The Saloon

–Assorted alcohol soaked fruits and bar nuts.
–Chicken soup for a dollar that doesn’t include chicken on the menu that says not to ask any questions about it.
–Actual food if you aren’t on a purely liquid diet like me
This is your Worldly Uncle Dino’s living room you can come to before a show and toss back a few shots, dip in to warn up with a moonshine tasting to escape the «icy rain» we just had (what WAS that??), or cozy up in one of their nooks with a book or some crochet needles like a freak on a weeknight and not talk to anyone. The lack of televisions and dim light coming from the Tiffany lamps also make for a very flattering mood that lends itself well to a first date, making even the most horrendously bad jokes seem alright. This is a gem in a sea of stuffy and loud sports bars that is a must for people visiting DC.
(The owner also is an amazing being who raises money to build houses around the world, so you can feel feel like you’re drinking towards a good cause three Belgian beers deep).

This is a gem of a place in all of DC, hard to find a place with such historic roots and authentic mission to serve the most delicious beer and the greater good. Kamal, the owner and prolific bartender, is such an eccentric and sage-​like human that gives you the sort of personalized experience hard to find around this area. I always take my guests to this place to experience something so different from the noise of over-​stylish and bro-​y bars. :) It’s a humble and cozy place to enjoy a wide selection of beer. I always get the URBOCK, a deep sweet and strong beer, it’s one of a kind and you can only order one.
I don’t want to jinx it, but I’ve had some of the most magical evenings here. I hope you do too.

Who knew when we walked into a place with names written on the walls and an expansive beer list we’d be visiting a non-​profit bar in the heart of U Street?! The owner, Kamal, runs a foundation for building schools and for putting cement floors into mud huts, and believes firmly in community participation, buy-​in, and investment. Every August, the Saloon closes for a month, and everyone goes to do the work of the foundation. Each customer pays reasonable prices for great biers, sassy sayings, and a decent menu, plus $.25 each to contribute to the fund. This great little place is a wonderful find, as is Kamal! Go check it out!

Excellent! My fiancé and I went on a double date with one of my close friends and her bf, who were visiting from NYC, recently. We had dinner elsewhere in the Logan Circle /​U Street area, but were looking for a place where we could sit down and grab drinks. It’s surprisingly difficult to find such a place in that area of DC on a Saturday night, as all the restaurants and bars are super packed. The Saloon had been on my DC restaurant bucket list for a while, so we stopped by.
We got a really cozy corner booth and proceeded to look at the menu. The menu is very eclectic. The guys ended up getting beers and we all split alcohol-​soaked pineapples and blueberries. Very strong and delicious! We also got the $ 0.99 chickpea soup (again, the restaurant was very eclectic).
Service was excellent and it’s great that they’re so welcoming and allow guests to be seated.
I’ll certainly be back!

Best place in DC for great beer and conversation. I love the rules — no TV, no loud conversations, etc., and the wait staff is consistently friendly and the service is good. I also love the fact that the owner uses the profits to build schools around the world.

Love this place! The vibe is very relaxed and casual, a great neighborhood spot. There are tons of hilarious signs/​rules posted around and on the menu (a la Dr Bronner’s soap). The owner works behind the bar and is an awesome all around guy.
Homemade moonshine and a great selection of German beers at fair prices (especially for U St). What more could you ask for?

Non-​profit bar which means the profit goes to violins school around the world. Very impressive results according to plain paper flyers all over the place. Great beer selection but unfortunately the food we ordered was not good.
Clam strips were over cooked. The potato skins were not fresh and the burger was just ok. I loved the spicy cabbage salad for under 5 $ and the chili was good but burned the roof of my mouth.
I would normally have taken pictures but I wanted to preserve my battery for The Joe Jackson Concert at the Lincoln a few doors down. Good thing too because my objective in giving four stars is to encourage readers to check this place out… If not for the good then for the great German beer and moreover the mission oriented theme of building schools in impoverished isolated regions of the world
I look forward to coming back with friends and family. I hope the food is better. I really do because this is a very interesting bar with friendly people and an enticing and eleemosynary theme.
Keep up the good work!

