american ice co.

american ice co.
917 V street NW, washington, DC 20001
tel: 202) 758-3562

what was consumed: pork and turkey platters (with cole slaw, baked beans, and pickles), chili con queso, beer

i have some friends who are always in the know when new things (and awesome!) things that pop up around time. periodically, they will take me along when they go to visit these places (i should just invite myself otherwise! haha).

so, for new year's eve, friends and i decided that american ice co. was going to be where we ended up. apparently, american ice co. used to sell ice in the summer and coal in the winters (thus the name) ... ??? it's also super close to the 9:30 club - yeah! anyway, j and i decided that (in anticipation of midnight craziness) that we'd head out there a bit earlier for some eats and to grab a spot, as necessary. a couple of comments about our decision: american ice co. is still pretty new, so there wasn't too much crazy traffic, but am glad that we head out there early-ish; american ice co. is the worst place to anticipate a count down as there are no TVs there and none of our phones have second hands readily available (i think); i had a GREAT time!

j and i ordered our wares - pork platter for me, roasted turkey platter for j. i'm not sure where they do all of the bbq-ing, but it is surely delicious! the pork was cooked deliciously with bbq sauce drizzled on top. the turkey was cooked well, so juicy and not at all dry. i think, though, the turkey was roasted as opposed to bbq-d ... ??? i'm not sure. no matter. the platters were served with delicious cole slaw (more creamy than mayonnaise-y, not too much celery salt (which i find often overwhelms other cole slaws) and seasoned very well) and baked beans (in a delicious sauce and peppery which made it great!). and the pickles! i admit, i like the spears better than the disc-like slices (the spears are more salt based while the others are more sweet), though that did not prevent me from gobbling up each piece). there are jars of a sort of spicy vinegar based sauce as well that went well with literally everything on the plate (haha). the platters are served on paper plates with plastic utensils, totally reminding me of bbq cook outs - fun stuff!

we also had the chili con queso, served with a paper bag of tortilla chips. meaty chili + warm cheese + slices of spicy jalapenos = YUM. the cup that it came in seemed a bit small, but j and i couldn't finish it! that is, we spent so much time enjoying our platters that the chili con queso got sort of neglected, despite its deliciousness. the cheese cooled and got a bit hard (as it is known to do), but it made it really hard for us to eat. for a split second, i thought about asking our server if she would heat it up, but couldn't fit anything else into my belly, so i refrained.

american ice co. has an interesting array of beverages (of course including a full bar). j made a comment about how all of their beers on tap were pilsners, making her wonder about their choices for precious beer tap real estate (haha). they also have a series of "metals" (aka beer in cans) that sort of better rounds out their beer selection. the drinks are a bit pricey, but the ambiance totally makes up for it! well, it did for me, anyway ^_~

quick comment about their service. we started in a booth (yay booth!) and had an awesome server who was totally on point. on top of that, she genuinely looked like she enjoyed being there. they are the best kind of servers who make the dining experience awesome-er. yay yay yay!

i can also see american ice co. being really awesome on gorgeous dc days (though they are few and far between). the bar opens up into a patio, separated by a garage door-esque wall that i'm sure will go up as the weather gets warmer. can't wait!

online: no website i can find ... yet! but lots of people are talkin' about it!