Petworth Citizen

Walked out of an establishment for the first time ever. My roommate and I both live in the neighborhood and were excited about trying out a new place in our hood. We walked in and the bartender was helpful and directed us to a table. It all went downhill from there. Our waitress walked up to clear our table, didn’t great us and didn’t respond when I gave a simple hello. She returned and literally threw two menu’s onto the table without one word and walked away. As girls who work in restaurants we were completely in shock and walked out. My only regret is not grabbing a manager before we left. Save your time and money for a place that values its guests!

Filled with DC hipsters: lumber-​sexuals with bushy beards, done-​up chicks with nerdy glasses, and younger couples abound. They have interesting home-​brews. I have tried a bunch of them and liked most of them. The menu is pub food-​ish with some twists. Not bad. This place is worth checking out for the overall vibe and beer.

Easy, fast, and not too expensive. Pretty much what a would expect from a neighborhood place in Petworth.
Got the mac n cheese, ate that mac n cheese. Friend ordered a burger, stole all his fries with not regrets.
Big fan of the happy hour menu. Would go here again.

Went to PC for the weekly Sunday Night comedy show, which was very funny. The wait staff in the main room was very attentive and the atmosphere is nice/​classy without being over-​the-​top.

Been here at least 6 times. Each time the food has been reliably good. I especially like that their sides are more than filling space on the plate: green beans with tomatillo sauce and various slaws are all delicious. Meats have been consistently cooked near perfectly even on busier nights. Loved the pork chop while it was on the menu, since its disappearance I’ve been getting the fried chicken.
It’s not a destination restaurant, but I think it’s better than any similarly priced restaurant in Columbia heights
Only bad point was waitress forgot to put one dish in to the kitchen on one visit, which they finally brought and removed from our check. Otherwise service has been good even with dietary restrictions and special requests. Seems like most of the time there is only one, maybe two waitstaff for all tables.

Wonderful neighborhood bar where you can get a delicious cold microbrew and a burger — whether you are meeting someone for a date or pushing a stroller.
My only criticism is the sound level. It’s really loud.

Solid bar with some really good food (although I’ve only had the pork chop. But I loved it).
Just one request: offer gluten free buns so I can try your burgers, which sound delicious. Buy a bag of gf buns, charge extra for them and the gf folks will gladly pay. Once upon a time offering only wheat buns and bread made sense. Not anymore. Slash Run has gf buns — be like them!

I want to give it 2.5 stars, so rounding up.
Ok for a neighborhood place. I would’ve expected better food given the same people run Room 11. The salmon lettuce wrap app is disgusting — please don’t get it unless you like little balls of cold quinoa mixed with cold salmon. Felt like I was eating baby food. I took one bite and left it… server didn’t even ask if I like it or cared that I had barely touched it. Service def needs upgrading.
Mac and cheese was good as was the chorizo burger. The hush puppies were flavorful, but very dry. I’d go back bc it’s one of the nicer neighborhood places in Petworth, but they’re going to have to step up their game.

It’s got a sort of 20’s/30’s vintage thing going on that I enjoy.
Neighborhood residents are fiercely loyal and defend it by word of mouth and with their wallets – gotta love that.
The food offerings are just okay but reasonably priced. The potent potables are much better; barkeeps are talented and diligent.
It’s starkly lit, which makes for a certain drama in the setting however it’s rather dark in certain areas. Could I suggest adjusting the lighting a bit?
The reading room/​library is a lovely concept. I took home a good novel last time; will gladly bring another to contribute to the collection when I return.
There’s lots going on with Petworth Citizen; it’s more than food and drink and I am supportive.

This review is only for the happy hour drinks. Quite a steal for well made cocktails worth happy hour specials available every evening, weekend or not. I had a solid martini for a pittance which I can’t say anywhere else in DC. Perfect as I waited out my crane and turtle table. But I will have to come back for a full meal.

