
I will settle on 3 stars overall
I decided on this place based off the menu I found on Unilocal.However, the menu we were presented had one item (?) from the menu I reviewed (steak, which I wish I had ordered). The other items (99%) our waitress had to explain.
The «jumbo» sized prawns (think comparing a marble to a basketball … then again size is relative) — once you remove the heads you’re left looking for the meat. Further, the tiny cubes DESTROYED the dish — think sweaty armpit — disclaimer, I have never tasted a sweaty armpit but if I did…
The cheese/​meat «dish» — just decent
The two items that were good were the bread and the string fries/​sriracha/​ketchup sauce. They are known for their fries … Now I know why. :)

This place has a cozy vibe and good food, but I would recommend it for brunch/​dinner over happy hour. A group of us came for a weekday happy hour and got one of the large high-​top tables. The happy hour specials run until 7pm, but the menu is pretty sparse — the only decent deal was a $ 5 special on 2 craft beers, and there are no food specials. We had the dinner menu in front of us as well, and its setup is more appropriate for meals because all of the entrees were single-​serve items such as soups and salads. I had a beer and an order of the pierogis, which was a tasty appetizer but not very filling and certainly not big enough to share with anyone. Also, the food is pretty pricey (entrees average about $ 30). Like most H St restaurants, it is small inside and all of hte tables filled up quickly while we were there.

Boundary Road is a great low key, casual but still trendy, neighborhood restaurant that consistently has great quality food and even better drinks. The attention to detail on the cocktail menu ranks is probably one of the best in the city, in my opinion.
I recently came for brunch, and immediately ordered the bottomless punch, which was delicious, and only seemed to get better as you kept drinking it! For food I ordered the Pork & Eggs, which consisted of thick-​cut bacon and spicy hash potatoes, though I had a bite of my sister’s Apple and Cheese Pancakes, and I would probably get those next time. Simple, yet very good quality food.
Overall it can be a bit pricey, but the neighborhood and slightly upscale vibe combined with the quality of the food and drinks I think makes it worth it. Definitely one of the best spots on H Street, especially towards the western end by Union Station.

Came here for brunch with two other friends. I made an online reservation by it wasn’t that crowded when we went. Since I was catching up with friends we took a bit longer to order drinks and food but the waitress never rushed us. I got the Reuben Eggs Benedict and both friends got the french toast. Everything was tasty and portioned well for the price. The drinks were tasted as good as they looked and the coffee was strong and served with sugar cubes on the side.
I would definitely love to come back from dinner another day and definitely try more of the cocktails.

I went here for brunch with a group of girlfriends. It was the Sunday after Christmas, so the restaurant was relatively unbusy.
I know what you’re thinking — SCORE! We got the restaurant all to ourselves. Well… yes and no. I was excited to see that the restaurant wasn’t overcrowded and that we got personal attention from our server, but we found out that they didn’t have their famous biscuits! We were all starving, so the fact that we couldn’t snack on their biscuits while we were waiting for our brunch orders to come out was, shall we say, less than optimal.
Most of the table ended up ordering the eggs, homefries, and bacon dish. NOTE: We should have ordered the quiche! Two of my girlfriends ordered the quiche and it was sooo good. That’s the best thing on the menu.
Bottom line: If you go to Boundary Road for brunch, order the quiche, or don’t waste your time.

Ooo La La, Boundary Road.
A Stone’s throw from the Bloomingdale Bar, the H Street sit down restaurant with a similar name and décor takes what the bar lacks — full sit down meals. This establishment has a small but tested menu that will impress your date, mate, or Dad.
After a long hike in Shenandoah, we returned to the city craving one thing — MEAT. Knowing Boundary Road would be a nice sit and eat, we ventured here and ordered 3 Bison Steaks ($ 25), that also came with the perfect portion of vegetables. The lean Bison was perfectly prepared and the perfect portion for those hungry but not starving. Great spot to take out-​of-​towners that want to experience the variety of H Street.
Though the unexpected winner of their menu was their cocktails. $ 11 deterred me, but we thought «when in Rome» and ordered 2 of their Brandy cocktails and their Rum Old Fashioned. Man, you get your money’s worth out of those dainty drinks, and a balance and blend of flavors.
Keeping this one on my radar for «dressier» restaurants on the H Street Corridor.

This is a special bar along H Street. I just love the authentic industrial atmosphere. Tip: it’s especially nice and cozy in December when they deck the halls with real boughs of evergreens! The beverages are indeed tasty. Everything I have tried here, I have liked. They make a fine craft cocktail, have many options of microbrew beers and stock local spirits behind the bar. The bartenders are knowledgeable and will not guide you astray.
For bar snacks, we enjoyed the house pickled olives with fresh herbs and garlic. Their fries are also good. I try to pop into this spot whenever in the area. This would be a fun spot to brunch, though haven’t (yet) tried.

