bullfeathers

bull feathers
410 first street SE, washington, dc 20003
tel: (202) 543-5005
hours of operation: mon-fri 10:00 am-10:30 pm, sat 11:00 am-10:00 pm, sun 10:30 am-10:00 pm
happy hour: mon-sat food (3:30-6:30pm) and daily drink specials (4-6pm, all day saturday)

what was consumed: french fries; chicken wings; beer

on an otherwise ordinary and run-of-the-mill friday evening, we (christine, jess, danny, and myself) wanted to see steven isserlis and (my favorite) joshua bell ... as did what felt like a million other people. christine tried to get tickets on ticketmaster (there is no charge for the tickets, only for the ticketmaster surcharges. this is so great seeing that the surcharge is so minimal compared to the cost of going to see isserlis, et al, in concert), but even the day after the tickets went up, all of them were gone. what the heck! so, we went to stand in the standby line. according to the website, the library of congress distributes standby tickets at 6:30pm. how standby tickets work is this: you get in line to receive a standby ticket (each individual may take 2 tickets, max); once you receive the ticket, you come back to the concert hall at 7:30pm (most shows begin around 8pm); they begin calling standby numbers for seats; the more empty seats there are, the more standby ticket holders get seats. we got in line around 6:10pm. already by then, there was a long line of standby patrons. we were numbers 87-90. when we got to the concert hall at 7:30pm, the ushers announced that almost everyone who got a ticket came to the show. argh ... sucks for us. the ushers then proceeded to place chairs along the back of the auditorium as well as in the aisles in order to fit as many people into the hall as possible. but even then, they got up to 77 (or was it 78?). oh, so close! if only i had known where to go! we would’ve been in line at 6pm, beating a few dozen other people, and getting us into the show! you see, i got off the metro and was at the library of congress well before 6, but i didn’t know where to go ... DARN IT!

so, after this disappointing attempt at attending the library of congress performance, we head out to grab a bite to eat (despite earlier bites) and drown our sorrows in beer (a review of the concert said that it was one of the best that the library ever put on. darn them and their small hall!!!! anyway ... ). our choices were mexican or american. for one reason or another, we chose american ... so bull feathers on capitol hill it was!

jess had been before, saying that the burgers are good, though he said he only came when the burgers were the happy hour special (mondays, $4 burger and fries) and with guys from the navy. is there any connection between the navy and bullfeathers (minus its rather close proximity to the naval yard)? well, bullfeathers has a “teddy roosevelt” motif going on, but as far as i know, TR had very little to do with the navy, so ...

we entered the bar, ready for some beer and bar food. our server was baffled with some of my questions (sorry – i ask servers lots of questions about the food being served ^^;;), our order of finger foods came out. my sentiments? not too shabby ... though i would like to try their hamburgers (but i wasn’t that hungry). next time, i will have to try. they have red hook on tap, which is a preferred beer for many. point is, the server made sure the beer continued to flow. the only strange part about bullfeathers? there was a holiday party going on, filled primarily with those of the older generation and let me tell you – they were pretty sloshed. now, i’ve seen toasted old people before, but i guess when it’s cold outside, it’s the holidays, and there’s lots of booze flowing, that’s an open invitation for lots of people of all (legal) ages to consume much alcohol. apparently, bullfeathers is a popular place to hobnob with political bigwigs (of sorts ... perhaps i should come and rub shoulders with “high powered” individuals!), though the night is usually filled with a younger crowd. the night i was there brought sort of a mix of both. perhaps it was the mood that we were in post concert rejection (sucks!) that put on damper on any place.

when in a better state of mind, i’ll have to visit bullfeathers again~

online: http://www.bullfeatherscapitolhill.com/