This is such interesting experience and not for the faith-​hearted!, but I loved it!
First rule of the Saloon: no standing, really, no standing, if you walked in and there is not a seat you can find, get out.
Don’t ask for a martini either, but I have heard that someone had tricked the owner of providing one. That’s a whole different story.
Then there is all the interested sign of rules around by the owner.
Also, lot of weird moonshine stuff, including pickled fruit that you can buy by the piece, yes, 25 cents for a potent blueberry, which I think you should at least try once. Knowing the money is going to help build school in third world country, why not.
The beer selection is very European focused, lots of good bottles.
Later we found out more about the owner and his mission to build school around the world from our friends who took us here. Once he gets enough money from this bar, he goes around the world to build a school. Then he starts again. It is really admirable to know someone who really stand by their promise.
Why do I really enjoyed my time here, because it is not pretentious, the drinks were really good, the service were really good.
Best of all, the waiter found out we were out of town visiting my friends who is the regular here, and he liked us enough that he used his own money to buy us a really cool beer glass for us to take home. I was really touched by the genuine kindness of the people that work there.
Oh, yeah, everything in the bar is for sale to help the owner fundraising his school building mission. Which he has done at least 25.

Went to U St Sat night for some fun w wife. Saw this place and decided to stop for a drink. The outside looked really quaint and now I wish I had taken a pic. But you can Google Street, it’s cool. So inside we took a seat. (FYI, it’s so funny that having to sit is such a big deal, I prefer sitting everywhere I go, standing with a drink is just asking for someone to walk by and bump your elbow.)
The blueberry ($ 0.25) looked small but packed a punch. I had one just to know. I preferred the $ 1 pineapple slice. The drills were unique and fun. I mean, if I’m gunna spend the money, I want something fun and new.
I loved this place! The waiter was cool. They owner does cool stuff for kids. But mostly, it was the atmosphere, just chill and relax and not super loud like other places. If you’re a millennial over 30, you’re gunna love this place too.

Like German beers?
Like supporting a good cause?
Like a bar that encourages meeting new people and friendliness?
Good! Come here! It’s wonderful and not at all pretentious. «No pretenders» is the slogan. Unfortunately, the night I came must have been an «off night.» One regular told me that anyways. Everyone was on texting on their phone, and the bartender yelled at me for being too polite (?). I love me some friendly banter, but it mainly reminded me of being yelled at by my Czech grandfather. Flashbacks, I guess. I’ll be back for sure, and I hope to experience the real atmosphere next time.

You are DRINKING for a CAUSE. Two of my favorite things. What gets better than that?
+ Bar with a mission
+ Delicious Belgian beers (most are $ 10)
+ Fitting décor
+ Friendly staff
+ Space around you (thanks to the no standing rule)
+ New experiences (alcoholic blueberries $ 0.25 and moonshine)
Thank you, Saloon, for being a non-​profit pub and a cool place in general. I appreciate you!

Great bar. Weird rules, that’s the culture here– deal with it.
The 25 cent berries were pretty gross. Everyone had one and made a sour face. They taste like they’ve been fermenting in a dungeon for 100 years.
They offer a great selection of beer and drinks at great prices. What’s not to like? Just get there early since one of their rules is «no standing» you find a table or wait for one but you don’t stand around and drinks.
I also love the humanitarian effort they put out. They pick schools in 3^rd world countries and as my friend put it, «close the bar for a month while the employees go build it.» That’s freaking amazing.

They have a «no standing policy» which is different but allows you to not be slammed into the bar like every other place on U St. They have a decent selection of beers and other random ways to get your alcohol such as moonshine infused blueberries. Not that tasty but interesting to try at least.
They also only allow one credit card per table so bring cash if you’re in a group. Much different vibe than any other place on U St. Worth checking out if you like your beer…

Oh how I wanted to like this place. The service killed it for me — I will never go back due to that. The guy serving was nice at the beginning but then got ruder and ruder even as kept orderig many rounds of beers, the drunken blueberries and food. Also what’s up with the rules. It’s a nice gimmick to get their consumers talking and set them apart from other dive bars but it’s silly. The only reason this place gets one star is for the international work they do (and boast in their bar).

Wow just wow. 0 pretentiousness. Love this place. If u want a drink from a bartender who knows what he’s talking about this is the place. Peach moonshine booze soaked blueberries. You name it. The bartender was telling us the different locations and facts about where it comes from. I’m not much of a drinker but this guy makes you want to learn about what you’re drinking. Not just drink it.

