I’m used to smaller spaces in DC. Small bathrooms, small bedrooms, small cafes, and small parking spaces. Imagine my surprise when we walked into Ted’s Bulletin in Columbia Heights last Saturday and we were greeted by a bakery to the left, a breakfast/full bar to the right, and then a backroom with a fairly large dining area? (My definition of large these days is still skewed, but if I can push a stroller through it without saying “Sorry, excuse me!” at least 3 times, it’s pretty big by DC standards.
I had seen Ted’s Bulletin in the Eastern Market neighborhood quite a few times and wanted to give it a try since a co-worker had mentioned they were family friendly. While looking it up, I saw that they had a U Street location. Sold!
We arrived at about 8:30 AM on a Saturday morning. While it was definitely hopping already with many of the tables, booths, and both bars almost full, we were able to get a seat right away. Little Man wasn’t in his stroller this time but I’m sure it would’ve been fine.
Likes:
- The ambiance – Heavy on dark wood and yellow pleather. Pewter cream cups. It says fun and casual upscale all over.
- The breakfast bars – Sometimes, you eat alone. Sometimes you don’t need a table.
- Old school music in the background – Not obscure music but stuff we still remember the words to. Stuff that your grandmother can sing along to and you wont’ be afraid your kids will repeat during Show ‘n Tell.
- The bakery – Don’t feel like sitting in or waiting in the potential 2-hour lines? Just order your bakery to go!
- The open kitchen – I know this isn’t a favorite among friends that work in the culinary world but the cook side of me likes seeing the effort that goes into making my food. I like seeing the hustle and bustle of it all.
- Space! – Big ol’ booths and plenty of rooms between tables.
- The bulletins that showed the specials of the nights.
Meh…
- The pancakes, eggs, sausage and coffee are my standard affair. I don’t expect to be wowed by these. I generally order these because I like simple breakfasts and they’re hard to mess up. I did enjoy the fact that the sausages are hand formed, not pre-made patties or links.
- Next time, I’ll go for something a little more extravagant to see how things taste.
Dislikes:
- The homemade pop tarts. They were dry! They weren’t 10x better than the kind you can buy in a box. As much as people had talked them up, I was expecting to want to have more than just one. For the record, we had the cherry cheesecake and blueberry pie.
- The men’s bathroom had one toilet. Yeah, I know it has nothing to do with the food but it did have something to do with the total experience. You have all that space and you couldn’t put in another toilet?
- The atrocious idea of mixing a 17-year old single-malt Scotch with anything other than a few drops of spring water. “Millionaire Malt,” I’m talking about you. Any bartender that receives this order should immediately stop what they’re doing, walk over to the customer, shake his/her head in disgust with hands on hip and then go back to making the malt with (Insert cheapest bottle of Scotch you can find).
The Takeaway:
Space, ambiance, feel, relaxed, bakery. Carry the theme. Have a “signature” something.
Diapers, Drills, and Bills 