‘Spanish Wines’
courtesy of ‘biskuit’
In case you’re upset now that the World Cup celebrations are coming to an end and the running of the bulls is over–don’t worry. The Spain-a-palooza continues with the grand opening of a new Spanish restaurant in Logan Circle tonight. From the folks behind Proof comes Estadio, which will focus on modern interpretations of Northern Spanish cuisine. The menu will predominately be filled with small plates and tapas, with some small entrees thrown in for those of us looking for something with a little more to it.
A great meal is not built on food alone, and luckily Estadio is serious about their booze. Not only is the vast majority of their wine list sourced from Spain, Estadio’s bar menu features the wildly intriguing “slushito“. Conceptualized by bar manager and uber-mixologist Adam Bernbach, they are in fact, frozen alcoholic slushees. 7-11 won’t know what hit ’em.
The restaurant also has a cool, old school vibe. I half expect to see Frank Sinatra lounging at the bar. And with the 19th-century Spanish tiles, Spanish marble and reclaimed timber I think he would feel right at home. On the walls they’ve got murals of flamenco dancers and bullfighters to make sure all who dine know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a Spanish restaurant.
Estadio is currently only open for dinner, but hopes to be open for weekend brunch by the fall.
Pingback: Tweets that mention Estadio Opens Today » We Love DC -- Topsy.com
Quick review: Our wait time was nearly 3 hours and we left before getting seated. Drinks are expensive and very, very small (less than 4 ounces).
First, they do not take reservations for tables under six. When we called for a reservation with six, they would not take our reservation, anyway, as it was the day of. On the phone, the hostess assured us that there would be room for us – and our friend who is on crutches – in the large bar area. While the bar area is quite large, the seats are bolted to the floor, so the only re-arranging is asking people to slide down. And, there was certainly no room for our friend’s cast when you cannot slide the stools back.
When we arrived, they said they were putting a tables together to make space for our party; a few minutes later, the hostess returned to tell us that we were going to have to wait 45 minutes. Two hours later, I went up the the hostess, who sent the owner over to give us meat, cheese, and four pieces of bread (for our six person party). He also told us he was buying us a round of drinks, which meant that he was bringing us a very inexpensive bottle (which can be purchased in Spain for 2.50 euro) of seltzer wine.
We waited another 45 minutes, then left. Our drink total: two drinks per person (no food charge): $108. Before tip.
Needless to say, I will NOT be going back. They definitely need to work out a few things before I can encourage anyone to go.
Here is the Estadio owner’s RESPONSE to A’s same post on urbanspoon:
My name is Mark Kuller. I am the principle owner of Estadio (and Proof). The gentleman who did his best to make things right is Justin Guthrie, our General Manager. It is extremely rare that I respond to a blog post -people are entitled to air their opinions and I have accepted that my restaurants will not be for everyone. But I am compelled to respond in this case, where the facts are egregiously distorted to make the restaurant look bad, and the poster has gone to the effort of repeating the post on multiple sites (Yelp, Metrocurean and Urban Spoon thus far).I want to start with two of poster’s’ claims.”He also told us he was buying us a round of drinks, which meant that he was bringing us a very inexpensive bottle (which can be purchased in Spain for 2.50 euro) of seltzer wine.”The bottle of wine that poster received complimentary was a 2009 Aeztoi Txakoli(http://www.demaisonselections.com/ameztoi.html). Txakoli is a slightly sparkling dry white wine from the Basque region of Spain(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Txakoli). This particular Txakoli is very highly regarded and one of my personal favorites. The average retail price for this wine in the U.S. exceeds $20, and, though I fail to see the relevance of prices in Spain, in San Sebastian, the closest city to production, the wine retails between 10 and 12 Euros. It is one thing to denigrate one of Spain’s great white wines as “seltzer wine,” it is another to fabricate a price to make the restaurant look cheap and uncaring.”Drinks are expensive and very, very small (less than 4 ounces)…. Our drink total: two drinks per person (no food charge): $108.”I have in fact reviewed your check and the six of you consumed 15 drinks (in addition o the bottle of Txakoli) for a total of $99 before tax/tip. That equals $6.60 a drink! There were no drinks less than 4 ounces. The majority of your order was bottled/can beer and mixed drinks, but you did order 3 glasses of wine – machine measured at exactly 4.5 ounces for $4 a glass. If you know of any DC bars that serve a glass of good wine for less than $1 an ounce please share.Your recap of the conversations with our hostess on the phone (“assured there will be room for us” at the bar), and upon your arrival without a reservation (“fixing your table now”) is also at odds with my understanding of the facts, but regardless. OUR RESTAURANT SCREWED UP by quoting you 45 minutes. For that I am very sorry – we just opened and are still learning the dynamics of dealing with large walk in parties. Our hostess should nothave taken the reservation to begin with, or at the very least advised you that the wait for a walk in 6 top, prime time, Saturday night, was at least 2 hours. Justin did the best he could in a bad situation – bringing you a lovely bottle of wine and a platter of mixed meats and cheeses. And though our attempt to make things better was sincere, I have no problem with you airing your grievance about our front door’s mistake. But to fabricate other details solely to make the restaurant look insincere and overpriced, and post this fabrication on multiple sites, makes me question your motivation is simply to spread the word of our “walk in” ineptitude.
Thanks for setting this straight, Mark!