Return to the Brickskeller

We ate tonight at the Brickskeller, in Dupont Circle, a fine basement dive that boasts the world’s largest beer list. Throughout the 90’s this was a favorite haunt and a default destination when Suanna and I had visitors in town, but somehow along the way we stopped going. When one of our visitors this weekend suggest we return there, we realized it had been at least five years since our last visit.

The place hasn’t changed much, which, in this case, was comforting. I can recommend without reservation the Schneider Hefe Weizen and the Zywiec Porter (Polish porter — who knew?). But the food disappointed. Neither the cheese plate, nor the pizza, nor the Brickburger measured up to our cherished memories of past visits.

And therein lies the puzzle. What has changed — them or us? Has the quality of the food served at the Brickskeller taken a dive in recent years? Or have our culinary standards changed in the transition from 20s to 30s, so that now stuff that seemed wonderful no longer measures up? Hard to say for sure, though if any readers have dined at the Brickskeller both recently and long ago and can shed light on at least one half of the puzzle, by all means let me know.