St. Arnolds the Abbey

I like the bar but I want to like it more. The food and drinks are all good but I have yet to have nice service. They always seem to be annoyed that there are people there.

This place is a little basement restaurant specializing in Belgian beers. Thus, the beers aren’t the cheapest but they are better and often more potent than your typical Bud or PBR. They currently have trivia on Wednesdays at 7:30 and often have a band playing. It is cozy and the acoustics aren’t the best so the bands need to learn to knock back on the volume a bit but still good to listen.
Do not confuse this place with St. Arnold’s mussel bar which is above ground and located on the end of the building they both share. This is in the basement near Atomic billiards. I’ve only had the habanero wings but they were good, nice little kick.

Good beer and atmosphere, Terrible service!!! We just had a birthday party there in the abbey and the gm was great buying us a beer for the bday boy, but the waitress and bartended really dampened the experience. From the moment we got there the waitress gave us attitude about moving our table 3 inches, how we’d split up the check, hit the back of my head w glasses while walking by and not apologizing and finally when we offered leftover birthday cake to another table tried to make us feel bad for «ruining her dessert order» for that table. Super unprofessional! Bartender gave attitude for giving a pregnant woman water… come on dude, we’re spendin over 1K at this bar! Beer is overpriced but people seem ok to pay considering its in dc and a craft brew with higher alcohol content. Food was average, my poached pear salad had the right ingredients but lacked in real flavor. People seemed pretty happy with their mussels and my sisters chicken sandwich cooked in duck fat was worth the second bite I stole. Would consider going back, but not any time soon. Hopefully gm will whip her staff into shape and fix that juke box.

Such a cool place! The food is fantastic. As other reviews mention, the beer is on the expensive side — but that’s mostly because they are imported from Belgium or elsewhere in Europe. Definitely worth trying at least one with your meal.

I really do like the Abbey. I think the atmosphere is pretty cool, and the beer selection is great. The beer is pretty pricey though, so be prepared to shell out $ 8 – 13 for a single beer. The service is really hit or miss. One time we asked a guy to change one of the TVs (we were the only ones in the bar besides him) and he wouldn’t do it because he was watching a game. Another time I had a bartender who actually didn’t speak to me… at all. I said hello, he said nothing. I told him what beer I wanted, he got it, and handed it to me. I handed him my card. He ran it. The end.
The mussels are quite good (though I think that they aren’t as good when they’re doing happy hour) and the waffles are delicious!

Went there to see my friends play in a cover band. The space has the potential to be cool. The beers (and all their other drinks) are horrible over priced?! Complete rip off! Not planning to come back to the bar.

Fantastic on a few fronts:
The beer selection, specifically what’s available on tap, is tremendous. One of the few places in DC I can remember having Unibroue and Delirium on tap. Served in .3L, .5L, and full liters, the beers are great if you don’t mind shelling out $ 7 – 12 dollars for them.
The mussels are fantastic. Served in a dutch oven, it’s almost certainly enough food for two. The waffle was pretty great too. I didn’t try much else, but with almost 20 styles to have your mussel’s served in, I’m not sure you should be trying anything else.
The actual space is great too. It’s dark, you’re literally underground, but stone covering the walls and floors give it the right feel. It feels older than it is.
My only complaint is that it can be a bit pricey. Their happy hour features half price mussel’s and (some) beers though, so just get there early and it’s well worth it.

fantastic! great beer selection, great remodel of what was here before! bartenders are kick-​ass. can’t wait to hear the bands they’ve got going on here!