Pop’s SeaBar

Had some drinks at Pops on a warm Spring afternoon. The space it kitschy and fun, you definitely dont feel like you’re in adams morgan! As the place filled up, the service got a little slower and the one bartender seemed a bit overwhelmed, but i would absolutely come back here for a cold beer or cocktail and watch the world go by in their dope front. We didnt get a chance to try their food, but my orange crush drink was fresh and delicious, and $ 7 at happy hour (its a big drink!).

I really like the design and location of this place. The grapefruit press was legit. I had some oysters that seemed like they were on the edge of getting old. I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure. I’ll go back for sure and give them another shot.

Wandered in here on my way back to the AirBnB I was staying in this weekend. It was Saturday evening, and I didn’t want to get sucked into the vortex (human car wash?) that is the 18^th St. strip of Adams Morgan.
What I found was a simple, friendly neighborhood bar with simple, tasty menu offerings. I had a couple drafts (IPA, to be exact), and concocted a delicious dinner by combining two of the items on their menu into one super dish.
Staff is welcoming and delightfully friendly. Food is «simple pleasures are the best» at its best. Vibe is chill. Highly recommended for solo or group adventures in Adams Morgan if you’re looking for less «scene,» more chill.

Pop’s has a lot of potential, and I’ve given it a lot of tries, but unfortunately this place just isn’t worth it. I live next door and the crowd is always very sparse which isn’t a great sign. I thought by now the number of patrons would pick up, but it just doesn’t seem to fit a need in the neighborhood. The food I tried was fine, nothing special, but I can see why folks are frustrated with the menu. You are paying a premium in a local/​beach bar/​divey environment.
There are definitely good drink specials, but you need to time it out right during happy hour and carefully read what the specials include. Last time we were caught off guard when the wording made it seem like the house draft was on special, ended up paying a crazy amount for 2 beers. I think they corrected that issue, but it’s little things that make Pop’s seem like it’s not really paying attention.
Also, it’s so bright. Not the most relaxing environment. I don’t want to feel like I’m shopping at Target when I’m trying to drink and relax at the bar.

I really like Pop’s SeaBar, there I said it.
Oysters on a half-​shell, fried calamari with hot peppers, simple cheeburgers, Taylor Pork roll sammiches, fries with Old Bay, etc. You really can’t go wrong.
Could the Natty Boh’s cost a buck less? I’d say so. But it’s worth a stop, and pay the extra $ 1 for the coozie. You’re velcome

Good food and a great price for the area. The oysters were the best Iv had this week in DC.

This a great little unique place. Awesome food and their cocktails are well priced for a carefully crafted drink. Megan was our bar tender and she was super nice and helpful. We randomly came across this place but will definitely be coming back!

Love this place. Open, cool space with a interesting boardwalk décor theme. Went there on New Years Eve, and they had just went live with a fire pit out front. Since it was warm in DC this 12/​31, it was an ideal place to sit and relax and have a few drinks.
The Orange Crush drink is delicious (light on the vodka which I didn’t mind). Bartender was very friendly and focused on his customers.
Will DEFINITELY be back to try the food next time. It is a nice addition to the Adams Morgan neighborhood!!!

Maybe it was the time of night (10 pm on a Wednesday), but I really liked this place better back when it was the ramen restaurant. I can’t speak to food, so this is only for drinks. We came in on a Wednesday night and it was mostly dead. We sat upstairs and the bar in that narrow space makes it feel pretty crowded. We got their riff on a gin rickey and they were awful. SO much lime. Blech. I would be willing to give this place a second chance to check out their food, but as a bar it leaves a lot to be desired.

Awesome place… Nice bar, reasonable pricing for food, and the crew is so friendly and personable!!! Love it!!!

Great place to come for a quick bite of simple seafood and good drinks!
Pop’s Sea Bar is just that — a bar. $ 1 oysters during happy hour 3:30 — 6:30pm Mondays through Fridays.
I got a dozen of the raw oysters and they were delicious and my boyfriend got the fried oysters. Also got a ½ pound of the peel and eat shrimp with Ol’ Bay seasoning for $ 12.99. My boyfriend had the catfish platter which came with two sides. The catfish was good quality and not too heavily battered.
Really recommend coming here if you’re not looking for anything fancy and some good seafood! Definitely coming back!

