Mad Fox Brewing Company

So I will preface this with the fact that I didn’t really try much food nor did I pay for anything. Given that, I enjoyed both beers I had: the saison and the plum crazy saison. The beer list looked quite good overall; I would’ve loved to have gotten a flight but I’m not sure if they offer them. It was a cool place, very airy with the windows open. The truffle fries were bomb, the hummus was okay and the wings (I heard) were not that good. Service was great though. Would come back for a happy hour.

Great place! Wanted a place to hangout with my girlfriend for a few drinks and a late night dinner. It was perfect & they re-​opened happy hour at 9! Our server nicole was very knowledgable of the beers as well! Would highly recommend

Let’s start by saying maybe I went on a bad chef night. We tried a few sandwiches and the wings. Starting with the wings, they were inedible. They were waaaaay overcooked and hard to chew. I tried maybe 3 before I finally gave up. The Glover Park sandwich reads like its going to be delicious, and I can see what they were going for, but I really don’t like sandwiches that fall apart when you take a bite or where you pull chunks of meat out with a bits and have to tear it literally with your fingers to put it back in the sandwich. The pork belly being overcooked could have caused that. The No. 5 sandwich was just a bit better, but instead of having a golden fried chicken patty, it seemed that the patty was a lot darker indicating that it too may have been overcooked. The salads were just ok. I’ll try it once more, but if the food the same as last time, I’ll probably never go back. It’s a shame too since the sandwiches read on the menu like they’d be so delicious.

Decent food. But it’s a tad expensive and a stuffy for a brewery. Risotto is my favorite at restaurants, but this was weirdly cheesy. Salad there was so-​so.

I swear by their fried appetizers. The pork skins are heavenly. That said, they have delicious beers and a great variety that you won’t get a typical bars. It’s moderately priced and the atmosphere is a lot of fun, and the bartenders are very chill. Definitely a spot to recommend if you’re in Georgetown or Glover Park, or simply if you appreciate good beer and super delicious appetizers with it!

I was thrilled to finally have this place opening up in my neighborhood. Finally made it with a friend a few weeks ago. They have great happy hour deals on Sunday for the flights (samplers of different beers). We went through 2 apiece and were feeling pretty right. Lots of variety, some good, some not so much, but when you have 4 different types you don’t mind that much.

This is a brunch review– I’ll start with the good and then get to the bad. The meadmosa was very good and the Cinnabomb was yummy. The people I was with seemed to enjoy the chicken and waffles a lot.
Now the bad– we were the first group at the restaurant and the only people in there for the first half hour. It took 30 minutes for my boyfriend’s beer tasting flight to come. The beer was average at best. The B3 salad and the nutty goat salad were extremely disappointing. They tasted as if the dressing was just water and the dried apricots were so hard that I could barely poke my fork into them. The service was very slow. We were with a group of people and I kindly asked the host for the check for my boyfriend and I (they asked us how we wanted to split checks initially). I mentioned that we were in a bit of a rush. She disappeared for 20 minutes. I asked our server for our check, again mentioning we were in a bit of a rush, and she rudely laughed in my face and gave me attitude.
I would never go back.

Wow it was so good until it made me and my bf sick. Salmon and mad fox burgers… So sad

First, the positives. My harvest burger was delicious. The falafel had a good flavor to it, and the toppings were a nice complement to it. The side salad had sunflower seeds! Nice and unexpected addition. The beers were all pretty good. I especially like the IPA options they had.
The gripe I had with the experience and the knockdown of stars was the service. Our table was one of TWO tables in the upstairs seating area. My flight arrived about 15 minutes after I ordered — this wouldn’t have been an issue if the beer wasn’t sitting on the bar and when I got the beer all of the beers had no head and were fizzled out and not as cold as they should be. If this wasn’t bad enough, it took another 5 minutes to get the other beer for the table (it was also sitting on the bar for a while). The waitress even commented that she expected the bartender would bring over our drinks.

It was ok the music was a little bit loud we toll the waitress to low the music she did, customer service was very good. The chicken win and potato ship cause us stomach pain. but from a group of 6, two had stomach pain.

I didn’t know what to expect of this new tap house in DC, a sister location of the brewery and restaurant in Falls Church which I heard many good things about. First of all the hostess, bartender and the server we had were all great, friendly and genuine. Makes a huge difference. I really liked the food. The mumbo wings, ranch chips and the burger were all good. I loved all the beer too, the sampler option is nice to try your faves. I hope to go back there again very soon.

We’ve been to the Falls Church location numerous times, and while the beer is always good, the food is hit or miss there. At this location (DC), the space is fun. We ate at the bar for dinner. The menu is less pub, and I was more impressed with it than the Falls Church location. We got the corn and crab appetizer to start and then the chicken pasta and fried chicken sandwich for our meal. Enjoyed all of them.
Beers were great (especially the Vanilla and Almond stout on cask). We didn’t have it this visit, but Orange Whip is a solid option when they have it (and I don’t love IPAs).
Glad they’ve opened a second location with this level of quality!

