The newest addition to the 14th Street restaurant corridor debuted Monday: Ted’s Bulletin,
a sister location to the Capitol Hill original known for house-made pop-tarts, all-day
breakfast, and alcohol-enhanced milkshakes. This is the second venture in the neighborhood
for the Matchbox Food Group; the team opened a branch of Matchbox there last fall. It’s planning a third Ted’s location for Reston toward the end of
the year. Here’s what to expect at Ted’s number two.
The same ol’ boozy milkshakes and all-day breakfast
Ted’s takes the “if it ain’t broke” approach for its second location, meaning you
won’t find many differences between the sister eateries. The menu is an exact replica,
boasting all-day breakfast starting at 7 AM and similarly homey plates from 11 onward.
You might pick from salads and deli-style sandwiches such as Reubens or grilled cheese
dunked in tomato soup at lunch. Supper selections range from country-fried cube steak
smothered in white gravy to gumbo or three-cheese lasagna. Wash it all down with a
spiked shake or, if you’re feeling fancy, the $20 Millionaire Malt, made with Macallan
17-year Scotch.
A new bakery
There is one major new feature of the 14th Street location: a front-of-the-house bakery
helmed by pastry chef
Rebecca Albright (formerly of 1789).
Guests can drop in for a variety of sweets to go, including house-made pop tarts,
cookies, brownies, and slices of cake, pie, and cheesecake. Milkshakes are also mixed
for the road—virgin only, of course—and you can carry out coffee from Swing’s. New
to the lineup will be a selection of doughnuts in both cake and yeast varieties.
More chairs (and a crowd-friendly seating system)
Another notable difference from the flagship is the size: 14th Street has nearly double
the capacity with seating for 160, including a 14-seat counter staffed by “shaketenders”
(or shall we say, milkshologists?). Like the Capitol Hill location, the interior evokes
the feeling of eating in an old bank or train station with veined marble surfaces,
tin ceilings, gold banquettes, and pieces taken from the old Philadelphia Convention
Center. You may eventually find more tables on an outdoor patio along the Swann Street
side. A limited number of reservations will be offered online, but there’s also a
call-ahead wait list during peak hours. Once the kitchen is running smoothly, you’ll
also find online ordering for takeout.
A family-friendly atmosphere
Many 14th Street restaurants are kid-tolerant at best—would you and your toddler want
to wait an hour at Etto?—but
Ted’s actively bills itself as a family-friendly eatery. A lot of it has to do with
the many throwback dishes designed with children, both actual and inner, in mind.
Instead of sports, Shirley Temple movies and
The Wizard of Oz play on televisions above the bar, and there are a number of salvaged school-room
chairs.
And yes, there’s a peanut butter-bacon burger
Not everything on the Ted’s menu is meant to appeal to all palates. Yes, the infamous
peanut butter and bacon burger has made the jump from Cap Hill. Just think of it as DC’s version of the cronut burger.
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.
