Salty Dog Tavern

This restaurant was not truthful about what their prices were. We ordered happy hour wine, but they charged us $ 7 for each glass (and it was boxed wine). When we complained they refused to reduce the price, nor did they apologize.

Stopped by here recently on a Sunday because a friend was hosting a brunch/​day party. I came in at the tail end of the event so didn’t see much of a crowd. It’s a very narrow space, but decent for a Dupont Circle bar! I wasn’t hungry but ordered a drink at the bar. The bartender’s accent was so thick, I could barely understand her. I wanted a chaser with my whiskey and she kept asking if I’m sure I wanted that. Yes lady! I need a chaser. I closed my tab and joined my friend at a table. He ordered a burger well done and when it came out, it was pink inside (no where close to well done). He informed them that it was not cooked all the way through and there was definitely an attitude from the server. He eventually got a brand new burger well done. Didn’t see too many other people coming through while we were there. Not impressed to return.

This bar seems like it could be awesome. When I walked in. It was just me. And I thought ‘maybe because it’s a Monday at 6?’ Luckily the bartender was very attentive! I asked if they had any ciders (I’m gluten free). And she said she would look. After looking for a bit. She let me know they didn’t have any. So I asked for a titos vodka with tonic. And some grapefruit. She said ‘let me check if the grapefruit is good still’ inner voice ‘well that’s not reassuring’. After she tasted it. She let me know it was. Then had to go downstairs for some titos vodka. She poured my drink. And was sweet about it.
A couple later walked in. And decided to try and order some food. But they were informed that there weren’t a few items available. After they ordered their drinks and a keg change later, they tried to order the meatballs. Which was not previously excluded. And they were met with a ‘oh. We don’t have meatballs’. This place reminds me of something from kitchen nightmares. Luckily the bartenders (two women) were so sweet and attentive.

Came for brunch and I should’ve had a clue when it was empty. Bottomless mimosas were just orange juice and the food mediocre. Not to mention since the place was virtually empty the service should’ve been exceptional however it was mediocre as well. I won’t be back… and wouldn’t advise anyone to come here. Too many other cool places in the area to try.

Solid little local bar, really great happy hour prices and the bartenders are always friendly. It’s rarely loud and crowded so a good place for conversation. Oh and the food is pretty bomb too.

I am always here because this place is awesome. Everyone is so friendly and the food is great. If you ever come in try either the cheesecake of the funnel cake fries (you’re welcome :).

I would definitely come here for a late night drink, but I just wasn’t impressed with the food. I stopped in here for a quick, early lunch with a friend while I was waiting for an appointment. I was the only one in the restaurant, aside from the employees, and as such, was seated immediately.
My waitress was attentive and friendly. My guest was running late, and she was very understanding about this. We ended up ordering the hummus trio as an appetizer. It was pretty good, nothing to write home about. When I ran out of pita to dip in my hummus, one of the people that worked there noticed and quickly brought me out more. I thought that was really sweet! I have a lot of experience with hummus appetizers, and rarely do restaurants refill your pita, at least not without charging you.
For entrees, we ordered a portabello mushroom sandwich and a cheeseburger. This is where the Salty Dog Tavern fell short for me. The food came out quickly, but it looked like it was something I could’ve purchased from a hot dog stand or like it came from a grocery store frozen dinner. I just wasn’t impressed. The bread was extremely thick compared to the actual contents of the sandwiches. That never makes for a good meal. The portabello was meh. According to my guest, the cheeseburger was ok also.
Overall, an ok place to come for a quick, cheap eat. What I liked about this place was that the service was good, décor was nice, and it looked like they had a pretty decent beer selection. It looks like they have a good brunch menu as well. Wouldn’t say no to trying this place again, though it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Home of the $ 4 HH. A very very dead happy hour, but happy hour none the less.
I met up with Unilocal Elite Kendal Ann M. for drinks and apps one day after work. Salty Dog is new to the Dupont North neighborhood but I’ve heard good things about their HH. When I walked in at 5:30 there was one other individual at the bar. In the two hour span we were there I would say maybe 4 – 5 other people filtered in and out. Not exactly happening but the servers were friendly and they had a great selection of $ 4 drinks until 7pm.
We also ordered a round of buffalo wings which were good. Maybe we picked a weird night? A great HH bar to actually have a real conversation with your friends.
I would come back.

I came for brunch because I’d seen a list of drink specials online that I wanted to try. It turned out they were seasonal items but the staff were nice enough to recreate them for my friend and I after we showed them the menu we had seen. All the drinks we tried were delicious and the food was nice.
I’ve also been for Happy Hour and really enjoyed the wings!

After coming for drinks during their soft opening and being disappointed by the service and drinks themselves, we decided to try it one more time for happy hour. It was worse. We got their at 6:55 and asked the bartender if it was still happy hour, he said it ends at 7 and couldn’t put our drink order in fast enough to get us in for happy hour. We decided we would still get one round of drinks but when we asked for a menu, the bartender just pointed to the bottles on the bar behind him and couldn’t provide us with a menu. His attitude and service was terrible. He clearly had no interest in actually serving anyone that night. We walked out and will never be back. I can’t wait until a bar with good service takes over this place.