An amazing meal.
My husband and I do not usually venture to H street for dinner but with a plethora of new choices we decided to give it a shot. Boundary Road is rustic on the inside and packs an amazing flavor filled punch.
Their specialty is craft cocktails so I sampled one off the list. Not my cup of tea but for whiskey/​gin lovers there is something new to sample. For starters we split a meat and cheese board. Their peach jelly was delicious, I wanted to scoop it up with a spoon to finish.
For entrees I ordered the short ribs and my husband ordered the hanger steak. I definitely made the better decision. I think the short ribs at Boundary Road is one of the best dishes I’ve ever had in my life. The ribs were so tender and fell right off the bone. It was sitting in a bed of blue polenta with wilted spinach and roasted cauliflower. So delicious.
My husbands steak was cooked well and also very good but the short ribs were out of this world amazing. We finished off our meal with warm, sugary zeppoles fresh out of the frier. The lemon sauce was a little potent for me but the donuts were awesome.
Our server was very laid back and a little slow to clear plates, etc but it didn’t take away from the amazing food experience. I would definitely put Boundary Road on the to try list!

I came here for lunch one afternoon and found it to be a cozy, intimate type of place. Their minimalistic-​industrial chic vibe was very hipster; lots of interesting light fixtures, exposed ductwork and brick. The service is very laid back and cool. While I waited for my bf to arrive, I tried this Grenache rose in a can that was actually pretty good. They are mainly the type of throwback place that serves a lot of bourbon, whiskey and gin cocktails; I think they literally only have Titos and Ketle One, and the bartender said they rarely even serve that. So it’s a masculine drinks kind of place.
For lunch I ordered the Rueben and my bf ordered their infamous cheesesteak. While my Rueben was good, it DEFINTLEY didn’t touch the Rueben served at Busboy & Poets. My bf, however, said his cheesesteak was spicy and amazing. Once again, he ordered the better entrée. It came with a side of crispy fries served with a sriracha aioli that was excellent. Overall, I really enjoyed this place for lunch. It’s very chill and probably one of the best restaurants on H street.

You better sit down for this… are you sitting? Okay, good, because this is just going to knock you over.
Boundary Road is incredible. I’ve walked past this restaurant countless times and finally made it for brunch yesterday. After one visit, I am hooked. I can’t wait to come back for happy hour, dinner and many more brunches.
Boundary Road is incredibly accommodating when it comes to large group reservations – just shoot them an email and they will take care of you.
+Lemon Cheese Pancakes– WOW! I thought these were going to be heavy, creamy and weird but upon getting these they were light fully and zesty, still a little «weird,» but it was all the right kind of weird. These pancakes met the perfect amount of zest with cheese. It was the perfect treat for breakfast if you are craving something sweet, but don’t know what to get. These pancakes came with strawberry rhubarb jam and it completed the pancake well. Your taste buds will be dancing and you wont even need to ask for syrup.
+Coffee– A step up from diner coffee, not quite the potent taste of Starbucks but not a delectable taste of an independent coffee shop.
Throughout my meal the waitress came back to check on us several times. Along with her spunky attitude she refreshed our coffee cups with a freshly brewed pot every time – now, that’s what I call service!
I’m so excited to make my way back to Boundary Stone!

Stopped into Boundary during a random Sunday bar hop. Pleasantly surprised by the ambiance and décor. The bartender was a mixologist and made drinks with ingredients that I couldn’t even pronounce. It was great to try something new, and both my fiancé and I enjoyed our libations. I can’t speak to the food, but the drinks are definitely unique.

Great cocktail and very adorable bartender. He patiently help me pick a cocktail from the extensive menu.

I just moved to the neighborhood and this was the first place I visited.
First of all, the décor is perfectly urban rustic chic. They have a mattress frame chandelier. How cool is that?
The food was delicious – we had the french toast with blood orange curd and vanilla ice cream and a really interesting pork cheek hash with tons of delightful vegetables and a perfectly fried egg. I’m super picky with okra (since it is so slimy) but this was done perfectly. The staff is really nice and I even got some recommendations for more restaurants around the area.
I’m glad I live down the block because I’ll definitely be back!

Needed a place to grab a drink after a wonderful meal at Ethiopic. It was pouring, so I needed something close. I searched Unilocal for craft beer and this place popped up and it was right across the street — sold!
Since I was alone, I saddled up to the bar and ending up sitting there for 3 hours. The bartenders were all lovely (one of the guys made me an awesome sour cherry bourbon drink). And I chatted up several new folks and it was a grand old time.
While I didn’t eat, the food that came out looked great.
They have a good selection of area beers as well as a good cocktail menu.
If you’re nearby, this is a great place for a drink and a bite!