A little less than a month ago we checked in at Bar Pilar for five new things to expect from its reincarnation: a two-story, entrée-serving, cocktail-slinging version of its former self (yes, there were always cocktails, but now there are more). Check it out for yourself tonight, when Pilar finally reveals the much-anticipated upstairs addition.
Decor-wise, the upstairs is similar to the downstairs–exposed brick, wooden furniture, murals from artist Beth Ross–but there’s a new, much-expanded menu from chef Justin Bittner, cocktails with a focus on house-made ingredients courtesy of Jonathan Fain–he’s likely juicing sugar canes for sweetener as you read this–and a helpful hostess to manage all the folks hoping to snag a table on night number one. And longtime Pilar fans, fear not. The sidewalk-level barroom has the same open-seating policy and small-plates menu as before.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
