BOE Restaurant and Bar

Went for Happy Hour with a friend. The place was packed but I wouldn’t return. The server took a long time to bring our order and the requested refill of pita chips. He seemed to always not be anywhere near when we needed him. The specialty cocktail of the evening was a fruity vodka concoction that was very good. The black eyed peas hummus was yummy and chicken wings were zesty. The noise level though was off the hook, especially with patrons ringing the obnoxiously loud ship’s bell. Unclear why it is even located in a bar in the first place. Did I mention that the establishment is fashioned after a log cabin? Another area in need of clarity. Say what?!

Went for happy hour and thoroughly enjoyed myself. There’s a cool elegant rustic feel inside this place. I was impressed with the happy hour prices; very reasonable. I enjoyed the wings (they were extra crunchy and flavorful) and the hummus. I look forward to returning and checking out the full dinner menu.

Great hot tasty food! Great service and cold delicious beer. Had a wonderful lunch.
The Angry Bird was delicious and the fries were top notch.

I recently dined at BOE for their brunch after reading the positive reviews on Unilocal.I ranked it 4 stars because I care more about the quality of food and drinks than I do about the décor.
Pros:
— Great value ($ 10 bottomless mimosas and bloody Marys with purchase of an entrée)
— Perfectly made mimosas (Often bottomless mimosas are flat or overwhelmed by cheap orange juice)
— Delicious biscuits and other food. Everyone in my party was happy with their dishes, and the biscuits were to die for.
Cons:
— Very strange décor, almost tacky. You walk in and wonder where the heck you are – a cabin in Aspen or a Brazilian steakhouse?
— Not super attentive service. The place was nearly empty, but it took over 30 minutes for our food to arrive. Luckily, we had lots of lively discussion in our group and weren’t really missing our food. On any other day, I would’ve been hangry and wondering where my food was.

This is a follow-​up to my original dining experience.
I was here for brunch on Saturday and had a great experience. The potato nacho’s were a nice surprise. It reminded me of nachos, but with its own originality. I loved the pork belly sliders. I will be back!

So I vaguely remember eating something here but I do remember having a great time. The atmosphere is super unique and swanky and the unlimited happy hour is great! The bartender was super fun to chat with until the rest of my group arrived. I would recommend this place for cocktails or happy hour!

Oh BOE, such an interesting establishment — let me count the ways.
I found myself here for brunch after attending an event at the convention center up the street. Immediately upon walking in I was confused by the ill appointed faux log façade on the walls. This place managed to mix cabin coziness with the regalia of a fine dining establishment. To say that it is suffering from a bit of an identity crisis would be an understatement, but I digress.
After chatting with the hostess, my friend and I were seated centrally, just in front of the beautiful, yet mildly out of place fireplace. After sitting for what was no less than 20 minutes, we were finally greeted, sans apology. Trying to enjoy the afternoon, I decided to not make a big deal of the lackluster service, and try to make the best of the experience. We both decided to order the bottomless mimosas, which were reasonably priced at $ 10+entrée. As someone who prefers their mimosas with orange juice optional, I was delighted when the waiter brought over what appeared to be a glass of straight champagne with a a drop of orange juice… The mimosas almost made up for the poor service.
After chugging the first mimosa, I was ready to order. While the menu selection provides some interesting variations on some brunch staples, I decided to go for the chicken wings and salad… I know, I know. Well I must say, it was pretty tasty. The wings, which are on the appetizer menu, were excellent! They reminded me of Korean fried chicken, which a sweet and spicy glaze. I would literally go back for these, even though they were a bit overpriced. The salad provided a nice accompaniment. We were also served a modest portion of bread as well, which was basically a slice of cinnamon roll. At any rate, it was delicious!
Overall, I had a pretty good experience at BOE. While the service could use some serious improvements, the food and mimosas are worth checking this place out I will be back for another boozy brunch pretty soon. For the price and location it is worth a stop.

Such a fun restaurant! Love the woody, earthy design. Really enjoyed the all day happy hour on Monday night. Definitely a great place to gather with friends. I would recommend trying the wings, mac and cheese bites, salad, and fries. I don’t think you can make a bad choice and several of the menu items were discounted 50 percent off! I would definitely return the next time I’m in the area.