REVIEW UPDATE:
Having been a few times I stand by my liking of the cider options, and the food is very good. The severs and bartenders are decent, if over-​eager. Bumping down to three stars due to management. Manager I have seen there a few times not is not very nice, insults customers on occasion, and I have seen him eating at the bar during peak business time. Not what you like to see when trying to have confidence in a new establishment. It was something out of ‘bar rescue’! Hope this situation is remedied soon.
Original review:
Very nicely done as a second outpost of this Virginia native spot! It’s huge for DC standards. Plenty of room to spread out and chill with friends
At least of couple of cider options on tap that are included in happy hour! very doable for someone who doesn’t like beer.
The beer selections are approved by my husband and we love the chips with ranch dip! Wings are okay and the Mac n cheese is surprisingly good. Basic bar food done well!
I hope this becomes a neighborhood mainstay because you can tell that a lot of time and effort and love went into opening this place. bravo!

Wanting to support a new local business, I came here on a whim last Friday to check out Mad Fox. At 7pm, the place was nearly packed, which seemed promising. Unfortunately, I came in excited and left disheartened. Here goes:
It seems there are two seating areas with two different hosts. When we walked in, we were seated in the downstairs bar area. I asked the hostess about the upstairs area, which she kindly offered to show to us, and explained it was the same, just upstairs; so, we opted to stay downstairs. I don’t know what the difference is, but it’s confusing to have two separate seating areas, both of which are dining areas, not event space or with different menus. Anyway, it was odd and I digress.
Our frazzled waiter came over to take our drink order. It took a good 10 minutes for our drinks to arrive, but they were delicious and worth the wait. I tried the «Oaked» something or other rye cocktail, which was not too sweet and paired well with my fish and chips. My hubs had a glass of Sauvignon blanc (don’t judge; this is Glover Park), and he was happy with it.
For dinner we ordered the chicken wings, B3 salad, and the fish and chips. We ordered the wings extra, extra spicy (apocalypse was the word used), and they were delicious, but lacking in the apocalyptic heat. The B3 salad, which is described as a Brussels sprout salad, was a bland red-​leaf lettuce salad with a three Brussels sprouts chopped up and sprinkled on top. The fish and chips were okay — the fish inside was good and fresh. The batter was weird; it was sticky so you couldn’t cleanly cut it with a knife, and also, incredibly bland. They were begging for malt vinegar and salt. The dipping sauce it came with was also blah. There was a terrible, oily onion-​radicchio slaw that was so bitter and oniony it made my mouth curl. Good way to scare your date off.
Our waiter came when we were finished and asked if we were done. We said yes. He said, «okay! Any more drinks tonight?» We said no. We actually wanted another round, but we didn’t like the place. It was really, really loud in there. Then, our waiter left. No plates cleared. No check. He had totally peaced out. 15 minutes later, we found someone else and asked for our check. Then we left and got drinks up the street.
Bland, bland food.
Weird service.
First time and last.

Two screens over the bar for local games. Great service by Marcus behind the bar, plus he clued me in on the $ 5 Sunday flights, $ 4 Monday cask pours, and their crazy $ 15 brunch deal for a liberal amount of diner-​esque grub. Mad Fox brews still have yet to knock my socks off, but I preferred the Stir-​About Vanilla Oatmeal stout’s notes over the Reynard black saison. What impressed me though, was the food. I’d pit them over Dogfish and maybe even over DuClaw for pub fare, despite the much smaller menu.
Soup of the day was thick and filling enough that a bowl with a salad could’ve curbed my hunger fine. Pork belly confit was nicely rendered, served on a bed of napa kimchi and garnished beautifully with scallions (plus chopsticks to eat with). Chicken cracklins came in larger sheets than the chip sizes I had expected, and while its honey-​ale mustard was okay, the black garlic aioli was addictive as hell and paired crazy well with the vanilla stout.
Three and a half stars. Still not very crowded given the neighborhood and its newness, but we’ll be back. Future hit list: Big Chimney porter, Wee Heavy scotch ale, Crazy Ivan Russian imperial stout on the horizon, and the brown whenever it rotates back in; frickles, kohlrabi hummus, cremini mac & cheese, Glover Park burger.

I’ve been in Mad Fox a few times both alone and with the family with kids. The space is lovely. It took two years, but they did a great job with it. The beers are solid beers made out at their brewery in Falls Church. My wife says the wine is good as well. The service is friendly, but the food seemed to take a while. Also we did not get checked on by our server at the table as frequent as I would expect.
One big limitation is the menu. Apparently, the chef has a thing for pork. As a result, the menu feels skewed and not that vegetarian friendly. The vegetarian plate has an odd combination of items. The menu does not indicate Vegetarian or Gluten free on the menu which is helpful at other restaurants for myself and friends. There are a few vegetarian items, but it’s less than ideal. I wish they would add the veggie burger that Falls Church has. The space did not support a pizza oven, so they don’t have those as compared to Falls Church. They had pretzels on the menu as a special the other night. They were quite good. The pretzels have not been on the regular menu and I really hope they add them. The asparagus soup we got on special wass sort of blah. Also, they should serve the soup with crackers or bread.
They have high chairs and booster seats for the kids which can be used in the lower level dining room. They have crayons. They have a kids menu that is ok though the sides are not ideal for the kids other than the chips.
I really want to like the Taproom, but the menu needs work. I hear they are changing it some soon, but we’ll have to see how.

