Every time I visit DC, I visit Red Bear Brewing. It's part of the Metropolitan Beer Trail and right across the street from my favorite hotel in the NoMa area. As a party of one, I always sit at the bar. There's always a great selection of beer on tap, and almost always a stout, my favorite. If you're not sure what to order the staff will allow you to sample. If you want a bite to eat, there is a kitchen with standard bar food. I've had a smash burger and recently chicken fingers. I will continue to make Red Bear a stop on my DC adventures. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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This is a good place, and great to have in the neighborhood. The beers are very good, they trend toward heavier IPAs and such, though there are other beer options in addition to a full bar. The menu is good bar fare with burgers, quesadillas, wings that are all solid. The service is really hit or miss, and for the most part the staff has a "take it or leave it" vibe to them. It's my preferred place for beer when I'm in the area, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. read more

Red Bear has some good beer and good food, but the service is very uneven. Also, the good beer selection is not predictable. Today, two of my favorite beers are not availalbe -- no explanation. I sat down at the far bar from the door, and a server walked by and I ordered a beer after a bit of discussion. He was helpful, and gave me a taste. I selected that beer, and he walked to the other side of the bar, presumably to get my drink. Nope. Strangely, a different person came by and said, "this side is not open yet," thought the section on a Friday night ws literally full. I though, OK, the other guy is getting my beer. No problem. Nope. He never returned. What a strange little place. I guess you have to know someone to get a beer around here. Buyer beware. read more

Red Bear Brewing - The far section of the restaurant is packed. But no service on this side! - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Love that this close to Noma metro & the metropolitan beer trail so stop here along the way. It's very spacious and has indoor & outdoor seating. You can bring dogs. They play the World Cup games but with no live commentary. They make their own craft beers, sours, root beer, and mocktails. The food portions are huge. The service was pretty quick maybe 10 mins but there wasn't a lot of people when we went. Also, come here for trivia night. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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This is a fun little spot. We were in town for a few days and ended up here twice. They have a nice beer selection and the service is really good. Definitely one of our faves when in town. read more

Wonderful starting point for the metropolitan beer trail. They have wonderful food and drinks with fast service. Dogs are allowed outside. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Chicken spicy bites. Amazing! - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Had a fun time here! It's cool inside and very chill brewery vibes. The beer was great and had some good food too! I got the grilled chicken wrap and I thought it was pretty good. Didn't blow my socks off but did the trick. The staff were friendly. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Grilled Chicken Wrap - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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This is a great local spot that has above decent quality drinks and food. They always rotate their drinks, keeping the options fresh and exciting to see more. I just tried their smash burger, and it was actually pretty good. Otherwise, their food selection is pretty typical compared to other breweries out there. I'm not a beer drinker, but my friends tell me their drink selection is good. The staff here is always friendly, making this place feel cozy every time I visit. Shout out to the Monday night trivia host who makes the Red Bear experience especially welcoming. This place is a great venue to bring your friends and hang out while enjoying good grub/drinks. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Smash Burger - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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What a great vibe when you walk, only to discover the beer and food is even better! Their red is good. The hazy IPA is exceptional. And the wings were both crunchy/crispy and moist meat. The staff is outstanding! Cheers! read more

Red Bear Brewing - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Fun fact: This is a Seattle Seahawks bar! I joined a group of friends at Red Bear for a Saturday night NFL playoff game; we have a Seahawks fan in the bunch and wanted a fun environment to watch the game. Understandably, the bar was packed with Seattle fans and the bar was ready for the fun to begin. Overall, it's a really large space with a double sided bar, 2 open rooms with lots of 4-top tables, and a nice patio outside. On NFL Saturday, it was standing room only - I wouldn't expect it to be that busy on a normal night. There were some fun gameday specials which offered discount select beer and discounted wings at 4 for $3 (what a steal). The beer and cider options were delicious and well priced. I tried three different beers (two hazy IPAs and a Western IPA); I'd get every one of them again. They also offer multiple ciders and a nice selection of cocktails. 10/10 on the drink options, they have something for every palette. The food looks amazing but surprising was just okay in taste. We tried the fried chicken sandwich, sweet chili wings, chicken nachos, and seasoned fries. The food does its job, but didn't wow me - some of the dishes could've used more seasoning and flavor. I do want to come back to try the chicken tenders and tots, they looked great on other tables. The service was absolutely top notch! While the bar was packed, it never felt like it was too much for the staff to handle. The bar service line for drinks and food moved very quickly. Food was prepared quickly - no more than a 15ish minute wait. There were plenty of staff to cleanup glasses and plates from tables - very impressed by how smoothly this place ran on such a packed day. Everyone was warm and friendly. I would absolutely come back - outside of football Sundays for the Seahawks they seem to offer alot of events throughout the week: trivia, drag shows, happy hours, etc. Glad we found this spot and I recommend checking it out. read more

