The Ugly Mug

DO NOT COME HERE FOR TRIVIA! The service was awful and the manager wasn’t even nice about it. They comped us a tower, but food that was promised never came. I only gave one star because 0 wasn’t an option. This used to be my favorite bar on 8^th street. Now I know it’s a joke.

I went to the Ugly Mug for drinks with some friends on 5÷7÷16.
The Ugly Mug is a dive bar and I mean that in the most positive way. The drinks and food are reasonable (and cheap for the area) and it’s no problem to sit for a few minutes or a couple of hours. My friends and had a couple drinks and talked for about 3 hours (and I never felt pressured to order more or leave so the space could be turned over).
The Ugly Mug reminds me of what Barracks Row use to look like before places like Rose’s where in the area. I enjoy most of the newer restaurants in Barracks Row. However, sometimes you might just be in the mood for something that doesn’t require you to get dressed up and wait in line.
In a nutshell, if you want something casual and no fuss you can’t go wrong with the Ugly Mug if you find yourself in the Barracks Row area.

Didn’t even stay and order so this review is just for the ambiance… Your precious time is better spent elsewhere. Disengaged staff, lackluster décor, entire place smells of stale cigarette smoke. Not a winner in my book.

Okay, perhaps this review is going to be colored by the fact that I spent no fewer than 3 hours in the bathroom after eating at this establishment. No need to guess the color folks.
The food was, in a word, garbage. Limp and greasy sweet potato fries punctuated by an overcooked hamburger that was absurdly priced for the quantity and quality of ingredients. Guys, I know you’re on 8^th street (where the Eastern Market money flows freely, and the homeless look on in horror), but seriously, I don’t know how you stay in business offering up this kind of schlock.
The drinks were an even worse situation. My «Old Fashioned» was definitely made with Irish Whiskey, and I’m pretty sure they just didn’t have any bitters or orange slices, so sure, give me a lemon wheel, because that most assuredly did not taste like garbage.
Whether it was food poisoning, or just a revolt from the part of me that left horrible college bars behind a decade or two ago (the smell of stale beer on the floor is definitely reminiscent), I will certainly not be returning to The Ugly Mug.

I have been here quite a bit since Oct and I am glad to see it evolving… In a few short weeks, it will grow into something bigger and better, hence I am giving it 4 stars. The expectations will be nothing short of great experiences, great people and a great staff. The Mug is your neighborhood watering hole with some damn good wings! The cooks and the Chef got it burning nice in the kitchen… hats off to them!

I dined here for happy and was sadly let down; when I got my food they took upon themselves of adding in an extra fry to my order which included pizza rolls, Buffalo wings and sliders the waitress was great but her management wasn’t so great after mentioning that they thew away my extra pizza rolls I had not eaten. In addition to that I was over charged on multiple items as I had to identify that to the waitress after she spoke with her manager I assume he fixed the issue but seemed very upset. Good luck with eating here after work

Two words… Fruit flies.

Worst service in my entire life. Do NOT go here. Waited forever for our food, and they forgot my order. When my order did come it was wrong. Food wasnt even that good.

Ugh. Why do I keep coming here. I’ll tell you, the beer is relatively cheap for the neighborhood, and the food is OK and also a good deal if you take advantage of the daily specials. But this place stinks, literally. The bar area smells like it hasn’t been cleaned properly, and the ever-​present flies confirm that state.
Back to the positive, the bartenders and regular patrons are friendly. This place has way more character and loyalty than anyplace we on Barracks Row. But jeez, guys. Just douse the place in bleach once in a while.