We stopped in here to pregame after doing the nearby escape room and before our dinner reservations. We went upstairs to the bar.
They have a great craft beer selection. The buys really enjoyed their beers. I got a fabulous cocktail and my sister really loved her wine.
We also got an order of the ranch chips. Holy moly. Home made ranch potato chips with a chipotle dipping sauce. Delicious. We wanted more.
If we hadn’t had reservations we would’ve stayed. Definitely a place to visit again. The bar tenders were super funny.

Disappointed. When we walked in the hostess barely spoke to us. Our first four choices of beer… they didn’t have. Our waitress wasn’t very knowledgeable about the beers they did have. And when I switched to wine she brought it to me with a lipstick stain on the glass. I sent it back and watched her pour it in another glass instead of getting me a fresh glass of wine. My friend had a burger he said it was good. And I had crackling which was a bit too chewy. I think I’ll stick to Slate up the street. The drinks taste so much better when it’s served with a smile.

Love Mad Fox Tap Room! Great beers, fun vibes, and excellent food.
I was so excited to try the the sampler because I had never had Mad Fox brews before. I was pleasantly surprised to learn my favorites were not the ones I originally thought I’d like. I guess this is the whole point of trying new things! My friend and I had such a good time trying multiple flights to try everything. What my taste buds enjoyed most was actually the Black Saison (Cabernet Oaked 7.2% ABV) and hands down the Wee Heavy Scotch Ale 8.6%. I kept ordering pints of these after the tasting! My friend fell in love with the Kellerbier Kolsch which everyone else at the bar seemed to love too!
Aside from the beer, the food was stellar. You can tell their chef knows what he’s doing. We split the Crab salad which was amazing. Then we had the bread pudding which I would like to rename Christmas in a cup. (See picture)
Finally, the staff, everyone from the barbacks to the bartenders to the managers were amazing. So nice and attentive.
We heard there is a new specialty item on the menu every week so we are for sure gonna come back for that! Check them out, they do not disappoint!

I’ve been to the VA spot a few times now (mostly for growler fills of their brews) and I was pleasantly surprised to see that a spot finally opened up in DC. No more driving to the middle of nowhere, VA to get some local fair! Yes, I know those of you who live down there are thinking that it’s not in the middle of nowhere, but here’s the thing — I consider pretty much anywhere in VA to be in the middle of nowhere. I’m a city boy, always will be. It’s my one fla–
MOM GET OUT OF MY ROOM, I’M WRITING A REVIEW.
No, I am writing something nice too. Why wouldn’t I write out the negatives? Mom, come on, you have to be mean sometimes, even when a restaurant is new. I will be down in a minute. IN A MINUTE. OK?
Jeez. Sorry.
Anyway, I’m a fan of the original location, it’s got some great food and some of the deals are fantastic. This place is no exception. It’s got some decently priced stuff, and a real streamlined menu consisting of sandwiches/​burgers, appetizers, and some bigger plates. I got the reuben, which was tasty, but I’m from the Midwest, so it’s nothing too special. I will say the shaved beef was hella good though, even if the sauce was a little lacking. The lady got fish and chips that were really good and our company both got the Mad Fox burgers — which were cooked rare like they asked, so no complaints there.
The beer, as expected, is all good, if fairly standard. I got a taster along with a few pints and called it a night. The Orange Whip and Black Saison are fantastic, and the Defender is a solid choice. Nothing 5 stars, but certainly having such variety is worth something.
Now for the — NO MOM I’M COMING. JESUS. I swear.
Now for the bad part.
The service was pretty dang bad at our table, and I knew it would be because when we sat down, we actually didn’t see our waitress for a good ten minutes. Ok, no big — it opened a few days ago, why worry, right? Well, once she came, we got fairly attentive service. Beers came at a steady pace, and things were removed from the table. Nice touch when you have tons of little glasses floating about. But, when the bill came, we asked to split it down the middle so couples could pay, and she split it four ways, with an additional 40 DOLLARS attached to it. 40! GAH! No good! We let the floor manager know, and he promptly fixed it and gave us a round on the house, which was thoughtful. I was fairly buzzed by this point, so I was in no mood to complain, and I still find myself in no mood to complain.
The service definitely isn’t a deterrent in the least. At least, not yet. It literally just opened, so I’m not going to be too hard on the staff for not working the kinks out, and the manager was more than accommodating. But, just a heads up if you’ve had a little too much to drink and don’t carefully look at the bill, you might get snagged with a lot more than you expected. Which can definitely be a problem.
Overall though, it’s a welcome addition to Glover, and more beer places in DC as always cool. I’ll probably be back soon when they figure their shi-​MOM. OK. ON MY WAY.
Ok, I gotta go. Mac’n’Cheese is getting cold.