If you're heading to a game at Nationals Park, I'm going to tell you about my favorite places to eat and drink nearby.
Hello! Welcome to Trip Hacks DC, my name is Rob.
I'm a tour guide here in the nation's capital.
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afterwards, to see the tours that I offer. If you've been to a game at Nationals Park and have any favorite places to go out
nearby, leave a comment on this video and let me know what they are.
Also, make sure to check out the video description where I'll leave links to all of the places
I'm going to talk about in this video, and a Google Map to show you exactly where they are.
So let's get started... The first place on my list is Justin's Cafe
Justin's has a special place in the hearts of many Nationals fans because, believe it or not,
there was a time, not even that long ago, when the area around the ballpark looked completely different than it does today.
Justin's opened for the 2010 baseball season and for the next three seasons
if you wanted to go out before or after a game, it was Justin's Cafe, because nothing else existed yet.
This is still my favorite place to go before a weeknight game because of their awesome
progressive happy hour. The way that it works is that you can get a craft beer for $3 from 4-6pm,
$4 from 6-7pm and
$5 from 7-8pm, and trust me when I say that a $3 craft beer is a
legitimately awesome deal in DC; and if you want to eat here the pizzas are my favorite thing on the menu.
If you are a craft beer lover then a trip to Bluejacket is almost mandatory on a trip to DC.
Bluejacket is a very cool urban brewery, where beers are brewed
on-site and at any time you can get about 20 of them on tap; and a few special cask ales as well. The beers rotate
seasonally, so if you come here in the beginning of the baseball season
you'll be able to try different things than when you come at the end of the season.
There's also a really nice outdoor patio, and on a game day
you can get a sausage or a hamburger cooked up on the outdoor grill.
Next on my list is Bonchon, a Korean style fried chicken restaurant.
My all-time favorite bar food is wings and beer and Bonchon has both. With all of their chicken dishes you get to choose
spicy, soy garlic, or half-and-half. I personally always go with the spicy. In addition to wings
they've got chicken strips,
chicken drumsticks, and a full menu of Korean dishes that don't even have anything to do with chicken at all; and on gamedays the kitchen
stays open until 11 p.m, which is usually plenty of time for a post-game snack.
There are a lot of options for outdoor drinking near Nationals ballpark, but my personal favorite is the Brig.
It's actually the farthest walk from the ballpark, but it's worth it in my opinion. The brig calls itself
DC's "secret beer garden" because it is the neighborhood's best-kept secret.
It's located just a block north of the 8th Street gate of the Washington Navy Yard.
Hence the nautically themed name. They rotate about 20 beers on tap with a mix of German and American breweries,
including some from DC; and if you do have kids with you
it's worth noting that they do advertise being family-friendly. Now, of all the bars and restaurants located near Nationals Park,
the one that is truly a baseball bar is the Big Stick. When you walk in the door
you'll see their logo of Teddy Roosevelt swinging a sausage like a baseball bat.
And if you haven't yet guessed from the name or the logo, their signature dish is sausage.
There is plenty of Washington Nationals memorabilia on the walls. In the back corner is an
F.P. Santangelo Montreal Expos jersey,
which is relevant because he's currently the color commentator for the Nationals, and can sometimes be seen at places like the Big Stick.
So while it's pretty rare to see an actual player out in the neighborhood,
it's not that uncommon to see coaches, announcers or other staff at a place like this. The last two places
I want to mention haven't even been open for a full baseball season yet,
but their location is really awesome. Due South Dockside and Piccolo are both located right on the riverfront boardwalk.
They're located right under the Yards Park Bridge,
which you might remember if you watched my Instagram video. Because the Yards Park is such a cool place to hang out,
I think that these are gonna be great additions for daytime ballgames.
And before we end this video
I just want to say that the area around Nationals ballpark has come a long
way since it was Justin's Cafe or bust; and it's still developing at a breakneck speed.
There are a lot of great places and the one I've mentioned are just my personal favorites,
so if you have any favorites,
make sure to leave a comment on this video so that others can look and see what they are. And that's it!
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