Classy cocktails and really good, high-​end bar food… I should really like this place a lot more.
On my first visit to the Citizen, I was enjoying the Chorizo burger (the menu item that has become my stand-​by) and a draft when I saw a huge whoosh of flame out of the corner of my eye. It looked like the bar was on fire. The bartender calmly extinguished the flame, then placed a rocks tumbler over the wood. He then poured a drink in the glass and served it. Since then, the wood-​smoked old-​fashioned has been my go-​to drink at the Citizen.
Everything about this place is solid. They have a great drink selection, featuring choice offerings of draft beers that rotate frequently, the food is always good (albeit the portions can be a little small), and the staff is friendly and welcoming.
My one complaint is that there is no television. No, I don’t need to watch tv while at a bar, and I get that they’re trying to eliminate a distraction and possible barrier to social interaction, but I don’t like it. It just feels weird. In my opinion, you shouldn’t have to check your phone for a score update while you’re at a bar. But I’m sure that, amongst the patrons who frequent the Citizen, this opinion places me firmly in the minority.
While lack of television may keep me away on game night, I’d gladly stop here for a drink any (other)time.

Since I moved to the neighborhood, this has become my spot! At first I was coming here simply because it became too cold for me bother with walking to the metro and venturing down to my usual Dupont Circle hangouts wasn’t happening. However, after my first night (a Monday night which is happy hour all night) I found that there was no place else I’d rather be for a fun relaxing time with my friends.
They have great cocktails. The Bramble is my number choice. It’s a little sweet and a little tart at the same time, almost like a liquid sour patch kid! If I’m feeling like drinking something cold and frothy, they have my NC favorite brew, Torch Pilsner by the Foothills Brewing Company. When you are tired and needing to unwind, having something that reminds you of home is always nice and with DC being soooo different from NC there isn’t much here to remind you of it but the beer will certainly do. (*‿*)
Oh and let’s not forget the food. Their Mac & Cheese with Chorizo is muy delicioso; the best thing to set off a cold glass of beer. It’s the epitome of feel good food. Eating it fills your belly with tiny bits of bliss. All you wanna do is sit there eat, drink, and be merry. Happy times indeed!
The crowd is a bit hipster but the atmosphere is chic and the vibe is very mellow. I like coming late nights when it’s almost empty and my friends and I can have the place to our selves. If you are wanting a bit more social interaction it’s here too. They have all sorts of events in their reading room. If you like poetry or comedy this is the place to check out. Every week they have something extra going on. However, for me, the late night speakeasy feel is what I enjoy most.

I had really high hopes! I’ve been planning to eat here and we finally made plans to go. We got there around 7:15 and luckily it wasn’t too busy because it started to get busy right after that. Service was so so, but our food came out quickly. I had the Palma Fizz cocktail, which was really good! 5 stars for that.
The food portions were generous, but the taste was underwhelming. The hush puppies were good, but not the traditional hush puppies I’m used to. They were almost more like a cornbread. The queso fundido was a little greasy and hard to eat. It wasn’t what I expected as I thought it would be more like a queso dip, but it was way more rubbery. Pretty good flavor though. The falafel pita was tasty, but I didn’t love the texture. Lastly, a special: salmon lettuce wraps and I really liked those. My fiancée thought they were just okay.
Overall, I like the space and I’ll definitely go back for drinks and maybe try some other dishes.

I was back in town visiting some good friends, and PC was the place they suggested for my «Welcome Back to DC» dinner. I’m glad there was good company, because the rest of the evening was not quite up to snuff.
I think my expectations might have been inflated given the great background of the chef, and the really beautiful atmosphere when you come in. All of this is very successful until you start eating.
We started with the Queso Fundido with chorizo which was good, but very greasy. The chips came from a bag, which is fine except this would have been a great place to add some homemade fresh ones. Despite that, it was good and if I were back I wouldn’t mind getting this again.
Okay, but let’s discuss entrees. I had the pork carbonade, and it might be the worst thing I’ve eaten in a restaurant since the Reuben Dip discussed in a previous review. The meat was fatty. The sauce was like a salt bomb. And the fat that had melted off of the pork had created almost a gelatinous-​like sauce that was not appealing. While it’s served with fries and that’s on the menu, that decision felt very confused to me. Maybe rice? Pasta? Something else?
My companions had the Bahn Mi, and while I didn’t try either of them, Bahn Mi friend scraped the breading off her shrimp and mostly ate that. Fried chicken friend sad it «wasn’t too bad,» but that it was very dry.
I’m really happy that more restaurants are starting to move to this area of DC, rather than continually taking up real estate on 14^th street, but this is defiinitely not what I was looking for.

