Touchdown

Zack is it! So handsome and smart left me tongue tied! Went with a Group Great Service

I’d heard great things about their beer selection, but when I went by to watch a basketball game I was really disappointed by pretty much everything else. Like some of the other reviews seem to suggest, the biggest problem with this place has got to be the inept staff.
For a sports bar, the staff didn’t seem to be familiar with any sports channels, so they never found Fox Sports 1. It didn’t help that — even though there were only 4 total customers — I had to yell over what must have been the Tool /​Slayer Pandora station turned up to eleven just to talk to the waiter. It was so bad and so loud that other customers were covering their ears and several (along with us) just left without ordering anything. The staff didn’t seem to care. I won’t be going back.
Note: Browsing through the comments, there seem to be reviews for two completely separate Touchdowns: one with a fun crowd, decent food and beer, and a relaxed, no-​frills atmosphere; and another in which the staff clearly have no idea what they’re doing and make customers miserable with every step.
Perhaps the staff on particular shifts make the difference? I went on a Sunday evening of a (non-​football) long weekend and won’t ever go back. I’d be interested to see when others went.

This place is great because it lacks the pretentiousness that you see in so many other U Street spots. It is a good, solid neighborhood bar where sports are always on and the crowd is usually very cool. It gets loud at times but it is still a relaxing place to take in a game. The bar staff is very friendly and started remembering my wife and I by name and beverage of choice after only a couple NFL Sundays spent there. Recently, the female bartender has begun giving me a free shot of whiskey every time I close out my check for the day. Not ideal for my productivity on Mondays but a nice gesture nonetheless. In the colder months, they often have house-​made mulled wine. Not my thing but it makes the place smell great.
I’ve had a few things on the menu with the best items being the chicken fingers, nachos and cheese fries in that order. I’ve had the spinach dip too but do yourself a favor and skip that.

A bar that runs out of beer, on a Sunday, at 1pm, during the NFL Playoffs is not any bar that I will be spending any time at any time soon. And so will the rest of our group that was about 20 deep that decided to try a new spot on Sunday for the game.
When you run out of Miller Lite and have both of your kegs tapped by 2pm, something is wrong there. You also need to make sure that you have enough staff — and when you have Playoff Football coming on, usually you will get a good crowd. They had a great crowd and certainly left a lot of money on the table.
Did the staff work hard to make sure they had enough glasses and cleaned off the tables? Probably yes — they did a good job with that. But really guys? You run out of Miller Lite Bottles about an hour after you open. They ended up bringing in beer from across the the street and actually selling cans to customers.
Those cans were marked «Not for resale» fora reason guys.
I’m not one to give negative reviews to spots, but this was really, really a bad experience. Did the TVs work? Yes, thankfully. But no sound and the lack of refreshment really was a true downer.

I don’t have unreasonable expectations at a sports bar. I want tvs. I want beer. And I want decent food. I went here for one of the biggest football days of the year (Playoffs, Seahawks/​Saints, Pats/​Colts), and Touchdown was only able to provide one of those things. About halfway through the first game, they were out of all beer, except for Amstel Light and Heineken. And those are pretty crappy beers. I tried to order food, but the bartender seemed confused by my order and told me that the reuben sandwich I asked for was only available during brunch. Because, you know, the kitchen doesn’t expect anyone to order a sandwich after 2pm. Of course! The burger that I eventually got was pretty terrible.
Going to this bar felt like going to a friend of a friend’s house to watch a football game. You could ask him to provide food and drinks, but he’s not going to be happy about it, the quality won’t be great, and he won’t be in any hurry to get them to you. Also, their Sam Adams costs $ 8. Eight dollars. For one beer.

Touchdown is a cozy bar with a handful of 6-​person high top tables and maybe 10 seats at the bar itself. There are plenty of TV’s so it would be ideal for watching a game. The beer prices were actually not bad and there were several choices.
We walked in on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and it was pretty dead. There were maybe 10 other people besides the four of us but the guy behind the bar was friendly and made sure we got our libations.
The food actually sounded pretty good but we were all gearing up for turkey day so we passed on that.
If I were a local I’d definitely come here to watch games!

