Mallard
Southern restaurant (US) · Logan Circle ·
Southern comfort food remixed with duck dishes and creative cocktails
Southern comfort food remixed with duck dishes and creative cocktails
"Mallard is welcoming 2026 with a New Year’s Eve dinner from chef Hamilton Johnson, featuring a four-course menu and a celebratory glass of bubbles. Optional wine pairings are available ($50 standard, $75 deluxe) for anyone looking to level things up. Bonus: guests can also add an entry to ChurchKey’s all-inclusive New Year’s Eve bash for $75 (normally $150), making it an easy way to turn dinner into a full night of celebrations." - Vinciane Ngomsi
"There’s some good cooking going on right now at this one-year-old Logan Circle spot. The shrimp and Anson Mill grits are fantastic — featuring smoked pork, piquillo peppers, and country ham — and speak to longtime D.C. chef Hamilton Johnson’s Southern upbringing. The mini oil lamps on each table and vases bursting with baby’s breath add to the nightly charm, as do the vintage plates, family photos, and wooden mallards, which Hamilton’s dad carved in South Carolina, all displayed on the brick walls. Duck also appears on the menu in unexpected ways, starting with our ahi tuna and tomatillo app dressed with duck yolk aioli. The dramatic, back-lit bar is underrated, in my opinion, and gives the busy strip a dash of old-Hollywood glam. Whiskey cocktails are the move here." - Tierney Plumb
"This fresh Southern spot took over the former space of modern American pioneer Birch & Barley, serving up remixed mashups of Southern comfort foods from chef Hamilton Johnson. Opening items include an elegant plate of shrimp and grits topped with smoked pork, piquillo peppers, and shellfish broth; wild-caught blue catfish with poached oysters, corn, and smoked trout roe; and Berkshire pork trotters. Duck dishes and foie gras naturally makes lots of appearances at Mallard; Johnson sources the namesake ingredient from family-run La Belle Farms in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains." - Tierney Plumb, Emily Venezky
"On Logan Circle, I saw Neighborhood Restaurant Group reboot the first-floor Birch & Barley space into Mallard, a fresh Southern spot from South Carolina native and veteran D.C. chef Hamilton Johnson focusing on remixed mashups of Southern comfort foods — for example, an elegant plate of shrimp and grits topped with smoked pork, piquillo peppers, and shellfish broth — while beverage director Greg Engert pulls beers, spirits director Nick Farrell supplies spiked lemonades, iced teas, smashes and a long whiskey list, and wine director Erin Dudley focuses on pours from small and sustainable vineyards." - Emily Venezky
"I explained that the first-floor space formerly occupied by Birch & Barley will be relaunched as Mallard, a new Southern spot expected to open by August 6 under Neighborhood Restaurant Group." - Emily Venezky