Went back again for a quick bite on a lazy Sunday. It was not disappointed. There is happy hour also on Sunday. $ 4 beer.
I had the Pork Spring Roll, it was nice and crispy, the flavor is there. For main course, I had the Fried Shrimp Banh Mi, the shrimp is nice but it would have been better if it is served on a baguette. Vietnam had been a French Colony in the past, and if you have a Banh Mi in Vietnam it is served in a baguette. Even some Vietnamese restaurant in DC serves Banh Mi in a baguette. My dinner buddy had a cheese burger, and the burger in this place is always great.
All in all, it is great. Oh, I also like the fact that there is flexibility in the menu, I swapped my fries with a salad. A girl must watch out for her figure, this works well with me.

Love: atmosphere, seat-​yourself, reading room in the back, happy hour all day on Monday (drinks only, not food), quick service.
Hate: food.
It’s a slap in the face when my Fried Shrimp Banh Mi arrived on the table. Getting a Banh Mi at a hipster bar? Yes please! On one hand, the fries that accompanied the banh mi had skin, which I loved. But the shrimp themselves were overly breaded, the bread was overly toasted, there wasn’t enough avocado or cucumbers, and the aioli was an afterthought. Worst of all, it costed $ 13. I felt as disgusted as watching Duke winning another championship on TV.
I’ll be back for some more drinks but I can’t get myself to try anything else on their menu after the banh mi disaster.

The whole place is seat yourself, so grab some menus from the host stand and pick a table or plop down at the nice long bar. Bartenders are great. There’s table service, but it can be a little slow sometimes.
I love their interesting cocktails — try the Airmail if you want something with fizz that’s not too sweet. Always look at their chalk board to the left of the bar for specials and the small chalkboard in the middle of the bar for their daily punch.
Happy hour is great, especially when it runs all night on Mondays. You get cocktails, beers, and wines from $ 4-​$ 6. Plus, there’s some fun and more interesting than usual bar food on special, too. I particularly like their cod and potato fritters. Sounds so weird, but it’s really delicious and served piping hot. Their pork bao buns and carnitas tacos are pretty good, too.
Especially charming is that their back room is the «reading room,» which has tons of books that you can take, and a bin for you to leave donations. You can also reserve it for events, which I believe is free of charge.

I asked a friend of mine where a solid place in Petworth was to have a drink. He said the Citizen, no questions asked.
Got there and of course the crowd is mad hipster son! Still fun. Good music, tasty beet salad and the Mac and cheese was business! Awesome little «library» in the back for additional fun.
Minus one star because the service was so goddamn slow! Very nice girl but she would disappear for 10 – 15 minutes at a time. Kinda hard to order additional drinks that way. Would’ve stayed longer but hated the wait!

After a book signing at the bookstore next door I stopped in here for a bite to eat and a drink. It was a Saturday night so the place was pretty busy and I was pretty lucky to get a table as it seemed like most people hung around at the tables. It was a little confusing getting help when I first walked in since there was a sign that said the hostess needed to sit me only there was no hostess in sight. Once he was found he was super helpful in getting me a table and getting me water.
I’m not sure if the staff thought I wanted to wait on my party to join me or forgot about me but once I was seated no one came back until maybe ¹⁵⁄₂₀ minutes later. From then on I only have positive things to say. The prices were pretty reasonable and the food was really good.

Good food, complete hipster scene. Bartender was friendly and capable. Highlight: «reading room”/library at the back. In addition to the usual, they host regular events, which seem worth checking out. Overall, a groovy little spot.