The Tapas food was great. The risotto was exceptionally good. The happy hour drinks, not so much… First I ordered my favorite drink — a whisky and ginger ale and it was gross! The server took it back and admitted the ginger ale was no good. Instead I ordered a rum and pineapple and that was worse! It was too sour and just bland overall. Again the food was great but the drinks were very disappointing.

I visited (9÷2÷15) cozy place new to Dupont Circle area. Open since May ’15 according to bartender. Ordered Fish/​Chips arrived hot. Crispy coating, moist, tender fresh fish.
My soda glass never empty. Prompt/​pleasant service. My only disappointment,
No dessert on menu. Worth another visit.

I was walking by on my way to the DuPont Circle metro when I was invited inside by who I thought was the bar’s manager. He said to come inside for the «greatest crab cake sandwich for lunch». Since I had about two hours before I needed to be at Union Station, I thought why not, I love crab cake sandwiches.
So I ordered a crab cake sandwich, which comes with your choice of fries or a side salad (I chose fries, of course) and an iced tea. Unfortunately, they have no iced tea, not even in the summer.
The sandwich was fine, but not «best». It would have been nicer if served with a bit of tartar sauce and not just mayo. But I did like the big toasty bun on which it came. Fries where OK as well, but not as crispy as hoped.
Service was good and attentive. And the guy in front who asked me to come in? He does not work for Salty Dog. He is a regular who just happened to be standing out front helping them drum up some lunch business.
In all, it was a cute place with an OK lunch selection.

Service, food, and ambience were good. Greeted by 2 servers and the manager/​owner (?). Constantly checked on. Their notable dishes are the two barbacoa tacos and the Salty Dog Meatballs. You get three, golfball-​sized meatballs that are presented artistically on a round white plate. There was a good, live, jazz band playing at the front of the bar from about 11pm until at least beyond midnight. The sound of the music from the open window at the front of the establishment drew us in at around 11pm.
There is enough space to dance in place and the vibe is relaxed. People at the front of the bar are usually sitting and swaying their heads along to the music, with a few at the bar dancing with a tempered vigor.
People were dining in the back of the bar, where conversation is easier since the slightly loud music was distant. All ethnicities were present, mostly 30+ year olds, and seems gay-​friendly, which is cool.
Minus one star because while cool, it wasn’t extraordinary.
Based on one visit late on a Thursday night. It was one of the few places open near Dupont circle.

GREAT calamari, good wings– a friend and I stopped in around 2:30 one afternoon. An early middle aged man (I assume the owner) flagged us down as we were walking by, on our way to look for a light lunch. He was talking up the happy hour and $ 4 drink specials. Not being much of a drinker, I thanked him and got ready to go on my way when he said they served lunch all day. We decided to stop in for some appetizers, and I’m glad we did. All bars have booze, and nowadays most in DC have a plethora of micro brews and everything else you could want– so nailing the menu as far as bar food is crucial. And in my opinion, Salty Dog nails it in that regard. I would definitely stop by again just for the food, though $ 4 drinks are pretty hard to pass up.

Great time, great prices, wonderful friendly staff. As far as we are concerned one of the best in Washington DC

Salty Dog is a newer bar in the Dupont area and I feel like they’re still figuring out their identity as a bar. The vibe didn’t fit the «tavern» feel I had in my mind… but whatever floats your boat. Prices are standard and it was rather lowkey for a Friday HH.
$ 4 Draft Beers
$ 4 House Wine
$ 4 Appetizers (pita & hummus, veggie dumplings, wings, etc).

Glacially slow service, over-​priced and of mediocre quality. Oh and for some reason they play annoying techno music. My advice? Keep walking.

New place with new place issues. Bartender does not know how to make drinks yet. That could change. The feel of the place is very good, but the service and menu is lacking completely. I won’t comment on the food because I left before ordering food. Nobody was rude, but nobody was helpful. Great location so I hope that they get a clue.
Oh, by the way, don’t get a salty dog here. Worst I’ve had and I’ve had a lot.

A friend and I were walking by Salty Dog Tavern and a hostess was standing outside and invited us inside, as they had just opened 4 days prior. It was 7:10 PM and their happy hour had just ended at 7 PM, when I exclaimed my frustration, the hostess told us that he would tell our waitress to honor happy hour prices for our first round of drinks, so of course we stepped inside. We were seated immediately and looked over the menu. I ordered the Passion Fruit Sangria and my friend ordered the Strawberry Vodka Lemonade. Both drinks were prepared quickly and were delicious, and they only cost $ 4 each! We also ordered the mozzarella rice balls that were accompanied by a delicious marinara sauce.
The ambiance was great, music was trendy and the staff was super friendly! Our waitress recommend their brunch, which features $ 10 bottomless mimosas. We told our waitress we would definitely come back to try their brunch as the food and drinks were very good!
I just went to Salty Dog Tavern last night and have already recommended the place to a couple of friends!