This place was ok. They had some really good things on the menu… including fried bull testicles which I totally plan on trying if I come back. The drinks were ok. We ended up dining at the bar and the server was kind of… quirky… for lack of better words. I felt like we always had to call him over and he wouldn’t let us place an order until he had a card for the tab. When it came time to pay the tab, I asked if I could use another card which he was ok with but he wouldn’t give me back my old card (he was literally standing in front of me holding my card) until I gave him the other card which I thought was kind of weird. Anywho, I probably wouldn’t go back unless someone invited me for some reason but I feel like there are better places in DC to try.

I went here for brunch with my sisters on a Sunday morning. We had been wanting to try this restaurant for a while and it did not disappoint.
1. Our service was amazing. Our waitress was sweet, patient and knowledgeable. She offered suggestions and checked on us often.
2. The food was so good. My sister and I both got the burger and my other sister got the banana French toast. All was amazingly good.
3. We also ordered the calamari and the nachos which are actually fries. It was so good. Kind of like a Tex Mex style.
4. They also have a option for bottomless mimosas and cocktails with a entrée order.
I will be going here again. The food, service and atmosphere were all amazing.

Lovely cabin environment with eccentric menu items. Enjoyed the kale Casear with my BOE Your Mind cocktail. A bit pricey ($$$), and need to go back to experience the full menu versus just appetizers.

Amazing food! Great service. Nice atmosphere. Would highly recommend.

Ate lunch there yesterday. This was the location that OYA used to be. Totally renovated. Inside looks like a huge log cabin.
One of the best parts of OYA was their pre-​fixe menu. Although the food and the ambience is totally different BOE still offers a pre-​fixe lunch.
On Tuesdays-Friday’s it’s a 2 course for $ 19. That means starter-​entrée or entrée-​dessert. However on Monday’s it’s a 3 course for $ 19!!! Starter, entrée and dessert for $ 19. What a deal.
The food is well presented. It’s not art on a plate but it’s above average. The selection of entrees to select from is massive. There is something for everyone. I had the brisket sandwich with truffle fries. Sandwich came with cheese and bacon with buttered toasted (sourdough?). The flavor was good but it was a tad dry. Could have used a side of BBQ sauce. Truffle fries lacked the «truffle» flavor but the fries were flavorful. Had a chocolate fondant cake with brandies cherries and tiny scoop of cardamom ice cream. The cake was just a cake. It wasn’t bad it wasn’t memorable but DANG those were some Brandied cherries. A few more and I would have been stumbling out the door.
My bartender was Antonio and the service was great. Very friendly and he knew the menu well.
Overall the food was 3 stars for taste, 5 stars for value and service. Restaurant is clean and spacious. Overall 4.5. Don’t expect Michele Richard, Jose Andres or Eric Ziebold type of cuisine and you won’t be disappointed.
Expect friendly service and a big menu of all edible food!

Tuesday night dinner with Gilt offer which was $ 89 (value of $ 150) for 3 course dinner for two, choice of one glass of house-​selected red, white or sparkling wine per person with tax and gratuity and not valid on Fridays.
FIRST COURSE:
Octopus & Calamari: the octopus was tender but the vegetables were oily and slimy and the calamari was much too chewy.
Pork Belly Sliders: the pork was tender, not a lot of flavor and you only get 2 sliders.
SECOND COURSE:
Short Ribs: DRY. I had trouble getting it down without a lot of water. It came with mashed potatoes and one single pearl onion.
Fried Chicken & Maple Kimchi Donut: Fried chicken was juicy and tender but the issue was the gravy made the skin soggy and inedible. The maple kimchi donut had a consistency of a muffin and it had no kimchi flavor.
THIRD COURSE:
Chocolate Fondant Cake has a lava center with brandied cherries and cardamom ice cream. The cake is very dense and rich, the dessert could use a little more ice cream to cut through the richness.
Overall service was good and they planned enough time between dishes which I appreciate but honestly the food was mediocre at best. When we added up all the items individually, the total came out to $ 79 so I didn’t see the value in the Gilt offer and didn’t see the overall value in our meal. Mondays offer a $ 29 3 course pre-​fixe meal per person and $ 19 bottomless drinks and that would’ve been a better offer. The menu was also on the small side in terms of selection, I found myself not really having difficulty picking items because I barely had an interest in one item per course.
Also the menus online are not representative of current offerings.