This is a long-​time favorite. My happy place. I love going here; it’s a relaxing atmosphere, no need for dressing up or bumping into huge crowds. Sit at the bar and talk to the bartenders and other easy-​going bar patrons (and Commie/​owner –sp? He’s hilarious and spunky). It’s great for even hanging out alone. No standing, no martinis. They also give back by providing money and buildings for schools.
Delicious dunkels. I’m so glad they brought back Eggenberg Dunkel. It has a frothy head with just enough bitterness and sweetness. They have a great selection of German beers on tap and some Belgian ones, too, by the bottle.
If you want some munchies, try the affordable Wasabi corn nuts, boiled peanuts — all delicious. And for a mere $ 1, get the Poor Man’s chicken soup (it’s a thimble size garbanzo bean yummy soup for when you don’t want to order much). The rest is standard bar food — burger, chicken fingers and fries. I also tried the housemade moonshine the other day. Strong stuff but tasty!
And, JUST recently realized that they have an upstairs bar area (!! who knew) which you can rent out for parties and bigger groups. It’d be great for a goodbye party or reunion of sorts.

It’s a nice place to sit down (no standing, actually) and enjoy a fine beer with friends. It’s a large beer selection without being overwhelming. Bottles and drafts.
The food was average. Did not seem to be any standouts. Burgers, sandwiches, fries and nachos. They had nuts and things you could order to snack on. While they serve liquor as well, it appears to be a limited selection.
The highlight for us was the 25 cent blueberry shots (10 second buzz). They’re inexpensive enough that you can order them by the dozen and enjoy them as a group. They’re cheap. They’re a novelty. Just strong enough to make you grimace but just sweet and small enough that you’ll go back for seconds.
Service was very friendly.
It’d be 4 or 5 stars for me if the food was anything other than average. Come for the small pub feel to enjoy a pint with friends before or after you eat somewhere else. Big plus, though, is they serve food late! Actually, the fries were good.

The Saloon is my new favorite bar on U street. On a cold night after a concert at U Street Music Hall, my friends and I stumbled in here because it was close, and we didn’t want to be outside anymore. Best. Decision. Ever.
I started off with a moonshine cocktail, and it was truly delicious. I also loved the corn nuts, and other snack foods on the counter. The «drunken blueberries» were kind of disgusting, but, they sure did pack an alcoholic punch for 50 cents.
Our waiter could not have been nicer. Some of my party were pretty chatty, but he indulged their silly questions of «should she call him?,» with a refreshing sense of humor.
The Saloon is simply the best casual bar experience you can have on U Street.

This bar likens itself to the bar in Cheers, which I think is a pretty accurate description. It’s chill (no TVs) but not a dive (clean). The bartenders and waiters are super friendly and actually take a second or two to get to know you (but not in the creepy hovering kind of way). The car does have rules like no standing, as in everyone has to find a seat. But I think it’s refreshing from the sloppy bar scene.
I wouldn’t say they excel in food, but they have a lot of good Belgian beers at a reasonable price.
The really cool thing about this place is that a portion of your sales goes to building schools in third world countries. The owner has pictures up all over the place. I guess he closes down the bar for the entire month of August and goes somewhere to build a new school. So, have a drink, help a kid get an education. Pretty good way to go.

We have a Mutha Freaking Brick, ya’ll! Seoul American High School Represent!
Anyway. besides that awesome bit of awesomeness …
I really loved this place. Awesome beer selection and just a great place to hang out with old/​new friends.
I was told by one of my friends (regular) that the owner closes the bar down a couple of months a year and goes to under developed countries to help build schools. Pretty awesome.
Support them. Plus the beer is pretty darn good.

I’m already drinking most weekends, so why not drink toward a good cause? I really like the place for many reasons: charitable, one of the few places where I don’t get elbowed while I drink on a fri/​sat, and the beer list is EXTENSIVE. Combine that with an awesome and knowledgable staff? Well, ok, I’m sold.
The wall is plastered with schools in developing countries that The Saloon has helped to build. This gives me the warm and fuzzies (or is it this half liter of beer?)