Cool little sports bar right in the middle of U Street.
Touchdown has everything you would hope for in a sports bar, multiple TVs playing a various games, a variety of beers, drafts and bottles, typical bar food items and a friendly staff.
Didn’t get a chance to go to the upper level but the lower level is small and tight. There are several tables but if the place is busy you’ll be right on top of your neighbors, this makes for a more enjoyable experience especially when the majority of the people are rooting for the same team.
Beer prices are very affordable, most of the domestic options are less than 5 dollars, which is right up my alley.
All in all, definitely a cool place to get together with a friend or multiples frees, share a beer and watch some sports.

Really good sports atmosphere. Brunch is really good for a sports bar. They have beer specials so you can watch games all day without breaking the bank. Ilayada is a bartender who keeps the guests entertained throughout the day. Good bar for your college and pro sports fan.

It took me a couple of months to realize that I had this gem in my neighborhood. This place doesn’t pretend to be anything else than what it is, a neighborhood sports bar.
You’re not going to find anything fancy here, just a smattering of people watching sports (football is my sport if choice). Also, being from the Midwest, the $ 3 PBRs are a personal fav.
While I have only tried a few of their food options, I was very disappointed with their fish tacos :(Mediocre food is what is keeping this place from a 5.

Following on Janet O., I too had a similar situation. I had a party planned at Tabaq that needed to be moved because of the sale, and we got Touchdown for a Friday night. I couldn’t be more happy. It was a perfect venue, I was able to control the Ipod (an awesome dance party broke out towards the end). Drinks were priced extremely reasonably, and the food was very good too (they have multiple flavors of wings).
Anyway, I really recommend Touchdown. For a drink it’s great since its not too crowded (unlike most of U Street) and has multiple floors and is not too pricey and has a good selection. For a party its perfect. The acoustics are also good.
The bartenders and managers are really nice people.
I haven’t been there for sports but I’m sure its awesome too.
If you haven’t been here yet in the sea of U Street bars, you should definitely check it out.

We had some platter wings, tenders and mozzarella sticks. Can’t really go wrong wtih that when drinking…
Place is a bit small, but at least I came early enough to snatch up the last table. Came here to watch the sweet 16 games. Packed with michigan fans… and they should have lost!

Mediocre food, limited beer selection but a very cool location with a good, diverse crowd of people.

An acceptable spot to coming to for watching sports, especially football.
I have been here a handful of times (usually on a Sunday) and the reoccurring theme is: serviceable employees, decent to good food, and enjoyable atmosphere. That’s all we want when it comes to watching your favorite sports team on one of those many flat-​screen TVs, right?
As far as food is concerned, the food will hold you over during those times where you are either: 1. Emotionally wretched from your favorite team being on the receiving end of a Cleveland Steamer; 2. Ecstatic from your favorite team laying the smack down on some roody-​poo, candy-​a opponent. With that out the way, here is the food I have had from Touchdown:
–Buffalo Wings (Hot): Wings are good size, and are actually hot
–Loaded Nacho: I would not recommend; presentation did not look promising to being with
–Chicken Tenders: A formidable option for looking for a fried encounter. Who can really mess up Chicken Tenders though?
–Chicken Quesadilla: Decent; comes with pico de gallo, guacamole, and salsa
I’ll be coming here a lot for other sporting events, not just when the NFL season is around.

I came here after the home opener of the Wizards with my boyfriend and four of our friends.
My boyfriend asked the bartender for a pitcher of PBR, but they didn’t have, so he ordered a pitcher of Sam Adams. The bartender then said he had to go upstairs to get the beer from the keg and asked if that was ok. It wasn’t a big deal since we asked for a pitcher of water while we waited.
The bartender reemerged a few minutes later with half a pitcher full of beer, explaining that he had to change the keg and asked whether we wanted it or not. We took the half pitcher and everyone but me had some beer. The bartender then returned a second time and told my boyfriend the half pitcher was on him and presented us with a very nicely poured pitcher of Sam Adams.
Our other friend ordered a pitcher of lighter beer and that was also nicely poured so I’ll definitely say they do a good job here with the beer. My boyfriend did note it was a little expensive though.
The TVs were also set on different channels with the exception that two were on the college football game.
Women’s bathroom was decent. Someone definitely could have taken out the trash at some point before 11:30 pm.