I have been to the The Ugly Mug very often and the food use to be very good bar food. But the past four times I have been there it has been just awful. To be specific with each one of them.
First was half price burgers and they brought me out a burger that was cook medium rare that I asked for to be well done. When I asked the bar tender Jenn about it she said I can send it back and see what you get next time. I said no thanks and just ate it because she had no idea what I was going to get.
Second was half price pizza we ordered a pizza and it came out burnt and the server brought it out to and said would you like us to remake the pizza as he showed it to us and we said yes please I dont want a burnt pizza. Atleast this time they made a new one but had to ask I first if it was to bad to eat. The kitchen should have just made a new one.
Third was burgers again. I ordered a Turkey Burger with cheese and fires with mug wiz on them. Again Jenn the bartender took my order the burger came out with no cheese and no mug wiz on the fires. Jenn said well I can get some cheese and brought out a piece of cheese on a plate and said here. Then she did not even realize that my fires did not have the mug wiz so brought me out some in a plastic cup. Never a sorry or anything just goes and talks to the customers.
Fourth and probably my last time to eat at the mug was pizza night again. Ordered a Veggie pizza with pepperoni. The pizza came out atleast it was not burnt like the time before. I said to the bartender that there is no pepperoni but said that is ok. Then we tasted pineapple on it instead. I dont know it is the kitchen or no one here cares about the food coming out of the kitchen. It use to be good bar but it has changed.
They do have good drinks.

Ask for Angie… She’s the best!

Ask for Jen!!! Great place to slug beers!
Great assortment of food and the service is on point as well.

Great bar near Eastern Market and Barracks Row, with fantastic food and sliders and pizza and a super friendly atmosphere. Great to watch sports. The Tecate girls flank the bar and handout flashing bottle caps during major PPV prizefights. Try the fish tacos, you won’t regret it.

Right space for me. Kind of divey but I really dig divey.
Very friendly bartenders. Parceled out some cheesy jokes and even offered me a shot. Definitely a neighborhood feel to it and I could tell that the bartenders recognized their regulars and made them feel special.

In the end, The Ugly Mug lived up to its name: it wasn’t pretty, but it was a sturdy instrument that got the job done.
Planning a 4^th of July barhop with some friends, I added The Ugly Mug to the route, thanks in part to Unilocalers like you. As one of the earlier stops on our binge drinking tour, we were sober enough upon arrival to not be impressed, but tipsy enough to still give it a shot.
I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy the 90 minutes I spent there. Yes, half of our party’s beers were skunked. Yes, the chicken tenders were mediocre, at best. And yes, a rather large cockroach ran along the wall just past my head, towards what I can only imagine is an equally disappointing kitchen (to be fair, we were seated directly next to the wide open patio doors).
At the same time, our server was extremely friendly throughout our visit, the general manager came over to personally apologize for the cockroach, and both of them bought us a round of shots to celebrate America and freedom.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to return, but if I was nearby, I’d be willing to give it another shot.

I only come on Wednesday’s which is half price burger day. For a dive bar, I think their prices are a bit too high. Nothing on the menu is worth spending more than $ 10 on… nothing. The burgers & tots/​fries are good, and are definitely worth the $ 6.60 on Wednesday’s.
The wait staff is slow and inattentive.
Decorum is dated and it is a bit musty in there.
I definitely wouldn’t seek out the Ugly Mug, but if you are headed to a Nat’s game or are walking buy and want lunch on a budget –in regards to Wednesday’s burgers only – , they might be worth a stop… Otherwise, skip on over the Blue Jacket if you plan to pay over $ 10 for a burger and a beer.

Stopped by this place before heading to a Nationals game. Place wasn’t busy, sat at the bar. Always nice to see a place have Yuengling on draft.
Bartender was nice but a little weird. He was just wearing a white shirt for half the time we were there. Just seemed like a patron who got behind the bar and started serving beer. Can’t complain too much as he offered my girlfriend and I free shots. That was a nice plus.
Overall, this seems like a place that’s good when it’s slow but I doubt it’d be nice if it was busier. Seemed like a combination of a dive bar and a locals bar. Still, had a good time there.

I had to move my car and noticed their sign for half price burgers. So when I got back to my office and the hunger kicked in, I gave them a call. Made sure I could get the deal carry out. Boom! Turkey Burger with fries $ 6.60 on 8^th Street. Best deal for sure. Nice staff, great burger. I’ll be back.

