PILAR BAR — Restaurant in Washington

I really want to like this place and gave it a few chances, but management simply doesn’t have their act together. They are severely understaffed which has been a problem since before covid. Here is a summary of my experiences there over the years:

Restaurant Week, 2024: At first glance, their RW deal looked decent where you could order any appetizer, entree, and dessert, plus 2 cocktails for $65. However, once we got there, the server told us they were out of the ribeye entree which was the only entree that was priced high enough to make the deal worth it. Had we purchased other entrees, we would actually be losing money on the “deal.” In addition there were only one or two servers working the entire upstairs dining room and it took us over 15 minutes just to be seen after we were seated. It also took so long for drinks and appetizers to arrive that we decided to forgo ordering entrees and went somewhere else. Our server was very nice but clearly overworked.

Fall, 2023: I read an article that the restaurant had pumpkin spice espresso martinis. Being the basic B I am, I was excited to give it a try. However, once our group arrived, the bartender told us they were out of the ingredients and couldn’t make it. We left disappointed.

2019: We went for brunch and had extremely slow service so we decided we wouldn’t return for a while.

Overall, this place has good potential, a nice atmosphere, and a great location, but management has consistently let us down. Unfortunately, we likely won’t be back to give them...

Chef Jesse Miller, Barman Matt Brown, manager Drew Hairs tonight, and the rest of the team at Bar Pilar have maintained this bar as a 14th Street institution. The theme of the restaurant is Ernest Hemingway, but unlike most themed restaurants you aren't beaten over the head with the concept. The food and bar menus are similarly nuanced. Most of the menu is asian-fusion inspired, and most of it is absolutely delicious. I would say all of it, but I haven't finished my project of eating all of the menu. Which is impossible because they regularly update the menu with food that's in season.

The chicken sliders and togarashi chips are a great introduction to the food, and the old fashioned is a good introduction to the bar. The bar is upscale divey in that one person can get a tallboy tecate and the other can get a last word and it makes sense that the same bar would produce drinks that hit the high and low.

Overall, the place is great, the food is great, the drinks are great, and the staff, while sometimes on the smirky hipster end of the spectrum, light up when they talk about their offerings. Some snotty reviewers might mistake this for bad service, but it's more of a style than a deterrent. Plus, the togarashi chips are the...

Enjoyable NYC Style pub serving freshly prepared food from all over the food spectrum.

Looks: While the bar does bring a serious NYC pub vibe -- it tries a bit too hard with the "exposed brick" facade which comes off as forced. The space is decent with a nice sized wrap around bar and various seating options on the ground floor and above (and a couple spots outside too)

Drinks: The HH menu grants you 5 buck drafts wines and sundries. Otherwise the tap is on the expensive side at anywhere from 6-9 bucks for a beer. Selection was good and I had no problems with the options

Food: The HH menu again grants you 5 bucks for a small pizza, mac and cheese and sweetbreads -- i didnt try any of these. However I did try the Bahn mi -- and while a bit on the salty side -- it was pretty fantastic. I also tried the BBQ chips which are a great side (and fresh made), the olives (pass on these -- they just werent memorable), and the King salmon + udon -- (also fantastic).

Service: nice and fast! cant ask for more.

Solid location overall but might benefit from some pricing adjustments for drinks (food pricing was actually good) and maybe a slight internal makeover (personal...