BOE is the new Oya but doesn’t resemble Oya – like not even a little bit.
I came here with a group of ladies for their bottomless happy hour. First of all, how cool is BOE that they have bottomless happy hour?! Granted, it’s on a Monday but I think that’s a great way to start the work week, right?
BOE’s décor reminds me of a ski lodge, very rustic with dim lighting. They even have snow shoes on the walls.
We made reservations and we were in a nook (I don’t know if that’s the best way to describe it) which had a TV, a few tables, cushioned benched and ottomans. The nook had better lighting than the rest of the restaurant. The bottomless happy hour drinks are: The Blind Pig, True Beauty, Negroni Americano and The Temperance. The wines are also included. Most of us liked The Blind Pig and the True Beauty – if you don’t like sweet drinks, I say go with The Blind Pig because it has a subtle sweet taste and you can feel sophisticated drinking bourbon. If you don’t mind sweet drinks, True Beauty will be your best bet. I really liked this one and I actually don’t like really sweet drinks. I think the winning factor was the sparkling rose. One of the ladies got the Negroni Americano and didn’t like it – I took a sip and I really wanted to spit it out but I didn’t, I had to keep it classy. It was just gross. It had a chemical taste to me, needless to say, I didn’t order that one. I didn’t order The Temperance because someone mentioned that it tasted like black licorice, yuck! I just stuck to The Blind Pig and True Beauty. I also got a Pinot Grigio – pretty good.
Now, with all that drinking, I needed something to eat to soak up all that alcohol so I got the pulled chicken potato fries. I’m so glad I got that one; it was umm… umm…good! It was filling and flavorful and the fries didn’t get soggy. Two people in the group got the mac and cheese balls but one person thought it could have used more cheese. Also, someone got the cauliflower steak with bean cassoulet but thought it was bland and that the cauliflower could have been cooked a little more.
Our server was friendly and kept the drinks flowing, however according to some of the ladies in the group, the host seemed confused when they mentioned the reservation. Also, they don’t do separate checks.
I really enjoyed my time at BOE and I’m already looking forward to my next bottomless happy hour. I also want to try some other dishes on their menu.

Seriously who is reviewing this place? Very misleading reviews for an extremely mediocre restaurant. Completely empty which should’ve been a sign of some sort.
Anyway, onto the food. They do a $ 29 3-​course menu on Mondays, along with a $ 19 bottomless beer-​wine-​cocktail from their list. Maybe the cocktails were worth it I’m not sure I wasn’t drinking.
My group decided to pretty much try the entire pre-​fixe menu. We ordered:
–fried mac and cheese — where’s the cheese? pretty much fried pasta.
–fried calamari — chewy, overcooked, nothing great here. Sauces were bland
–octopus — my favorite dish. Octopus cooked perfect.
–kale caesar — standard. overly thick dressing, and had raisins or something in it? Which I thought was weird with the garlic and whatever else.
–fried pickles — standard
–balls on fire — disappointing. Fire? where? barely any flavor, very thinly sliced, heavily breaded, not sure why anyone would want to eat this.
–fried chicken and kimchi donut — the donut was my second favorite bite of the night. But I tasted no kimchi anywhere in the dish. The chicken was pretty bland too, other than a little kick. The dark meat was ok, but the white meat was hard to eat it was so dry.
–brisket — thinly sliced beef is not my idea of brisket. I like cippolinis and mushrooms but that’s not the entrée here.
–shrimp and grits — pretty standard version of this dish. Comes with four shrimp. Grits could be cheesier/​richer. There was some sort of pig in here but can’t really remember it having much of an impact
–short rib — this short rib is more like dry pot roast. short rib is one of my favorite dishes because it’s braised long enough and pull apart with a fork. You had to slice through this with a knife. Somehow turned one of my go-​to entrée orders into a crockpot style meal that I wouldn’t eat twice
–chocolate lava cake — extremely rich, very chocolatey. wasn’t a fan of the cardamom ice cream, reminds me too much of biryani
–banana bread «pudding» — dry. and do not call this banana bread when the only banana element is a lazy flambéed half banana on the side.
The restaurant itself is big, has a sort of medieval theme going on, feeling like a set on game of thrones. The service is fine. I would say this place is pretty typical of the area it’s in (mediocre food/​high prices/​chain feel) — so if that’s your thing you’ll probably like it here. Not for me