Love this bar

Went to the Gold Cup today and they totally dropped the ball with one of the buses breaking down and being delayed a few hours. However, the managers, owner, staff, were exceptionally awesome with rectifying the situation with free food, drinks, a sympathetic ear, and friendly service. Shit happens sometimes and you can’t help that, but they went above and beyond to make the situation right.
I highly recommend this restaurant for several reasons– GREAT customer service, great food and that’s really all that matters. Go here and plan on having a GREAT time.

The ugly mug has been advertised by many people that I know so I decided to finally bring some friends over to enjoy in the festivities. Considering the establishment was busy, i knew that the food order would take a while so I had no expectations. Surprisingly, the food was not bad. We were also satisfied with the service. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad, so no complaints here.
Where the problem lies is when the manager comes to our table asking if the customer service was ok. We said it was good and we had no real complaints. Then he asked why our low tip? He was concerned because he wanted to improve it or was wondering if money was taken off the top. We gave approximately 20% tip, so we were perplexed with the suggestion that we have a low tip. Manager was concerned so we explained that the check was split into 3. I was the only one at the table that paid cash. We came to the realization that the waitress took some of the cash for herself, so she wouldn’t have to share her tip with the rest of the crew helping her do her job. NOT COOL!
Not sure I will be back. Never had a manager question our tip, but more importantly don’t like that their waitresses are cheating their servers of their hard earned tips! It was definitely an awkward situation. It kind of killed my buzz!

good bar for great drink specials and a laugh. The food here is just okay, your typical bar food that just isn’t worth ordering unless you’re drinking and just plain hungry. I’ve been here only with co-​workers on several occasions and with so many options on H. Street, I probably wouldn’t go other then that!

My son and I dined at the UM a month or so ago and we loved it! We thought the food was good, the server was awesome and the atmosphere was not bad– that was then. Today, we decided to order and pick up. We ordered wings, salad for me and tots for my son.
The wings were horrible! Multiple broken bones, under cooked and too chewy. That’s not the worse. As I was eating my salad, I chewed something hard and it was plastic. As I picked through my salad, there was all of this cut up plastic, scratching my head.
I called the UM 8 times before anyone answered. I spoke with the manager, Jack or Jake, I explained the situation and told him I was not calling because I wanted something, but to let him know the area in which they are making salads is unclean. He did offer to make it right, but I said no, I just wanted them to know.
So after two bites of my salad, that was a wash and I decided to finish my wings. Another wing with horribly broken bones and it just made me nauseous, but the worse thing — the blue cheese container had a large piece of broken plastic. That’s it, now it’s making me wonder what’s really going on.
I will not return to the UM. I wish we would adopt the same type of restaurant rating system as NYC, A, B, etc. That was a total waste of $ 40 and I feel like I want to throw up. Here’s a pic of the plastic I pulled out of my blue cheese. Sigh!!!

Good food, laid back atmosphere. Our server was kind of an unorganized person but with a little persistence he got the idea. They have fun towers of beer which is always a good time and you don’t have to worry about waiting for your next drink. Great outdoor patio and they keep the doors open to the outside on nice days so there is good people watching and a nice breeze on the inside tables too.
I had the peel and eat shrimp which were cooked perfectly and had good flavor, I decided to add a little Tabasco though be cause i like things spicy. A friend had the pizza roll which they commented on how good the crust an fillings were. My husband had the wings and when I tried them they were extra crispy and still juicy on the inside.
Extra plus is is the golf cart that takes you down to the ballpark starting an hour before the game.

My cousin and I went to The Ugly Mug while we were waiting for our table reservation for Rose’s Luxury to open up, and overall, it’s a little sports bar that hits the right spot.
At the end of the day, a sports bar is a sports bar. This is not gastro pub, and it is not pretending to be one. The Ugly Mug has good drink specials on the weekend, and even during sports playoffs. Drinks selections were typical, and they had a good number of beers on tap.
Service was fast, friendly and efficient, so no complaints there. The servers were extremely personable, which was pretty nice.
Overall, while I would not go out of my way to walk down 8^th Street go here, if you find yourself in the neighborhood, this is definitely a cheap and simple option for having a drink and watching some sports.