I’d probably give it an extra star if the food wasn’t so expensive! We came here with our summer drinking passports and enjoyed the cold house pilsner ($ 6), acceptable in this neck of the wood. Service was fast, not too crazy crowded at 7 on a friday night. Being the jersey born and raise that I am, i had to order the pork roll. It was good, but it’s pretty difficult making a porkroll bad. You can get the exact brand at Giant. The roll came with cheese and a side of fries and jersey sauce. The pork roll was on a small potato roll, that i swear is about 4 sq inches (aka small AF). Fries were plenty and crispy and i like their take on tarter sauce. All in all, ok place, just didn’t want to pay $ 8+ for a PORK ROLL!!! I can’t go back to NJ and tell them I spent that much, they’ll disown me :-(.

A block above the main Adams Morgan strip, so less of the crazy, more of the chill. Awesome décor. Bright and airy and reminiscent of the shore (Reminded me of Md. beach visits back in the early 2000’s, although I’ve never visited beach towns in Jersey/​Florida).
They know their seafood. Try the fried oysters (wow– meaty. Yes, using meaty to describe an oyster), or the smelts (teeny, crispy fried white fish), or the catch of the day. LOVE the Pops Burger (a patty with Taylor Pork Roll, and an egg – worth the visit)!
Fun cocktails, try the Orange Crush. Local beer — 3Stars Brewing– and prosecco on tap.

Oh Pop’s Sea Bar, thank you for being there on stressful days, hot summer nights, and being my go to pre game meal before a night of shenanigans on Adams Morgan. With a boardwalkesque interior and contemporary decorations, Pop’s Sea Bar always proves to be a hip and fun place to be at!
In terms of food, I love myself some boardwalk chicken and calamari! They serve specials every day such as their flavorful chowder on Mondays! They also have a wide variety of oysters that can be 1 dollar on happy hour. Everything is easy to share and not too big before a night out!
And let’s not forget about their drinks! Pops Sea Bar definitely has a unique bar that promotes a chill and summer vibe! Every time a friend comes over, I buy them an ice cream luge shot –a shot of amaretto going down a mint ice cream bar luge – isn’t that the dream? Also, currently they have alcoholic snow cones which taste like a Fat Tuesday but are very strong and potent with alcohol!
Overall, I never have a bad time here and it’s the perfect summer time and any time kind of bar! Can get pretty busy during happy hour, but still fun none the less!

I’ve been wanting to try out Pop’s for a while and was happy to stop by and enjoy their patio on one of DC’s recent nice weather days.
Pop’s has the feel of a beachside bar, with both seats inside and outside and along the bar. We snagged one of the spots outside and enjoyed some people watching along with our food. Given that there aren’t too many days when the weather is great for outdoor seating, we appreciated the ambiance that Pop’s had to offer.
As much as I liked the style and feel, I just can’t give the food as much love. Good, but nothing special. The catfish of the fried catfish and fries that I ordered was perfectly cooked and flaky, but the crust just didn’t have the crunch that you want out of a fried fish. And it just wasn’t salted… so the tartar sauce was key to bringing in some much needed flavor. The seafood salad was good, fresh, flavorful, but small. The chicken bites may have been the best dish, fried dark meat, just can’t go wrong from there.
Overall, I like that Pop’s is there and walkable from my house. But I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a must try. That being said, I’m sure I’ll make my way back at some point.

Had a great experience at Pops over lunch as my expectations were well exceeded.
To start, the Chowder (the Monday special), was some of the best I and my date have ever had.
She got the fried catfish which was really well battered and perfectly cooked. Her boardwalk style, Old Bay seasoned fries were a plus as well.
I had the crab cake sandwich, which was exactly how I prefer my crab cake, seasoned perfectly with minimal breaking and lots of jumbo lump crab. The potato salad and coleslaw were really good too.
Bonus points for the interior design of the place as well.
Look…if you’re looking for gourmet food or white table cloths, there’s a few other places in AdMo that are more your style. But if you want a deliciously simple, seafood meal and a cold beer in a cools environment, then this is your place.

The FISH TASTE & SMELL that won’t go away!
Okay, first of all the place is super cute and gives you the impression you have somehow wondered into a Jersey board-​walk local establishment complete with a simple yet thoughtfully created menu. Now your taste buds are salivating and expecting something AMAZING! Well… You’re WRONG! Yep, the décor is as good as it is going to get.
Sorry Charlie! (fish phrase)
Okay…I had the smelt and it tasted FISHY, I MEAN THE FISHY TASTE DID NOT LEAVE ME FOR HOURS even after rinsing with Colgate Mouthwash! (Not kidding!) Big disappointment! That SMELT should have NEVER been served. I am not going to lie… I ate it but I would never order it again. Oh, I ordered some corn of the stick… SUPER SO SO.
I did view what other’s had and was completely unimpressed. I mean seriously, they charge a fair amount of money and really don’t take pride in their presentation or food quality. I fear soon that you will see this establishment on «Restaurant Impossible». With the owner shaking his/​her head asking, «How did this happen?’ Answer: Attention to detail and FRESH SEAFOOD! Easy Peasy!
Bottom line — until they SERIOUSLY IMPROVE (they have great potential)…save your MONEY and OLFACTORY SENSES until they change their WAYS!