This is a pretty cool spot. There is a lot of seating space inside as well as some patio tables. The bartenders were friendly. I tried a couple of beers; I enjoyed their pickle gose. I wasn't a big fan of the Pride IPA I tried, but that's on me for not asking for a taste first. I saw they do flights which is always cool. We ordered chicken tenders and fries. I liked that the tenders come with your choice of two sauces. We tried their Thai fighter sauce and spicy aioli. Both were good and had a nice kick! The tenders and fries were average in my opinion, but hit the spot after a day of walking around a lot. Overall, this is a pretty cool spot. I'd love to return again and see how the beers rotate and try some other menu options in the future! read more

Red Bear Brewing - Beer-Battered Chicken Tenders - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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The drinks and food were great. Good atmosphere. Convenient location. I will be back. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Bavarian pretzels with cheese sauce - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

1 star for poor customer service and lack of transparency about the new automatic 20% service charge. Yesterday, my friends and I went to Red Bear. I bought the first round and ordered off the large main menu (above the taps). This menu doesn't list prices or state that a 20% service charge will automatically be added to one's bill. This menu does list several other policies, though, such as "no vaping." When I closed the tab, the bartender did not give me an itemized receipt. Instead, he gave me a lump sum and a screen that asked for a tip. I tipped at the highest level and provided my email address for a receipt. Several minutes later, the receipt arrived and I was surprised to see a 20% service charge tacked on. The service charge had not been mentioned when I paid my tab. I spoke to the employee and asked for the tip to be refunded. The employee apologized for the confusion but also blamed me for not ordering off a paper menu (which mentions the service charge in small print). I eventually spoke to a supervisor, who didn't seem to care. He didn't apologize and wouldn't issue the refund. He said I could write an email to complain. I told them that they handled the situation poorly and could expect a chargeback and a negative review. read more

I know this is a brewery but since I don't drink I'm here to review the food! It was so good! I'm going to dream about those cheese curds. And also I'm forever in search of the perfect Caesar salad and this one was pretty damn close. Enjoyed while watching a Caps game. Friendly staff and plenty of seating both indoor and outdoor. Street parking nearby. read more

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We went to Red Bear on a Friday night and easily found a table to sit and enjoy a couple of beers and burgers. I tried the pumpkin ale and the bacon burger with onion rings. Everything was delish! Service was pretty quick. You order at the counter and pick up your food from the kitchen window. We had a nice relaxing time! We realized a drag show was about to happen, but we were on the wrong side of the room to check it out. Maybe next time we will try to see the show! read more

Red Bear Brewing - Bacon burger with onion rings - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Great brews in a large group friendly space! Stopped by for a flight and some bites, the food exceeded my expectations and there was enough variety in the beer for all types of drinkers. Wings in particular hit the spot, perfectly crunchy and a good size for the price. Would recommend! read more

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Insanely bad service. Didn't add all items on the tab the first order and then (after suggesting a food item) included the wrong food item on the tab. No apologies, nothing. And charging a service charge for what? So I can walk up, order my own food, pick up my own food .... After you messed up the order? Trash. read more

Pleasantly surprised at how good the food was, and the portions were huge! I'm not a big brewery person, but loved their root beer and appreciated the impressive swath of beers on tap! read more

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I'll never come back here due to time constraints and the sheer number of other places to have average beer and chicken sandwiches. What knocked this place off the list of possible stop-in's when in the area is the Poor Service. I had about two hours to kill before taking a leisurely stroll up to Rhode Island Ave for the Alamo theater. I thought I'd grab a beer or two and a snack and have time to make my walk up up north. Immediately as I made it to the bar, the black bartender (and the only other person of color in the building at the time) looked at me with such disgust that I almost just walked out in that moment. Instead, I took a seat at the bar and looked around a bit . Read the menu on the wall a few times, waited, ensured that I made eye contact with said bartender, wasn't acknowledged, finally just asked for service. He put his finger up signaling "hold on;" cool. He finally came to me and waited for me to tell him what I wanted. I ordered a beer and asked to see a food menu or a happy hour menu or anything at this point. I ordered sliders, he drops the buzzer in front of me and says "go over there when it rings...". We have no more interactions after this and that's probably for the best. After about 30 minutes I'm realizing that I'm near the end of my drink and still haven't hear my buzzer. I even asked the guy next to me if it went off while I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. He says no, so I go over to the kitchen window to check on it and a guy maybe manager, standing next to it ensures me that, "oh yeah, we messed up the order the first time, so we're doing it again. It'll be a few more minutes or so." There was no apology, no offer of extra fries, have a next happy hour beer on us. The food was fine. The beer was beer. I'll never come back again and my friend owes me a free beer for recommending this place to me. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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I've always wanted to try this place since we loved the beers they had at the Capitals games and we could always see it from the Amtrak when heading northeast. We stopped in on Sunday while doing the Metropolitan beer trail and man was it busy! The small outdoor seating area was packed and the indoor was bustling. They have TVS and an extensive food menu so come hungry. We shared the spicy chicken bites which came with a choice of two sauces - they had so many to choose from and I will say, the spicy chicken bites actually did have a kick! For beers we got the the floor is gose (or the sour gose in generall), the furrairi, the flannel beer, and the mystical one. All the beers were tasty and we loved the glassware they came in. Service was quick and friendly, but food take a bit so come patient. Great spot we'd love to visit more! read more

