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Well, Bullfeathers definitely isn’t a “dive-bar” anymore. The first word I would use to describe it is bright…like really bright.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I went there on a Sunday to see how it’s doing on the weekends. Most “regulars,” aka politicos and staffers, will probably head to the establishment after the Congressional workday, but I wanted to see if Bullfeathers is succeeding at drawing in the neighborhood crowd.

So far it looks like yes. The restaurant wasn’t full by far, and my purse and coat had a seat each at the bar, but there was a steady stream of Capitol Hill residents coming in to check the place out. The most common initial reaction? “Wow.”

Foodies will remember that Bullfeathers closed in July of last year and is now owned by the team behind Tunnicliff’s Tavern. Now on to the food…


I started with the roasted yellow and red pepper dip. It was like a crab dip without the crab, and with a bunch of grease on top. I wasn’t going for that, so the dish wasn’t for me. The egg rolls on the other hand were great, even though I ordered them to go and ate them hours later. They’re a mix of pork, beef and shrimp.

A downer was that the food was coming out too quickly. I had barely started eating my dip when my peppered shrimp Alfredo came out, but the fantastic bartender offered to take it back. The shrimp Alfredo was also good. It’s made with penne pasta and also has mushrooms, green onions and red peppers, and four solid pieces of shrimp. By far the food was consistent.

What I loved was the Chesapeake pizza, which I ordered to go for later. It was amazing. The pizza comes with Alfredo sauce, green onions, mushrooms, bacon, old bay seasoning, and jumbo lump crab! Bullfeathers has six signature pizzas to chose from – and now I want to try them all. Or you can make your own. Sounds like the perfect lunch for a Hill staffer if you get the personal size.

You won’t ever say to a friend, “You will love Bullfeathers. Their food is just the best!” You can’t say that about any bar. But I think the food might set a new standard for other bars on the Hill.

The desserts also look like winners (milkshakes and chocolate pancakes especially). And you can’t go wrong with 31 draft beers –impressive bar with 23 seats. Enjoy!

Bullfeathers is located at 410 First Street SE. For more information, call 202-484-0228.

Tricia Barba

Tricia is a native Washingtonian, born and raised in Columbia Heights. She loves DC so much that she was only able to leave the city for one year after college and immediately came running back. Tricia works in PR during the day, and spends her nights trying out new restaurants in DC with friends or watching The Good Wife, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. Tricia recently decided to eat her way though all of Zagat’s 2011 restaurants until she realized she would be old and broke by the time she finished. Follow her on Twitter and email her at Tricia (at) welovedc.com.