I was really excited to finally check out Pop’s SeaBar. It’s owned by Chef John Manolatos and Justin Abad (of Cushion’s Eat Place, located next door), and they offer a boardwalk-​inspired hip seafood place that offers sandwiches and platters (blue catfish, catch of the day, fried oyster sandwich, etc.), beef patties (burgers), Boardwalk Chicken, raw oysters, ‘snacks’ (calamari, smelts, shrimp ceviche, etc.), and a bar offering a variety of beer, wine, and specialty drinks. I tried their Smelts, which were filet-​ed and fried, topped with some pickled hot peppers — they had a very light batter on them, but I liked the size of the smelts — very generous. It was great with the horseradish tartar sauce; the pickled hot peppers weren’t spicy, but more of the sweet banana peppers taste. I also tried their Pop’s Patty with American Cheese, which also came with the pickled peppers — this was just a regular burger, but I wasn’t really a fan as it wasn’t flavorful or juicy. This came with fries, and I would have opted for their curly fries; however, these were not available, but they had ‘shoestring’ fries, seasoned with Old Bay (also underwhelming). A side of potato salad was also ordered, and this was more on the lemon/​citrus-​y side — if you like your potatoes tasting like lemons, you may be a fan of these! Nikki B. was tending the bar and took my order — she was super friendly and nice! The place itself is really cute, with a ‘beachside/​boardwalk-​esque’ look with cute bushel-​basket shades for the lamps and the vintage-​looking aluminum cans outlining a sill — I love how when there’s nice weather, the windows are all opened and the cool breeze can be felt throughout the restaurant. Located in the Adams Morgan area, there are some limited metered parking in front of the eatery.
+horseradish tartar sauce
+consume the fried foods right away; do not ‘take-​out’
+ask for Nikki B. :D
+limited metered-​street parking

I actually did not know that this place had $ 1 dollar oyster on a week night during Happy Hours. In any case, I fancied some seafood on a Tuesday night. This place is not far from where I live. It was not very busy when I arrived, only one couple. This is located next to Cashion Eat Bar, I believe it is owed by the same owner. The place is decorated a bit like a seafood shack at the seaside. This used to be Taan Noodle, the bar has been make larger, so you walk in there is the long bar on the left and there is high stool and counter on the right.
Apparently, there is $ 1 oyster on a week night during Happy Hours or weekend at late hours after midnight. Beers are half price during Happy Hours, so it is $ 3. The menu is kind of Jersey Shore type, there is Fried Seafood, burger topped with oysters, my favorite Smelts was not available on the night I was in. There is specials too. Corn Dog was $ 4. The $ 1 Oyster was Battle Creek from Virginia, it was OK, not very big, medium sized.
For food, we had Calamari, which was nicely done, the batter was very light, seriously so light that it is as good as in Jaleo. For main course, I had Blue Catfish Platter, that comes with two sides, I picked Coleslaw and Corn on the Cob. The portion size is on the small side, there is one 6 oz catfish fillet.
My dinner companion had the crab cake platter, I asked what is the binder of the crab cake, the manager said it is 95% crab. I told him I ate in a place in Brookline that the crab cake was 100% crab and it was the best I had in DC before. None the less, I had a small bite of the crab cake, it was very nicely done, the favor was good and there is a lots of crab in the crab cake. However, there is only one crab cake though.
There was no dessert either, because the waffle maker was broken — hopefully it will be there next time I am there.
Staffs are friendly. I like this place actually much more than Cashion Eat, the last time I was there, the whole fish I ordered — the stomach of the fish was not even cleaned…

Full review to come
Stellar, kitschy décor here
And cocktails sublime
Orange crush: so worth it
The jungle bird is for reals
Get calamari
Hand-​painted art here:
Cool signs, fresh, divey touches
And bar phone chargers!
AdMo, you’re in luck!
A new spot for happy hour
That isn’t for kids :)