One of my favorite breweries in DC, and no doubt my favorite restaurant inside a brewery in the city. It may be basic, but their chicken tenders are some of the best I've had. Really good elevated bar food on the menu, and their beer is always solid. One of my favorite places to take people traveling, especially because of its proximity to the Metro. read more

Amazingly, they have fixed the cheese curds. They are back to the outstanding and unique version they once were. Sadly, they changed their fries around the same time. The nostalgic waffle fries are now gone, replaced by run of the mill shoestring fries. Red Bear would be a five-star bar if they could just leave the menu alone. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Lesser cheese curds - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

This would be a four rating but why did you change the cheese curds!? The new version is not good! I order take out often and the food is overall really good. The quesadiva and onion rings are great (cheese curds used to be). Fun vibe, cool events/drag shows, friendly staff and a nice selection of beers. read more

I ordered takeout just to bring this back--$12 cheese curds. These used to be my favorite thing on the menu. Red Bear was the spot. Good vibes, great neighborhood pub, and the burgers were always amazing.. But these? They switched the recipe or portion overnight. What I got was nowhere near what it used to be--sad, tiny, and not worth $12 by any stretch. I even took a photo fresh from opening because I couldn't believe it. Such a letdown from a place I really loved. Why fix something that wasn't broken? read more

Red Bear Brewing - $12 cheese curds - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

DO NOT GO HERE Very shady in regards to their tipping and service charge policy. Was not made aware of service charge nor given an itemized receipt after check out, in addition was charged another $20 for a separate transaction I did not authorize. Called in the following days after realizing only to be belittled and ostracized for not being aware of this despite it not being listed on any menu or signage. Shady spot, mediocre beer and OK food. Would be better off spending your money elsewhere. read more

Stopped by during the MBT bar crawl and had a blast. They have a great selection of beers here and even had an herbal liquor I ordered for fun. I have no idea how I was supposed to use it but it was fun having it and trying it iut with friends. read more

Breh..... .you got black lives matter 'nd lgtbq colors everywhere but don't even have customer service down let alone for an overweight polite black man...........smfh........This place is mad weird yo ngl 'nd I THink they overcompensated lookin fot a theme, no one knows how to bartend read more

I came here for work with some of my coworkers. It was a cool place. Plenty of beer options. I ordered the Oatmeal stout, and it was excellent. I ordered the beef sliders and fries, and it was really good too. One thing to note, after you order your food from the cashier, you're given a fob. Once the fob rings, you have to go up and pick your food up from the "window." This isn't a restaurant with servers, it's a brewery that serves food and host shows. I love the NoMa area, so if I'm ever in the area again and I want a good beer, I'm coming here. read more

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Was in Washington to see a show and a friend took us to this place for brews and food The brews are point one ( for a old brew hound like me ) I had the smash burger and it was a freakin' delicious My friends had burgers had burgers also loved them The clientele is diverse and friendly My only regret is that I don't live closer because this would be a regular spot to drink, eat and chill May the rainbow fly forever read more

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Good gastropub fare, enticing weekday specials ($6 smash burger (with fries!) on Mondays, Taco Tuesday, Thirsty Thursday discounted beers), laidback bartenders and food staff, interesting beers. If you like pickle beer, they have two of them, along with the usual array of beers. Slightly more IPA heavy, but there's something for everyone here. I've had nearly everything on their food menu and all of it hits the spot, special shoutout to the chicken tenders with the mambo sauce. My only complaint is that while they have a dog friendly patio, it can often be hard to get a table outside and there always seems to be room for one or two more tables, in good weather and bad (they have some covered areas for when it rains, but not a lot, and even then there's table space unutilized). Great place to make a regular haunt if you're in Union Market/NoMa. read more

For a brewery, the food was great. Beer was wonderful. We came in the middle of the day but service was super quick and helpful.

