Birreria Paradiso @ Pizzeria Paradiso (Georgetown, Washington, DC)

5/20/07

I'll let you decide—in a full evening I sampled on tap:

Clipper City Heavy Seas Below Decks Barleywine on cask
Stone Ruination India Pale Ale
Brasserie La Binchoise Special Noel
St. Bernardus Wit
Petrus Speciale
Weihenstephan Korbinian
J.W. Lees 2006 Harvest Ale

And, one of my very favorite Quattro Formaggio pizzas anywhere. In short, my new favorite place in DC—or, at least the place I'm going to put at the top of the list for the next trip, which is the same thing.

If you haven't visited Pizzeria Paradiso, you're missing out. At this point, my beer obsession (wife's term) makes it hard for me to eat anywhere that doesn't have great beer as a prerequisite. Pizzeria Paradiso on Dupont Circle was an exception, and at least Brickskeller was around the corner. Then I heard about Birreria Paradiso. Just take the orange or blue line metro to the Rosslyn station. From there take the 38B bus (get a free transfer on the way out of the metro) and get off at M Street and Potomac—the bus stop is literally outside the front door of Pizzeria Paradiso. Go past the nice restaurant staff to the downstairs to the Birreria Paradiso.

Then have a seat and don't move. We took the end of the bar directly inside the door, and that was the night. It looked nice upstairs and many of the people with us seemed to be waiting to return upstairs. Many of these folks asked for and received good advice as to what to drink and no one seemed disappointed. There also seemed to be some rather smart folks working on math that I haven't seen since I was a physics major in college. Plus locals hanging out as well with a smattering of beer geeks. Again, this is just me, but since I can drink the beers on tap downstairs and order food, not sure why I'd leave. So, we didn't. My wife very nicely tolerates my beer hunting; in this case she not only loved the place as well, but wants to return with me. We were told that a second keg of J.W. Lees was being aged for two years—might just fly out for it.

The thing that really sets the Birreria apart from RFD and Brickskeller was the attention to serving the beer well. While the other two bars have very knowledgable staff, our bartender Thor, a self proclaimed beer dork, is one of the best beer stewards I've ever had the pleasure of being served by. It fact, the night felt more like evenings I've had at 't Arendsnest in Amsterdam or The Exton Drafting Room in Pennsylvania— places each famous for their beer service. Go, now, talk to Thor, have a great time with well tended beer that is served properly. What else can a beer geek ask for. Granted, I was there one (short) night and only talked to one server, so mitigate my response as you wish; I'll judge for myself if I'm being overly effusive after my next trip—and there will be a next trip.

Note: In the summer of 2008, I visited Brasserie Beck where Thor had become beer manager and continued to do a great job.