Birch & Barley/ChurchKey
1337 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-567-2576
Neighborhood: Logan Circle, Downtown
Cuisines: Modern, American, Breakfast
Opening Hours:
Open Tuesday through Thursday 5:30 to 10, Friday and Saturday 5:30 to 11, Sunday 11 to 8 PM.
Nearby Metro Stops: Mt. Vernon Square/7th St.-Convention Center, McPherson Square
Price Range: Moderate
Dress: Informal
Noise Level: Rowdy
Reservations: Recommended
Website: http://www.birchandbarley.com
Best Dishes:
Bread board; shrimp corn dogs; tater tots; flatbreads with figs and prosciutto, with veal-neck sausage, or BLT style; brat burger and fries; dessert tasting plate of oatmeal cream pie, “Hostess” cupcake, fudge pop, and marshmallow.
Price Details:
Birch & Barley starters $9 to $14, entrées $16 to $30. ChurchKey shareable plates $3.50 to $14, sandwiches and flatbreads $7 to $15.
If you’d sooner give up chocolate or alcohol than bread, think of pastry chef Tiffany MacIsaac as your patron saint. We’d be happy making a meal out of the bread basket here, with its crème fraîche biscuits and aggressively salted pretzel rolls. Happily, much of what follows, courtesy of chef Kyle Bailey, is just as satisfying. He specializes in robust flavors, turning tender grouper cheeks into a crunchy snack and tossing pappardelle with curried yogurt and braised goat. Dishes are built to stand up to beer director Greg Engert’s list, one of the best in the country, with 550-plus possibilities.
Don’t miss: Prosciutto-and-fig flatbread; scallops with blood-orange purée; honey-glazed duck; brunchtime chicken and waffles and sticky buns; cookies-and-confections plate.
Open: Tuesday through Saturday for dinner, Sunday for brunch (until 8 pm). Expensive.