Super friendly bar tender. Beers were delicious!! Ample clean restrooms. Absolutely recommended! read more

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(11/4/23) Stopped in on a random Saturday afternoon at the end of a 63 mile bike ride. Starving!! Weather was lovely so we dined alfresco. Noticed the nice hodgepodge of folks on the patio (the professionals staring at their laptops, families with small kids, folks on dates, & cyclists attempting to refuel). I wanted to order everything. Instead, we ordered the current black cider, the All Hallows Lager, quesadillas, waffle fries, & onion rings. All orders must be placed inside at the bar. In addition, their system can't process Apple Pay. We received a pager which was going off about 20 min later. Everything was piping hot & tasty. I stopped eating when I remembered that I didn't drive there & had to pedal back to my car. Inclusive Cool vibes all the way around. read more

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First off, please read my initial review. This is a pedantic update and not indicative of a great brewery, which I still give 4 stars for vibes, events, ambiance and food. The beer is also awesome. Highly recommend them. We really like this brewery and return often, I just have some comments from tonight. That said, one pro tip and some feedback for any Red BEar staff: As the years have progressed, they've shifted away from online ordering, but still have a basic food menu, but far from exhaustive, online. There's also no updates via text or email anymore via online ordering, so if you're 20+ minutes away and you've got a hankering for their food, just leave as soon as you order. Honestly, i'd do that even if you're 1-2 metro stops away. There's no signage there that says to order everything at the bar, including food, especially on the outside tables, although I guess thats implied (shrug emoji). So just order everything there. I literally only mention this because when I grabbed our food from the food counter and then grabbed a fork, we'd ordered one of the salads, from the far end and one of the staff (who was clearly having a Monday or just a rough week ) said: "take out or here?" and when I said where our table was, he replied, very curtly "next time order at the bar" with a heavily implied "dude"/you fool/rube which I found kind of condescending. I want to stress to anyone who fully read this: we love this brewery and return often. read more

Great little brewery, love the support they have for the communities around them. Did Bingo with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence last year when I visited and came back just for a spot to sit and enjoy a good beer with the family. read more

I think Red Bear is one of DC's best breweries. Located in the NoMa neighborhood not far from Union Market, it's a spacious brewery with food and events. Friendly enough service. You order when you walk in and they do offer flights. I've been a couple times and both times it was packed inside and out, even though it wasn't particularly warm for either visit. They have a good range of beers, so something for everyone, and the quality is great. I like their sours, the pumpkin lager they have on currently, and their root beer is delightful too. It can definitely get loud in there, so keep that in mind. Overall, it's a good spot for socializing. read more

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Red Bear is my favorite brewery in DC. Not so much for the beer options, I'll admit- there's a few I like a lot (here's looking at you Tall, Dark and Nutty) but it's really the vibe I love - laidback, and chill, great crowd and bartenders, awesome drag scene on event nights, fun to catch a game on the many televisions when there's a good one on (good luck if you're a Philadelphia Eagles fan though, feel like I'm a huge annoyance because I'm always needing to ask the bartender to adjust the channel or refresh the signal to see a game). Btw, if you're a fan of Seattle sports teams, this is a great bar for you. Set right by the metro in NOMA, Red Bear is in a great location too. Always a key stop when I'm in this neighborhood. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Late September 2023 selection - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

An awesome bar and place to do trivia--but the food SERIOUSLY misses the mark. I came for Monday night trivia and loved the collegial and friendly atmosphere. The food, however was a major letdown. This was the saddest Caesar salad I've ever seen at a ridiculous price point. Similarly, the loaded potato skins were just potato wedges. And they were far from cooked enough! What a disappointment. I would come back for trivia, but I'm never ordering the food again. read more

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Ok wow! stated Gallaudet university on my first trip to DC. We didn't make it over here. I am very disappointed you didn't. On my second trip I was happy to make it over to this neighborhood and find this place. Love that it is LBGTQ plus owned and operated! would come just to support with that. But I stayed and continue to come back through the week because the food was delicious. The fried pickles and cheese curds were awesome. I had a burger one night that did not disappoint . And I had more beers than I would like to admit to. But they were all very, very good. They had two sours that I absolutely loved. Places clean the bathrooms are fantastic and have some amazing artwork and then love the first one with the cats in space Service was fantastic. Bartenders were very polite and courteous, and wanted to offer great suggestions based on what I like to drink. read more

Red Bear Brewing - All the brews!!! - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

What an amazing little bar! My partner ordered us out, and I ordered the onion rings, which came out crispy and delicious, the vegan dipping sauce is, chefs kiss! They also have drag shows and an MC which really elevated the experience. The bar staff was kind, even though they were completely slammed, and we felt taken care of. read more

Red Bear Brewing - Stout - Breweries Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia