Tag: National Harbor-MD

The Brass Tap Craft Beer Bar was the low point of our trip through the establishments in National Harbor. It’s not that large, was packed, and the music was so loud you had to scream to talk to the person next to you. Ordering food and drink? Don’t even try to talk to the server, you just have to point at stuff on the menu because no one is going to hear you.

You can hear the music outside, which is probably what helps them pull people in, but someone needs to tell the owner they can put a speaker outside (or hide it in their sign) and then turn down the inside volume.

Could amazing drinks have saved our impression of The Brass Tap? Sure, it could have, if the drinks were decent.

My son and his friend got tap beer. No surprises, its beer.

I ordered a Basil Hayden’s Manhattan. I’d had one at dinner so I had something to compare it too fresh in my memory. It is really hard to say they were remotely similar. What I got was anything but recognizable.

The color was really dark, and the flavor was anything but bourbon. It reminded me of when I’d fill bottles with water so my dad didn’t know we were into his booze. The Manhattan was watery and bland, and honestly I have no idea what bourbon they used, because it definitely was not Basil Hayden’s. Or, if it was, it was 9/10s water.

My wife ordered what should have been a safe choice. She went with a bottle of lite beer – which the bartender dropped while handing it over the bar to the server. The bottle hit the ground (I think there was a rubberized mat on the ground) but didn’t break. A minute later the same beer was served to my wife, with about 50% of it foam. Unfortunately none of us took a picture of it.

We each drank our one drink and left half our appetizers uneaten as it was time to go. It was just too loud inside and the quality of the cocktails was Just Bad.

The Brass Tap scored a 25/100, making it Just Bad. This is not a place I’ll be going back to.

Place	Location	Score	Price Scale	Drink
Cinder Bar	Clarksboro, NJ	96	High Cost	Manhattan
Saltgrass Steakhouse	Orlando, FL	91	Moderate Cost	Manhattan
The Irish Whisper	National Harbor, MD	90	High Cost	Irish Whiskey
The Dead Rabbit	New York, NY	75	High Cost	Multiple
Iron Hill Brewery	Wilmington, DE	71	High Cost	Kentucky Connection
Harry’s Savoy Grill	Wilmington, DE	67	High Cost	Manhattan Boulevardier
Ted’s Montana Grill	Newark, DE	66	Moderate Cost	Newly Fashioned
Creekside Inn	Woodstown, NJ	65	Low to Moderate	Manhattan
Alewife	Richmond, VA	63	High Cost	Manhattan
roanoke	Chicago, IL	55	High Cost	Black Manhattan
Blue Line Lounge & Bar	Chicago, IL	53	Low Cost	Manhattan
Da Andrea	New York, NY	50	High Cost	Manhattan Negroni
Iguana Cafe	Chicago, IL	45	Moderate Cost	Manhattan
The Greene Turtle	Newark, DE	40	Moderate Cost	Manhattan
Restaurante Montserrat Manor	Punta Cana, DR	35	High Cost	Manhattan
Dave & Buster's	Deptford, NJ	30	Moderate Cost	Manhattan
Cock'n Bull	Lahaska, PA	26	High Cost	Manhattan Old Fashioned
The Brass Tap	National Harbor, MD	25	Moderate Cost	Manhattan
Carrol's Creek Cafe	Annapolis, MD	21	High Cost	Manhattan
Big Fish Grill	Wilmington, DE	10	High Cost	Manhattan
The Legend	New Castle, DE	5	Low Cost	Manhattan
TGI Fridays	New Castle, DE	1	Moderate Cost	Manhattan

Cost Scale

Up to $30 per person – Low Cost

$31 to $50 per person – Moderate Cost

$51 and above per person – High Cost