I was wholly unimpressed with this place. There was okay beer, there were a decent number of TVs (it was Derby weekend), the service and food were truely «meh». I had pita with hummus which was fine — but nothing to write home about. Other folks with me had the nachos — also fine but nothing special.
It definitely had an interesting mix of folks there though. I was pleasantly surprised.
It is not worth another visit.

I think Touchdown is a great sports bar — there are three floors, and each of the rooms is not particularly big, but it’s filled with TVs. This works out great, because from almost any seat, you can see multiple games. The only warning is to get their early if you want to watch a Red Skins game — it fills up fast!
They have happy hour specials, and football game specials. I thought the wings were good, and the nachos are huge!

Updating my last review: This is a basic, no flash sports bar. If you want a place to watch a game, drink cheap beer, and eat some bar food then this is your spot. Why I especially love this place:
–Excellent canned beer selection, especially for IPA lovers.
–The bartenders are all very friendly and engaging
–The clientele are usually a pretty good group of fun loving sports fans. I love watching football here because people aren’t typically dicks.
–Wings and Fish Tacos are great

I went here for trivia with some fellow Unilocalers and had a great time! I’m a bit bitter about losing to the other Unilocal team by ¹⁄₃ of a question, but I’m not going to hold that against Touchdown… for the record though, the top 3 grossing Jeff Goldblum movies, in order are Jurassic Park, Independence Day, and Jurassic Park 2 (not The Fly, which we had for #3).
I LOVED that all their whiskey was 25% off on Wednesday nights, including their scotches, and they had a really great selection of scotch, especially for a sports bar, which was also reasonably priced. I didn’t like that they gave you your scotch in a shot glass, unless you requested otherwise. They were obliging though, once I started requesting a glass. I gotta say though, I really like this spot, and think it’s a great addition to the neighborhood.

I’ve been here a couple of times and haven’t been disappointed. Then again, I haven’t been wowed either.
There are 2 floors, so if you walk in and can’t find a spot to watch (insert any game here), head upstairs for more seating. Both levels have their own bar, which is very helpful since no one wants to stumble up and down stairs to get more booze. While there are ample TVs, there’s no guarantee they’ll turn on your game. I asked for a baseball game to be turned on, but they said they were contractually obligated to show soccer on every screen, which sucks. Sigh.
The food is… well… atrocious. I mean, this is pub food at its absolute worst. Oh my god, I cannot stress enough how bad the food is. They’re trying to mix high end (ex. duck fat french fries) with basic pub food (quesadillas). It was a complete failure for me.
For starters, they use a very processed cheese, and for some reason their grill/​cooking area doesn’t get hot enough so every time, the cheese just barely melts. Either that, or it cools and congeals while it’s sitting in the kitchen, waiting to be picked up. The quesadilla was terrible — the inside was ice cold shredded cheese and the outside was soggy from all of the salsa they dolloped onto it. Ugh. Ditto for the mac and cheese. You couldn’t pay me to eat that again. Oh, and their artichoke dip? It’s served with pita chips that seem thicker than Texas Toast. They’re ok in flavor, but much, much too heavy to be served with artichoke dip. To add insult to injury, the artichoke dip is covered in the same processed cheese, rendering it inedible.
If they revamped their menu and stuck to pub food basics (hello, tater tots, chicken fingers?!), I think they’d be much more successful because they seem to do everything else right. Pub trivia, weeknight drink specials (Whiskey Wednesdays!) and a decent selection of beers. I’ll definitely be back but this time I’ll be sure to eat first!

Is it weird that the bouncer was my favorite part? He was chill and informative about the third floor still not being open since there was a lack of sufficient cable boxes. I half-​expected to be turned away at the door since I was carrying two boxes of leftovers but he okayed it as long as I didn’t eat it here. I stayed on the first floor instead of checking out the bar upstairs, and watched the Butler fans go gonzo trying to beat the music’s volume with their enthusiasm. After awhile they tried putting the game sound on but the hubbub was just too loud to make out anything more than the squeaking of sneakers. Back to blasting okay background music while I nursed my Loose Cannon. Christina and Mai shared their cheeseburger and fries with us, which was acceptable bar food reminiscent of McD’s. Decent sports bar for the neighborhood, Shachi will be happy!