John G.
Yelp
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4.5
1,255 reviews
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Tripadvisor
4/5 · 576 reviews
Trip.com
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Reviews
John Getchell
5/5
just now on Google
With Pooka at The Tabard Inn: Boogie Night
The place is just packed this evening, and Pooka and I entered the dining room being led by the concierge. There was (literally) a collective gasp, and then exclamations of joy and approval from all the patrons having their Chrisnukah feast. Pooka was in top form, and grinned and wagged her entire butt as she dived into the fray. Much holiday love and adoration was had. I told all that asked that she is an Ayatollah Bordello Hound.
We went up to our room to get settled in, and then went down to the bar where I sipped whiskey, and Pooka continued to hold court and get chummy with the staff.
My first "real" job was at The Tabard Inn in 1977. My mom was besties with the head chef, an up and coming Austrian cook, Nora Poullion. Nora hired me as a dishwasher, and baby, I did a lot of dishes! That year in July - tropical DC summer - "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave dropped, and the pop radio stations went bananas. At one point it came on the kitchen radio, and EVERYONE in the kitchen started grooving. Then. When the song ended, the station DJ said, "People, that was too good; gotta turn that motha out again!" And the song started again, and everyone in the kitchen whooped, and everyone dropped what they were doing and started dancing, and I was over in the dishwashing station getting totally amped, and washing that pile of dishes like it was my funky mission. And THEN, the DJ played that song a third time, and the radio got turned up to 11, and the party spilled out into the bar, the Ethiopian waitress grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the dishes, and we all shared an absolute triple charged ecstasy. Radio still really mattered then. That's where you heard the new stuff.
Subsequently, Nora's boyfriend, Steve told her that my mom was too old to be a friend, and that it wasn't a good look. Nora told my mom this, and utterly broke her heart. You see, mom had given Nora her first cooking lessons in Bangui (Central African Republic) when Nora was a clueless young newlywed with a French husband who had certain "expectations". In the following years Nora discovered her true calling, and became a culinary rock star.
I kept the job for the rest of the summer.
I highly recommend The Tabard Inn. It's employee owned, had a cool vibe, and not only is it a dog-friendly establishment, but is sincerely so. Also, as a hotel it is probably the best goddamn deal in downtown Washington, DC. I also found rock star parking out front.
https://youtu.be/GTR27qWXGqU?