A little empty for a Tuesday 6pm BUT décor/​space is fun and food is yummy!
Almost walked right by it but BOE had a great welcoming staff when we made our way in. Think glamed up mountain lodge meets GOT décor and this could be used as your backdrop for dinner with the family to brodate; very versatile. The bar section is a bit separated from the dining room so plenty of options at play here.
I commented on how I loved the fireplace and we got seated right by it! I thought it would alter our temperature by sitting so close but happy to report it didn’t. The fireplace definitely added a sexy element to BOE.
The menu has a wide range to chose from and from the appetizers, small plates, plates to share, and large entrees, it’s good for anyone. We decided to get 2 small appetizers, and 2 small plates which was perfect for our early dinner between my friend and I. I have to note, what o especially loved was the fact that some dishes, you can choose in a small or large format.
We were brought some complimentary cinnamon roll/​bun and OMG… so good!
Arugula salad with peaches/​cheese/​walnuts; perfect balance of tangy, salty, and sweet.
Shrimp & grits; probably the best I have ever had. Perfectly cooked plump, juicy shrimp served on a delicate pillow of seasoned grits and chorizo… I want some now.
Pulled BBQ chicken nachos; served on the most crisp fries rather than nachos. I don’t know what was in the sauce but it was super yummy and great for sharing.
Duck confit; a bit on the drier side, it tasted a bit under seasoned to me.
Our server was enthusiastic and added to the great dining experience. Can’t wait to go back for the $ 29 Monday 3 course prix fix!
They have brunch and bottomless drinks for I believe $ 10-​$ 15 more :)

I came here with some friends from out of town and we were disappointed by our meals. The service and ambiance were excellent, with frequent water refills and the food coming out quickly. The lighting and décor is beautiful and quite romantic. We started with chicken potato nachos and everybody really enjoyed them. However, two people at the table ordered briskett and it was just way too fatty. The lobster mac and kale salad were both pretty yummy. I would probably make a return trip but stay far away from the brisket as it is probably one of the worst things on the menu based on other plates I saw in the restaurant.
We also noticed a faint pine needle scent that would come and go and found that refreshing.

I finally got a chance to get over to BOE since hearing about it this past winter when I was at SEI.
My friends and I were looking for a place to go before heading to the Verizon Center to see the circus! We took a look at the menu and booked a reservation the night before. SO GLAD we did. We came in expecting to have a nice lunch before the circus but then we saw there were $ 10 bottomless mimosas on the brunch menu…
That’s how it always starts. We all ended up getting bottomless (mimosas, not pants) and ordering a few things from the menu. The food was all pretty good. We ordered the bulls’ testicles and mac & cheese bites and all shared those. Both were really well done! I ordered the adobo fried chicken with kimchi donuts and gravy. I was pleased with it. The chicken was served bone-​in and was really crispy and juicy.
The service was great as well. Our server kept our drinks full the entire time and was a good sport about it. Nothing brings your buzz down like a server that isn’t in the mood to serve brunch to happy people.
Last thing I want to mention is the décor of the restaurant. I haven’t seen much like it. The floors are a deep purple and the inside boasts a ton of woodwork and a really nice fireplace. Very cool ambiance to the place!
Although, they do only serve brunch on Sundays as of now so you’ll have to just get lunch on a Saturday… if you’re looking for a new restaurant to try in DC you can’t go wrong with BOE.

It was so delicious and so unexpected! We walked in Friday night and they were very busy. We were seated in a corner fairly quickly but it was a tight space. The owner is Earl and he is the same person who owned OYA (the previous restaurant at this location) but basically changed the name and theme. I had never been to OYA so I don’t know what it was like. Our waiter was Jose. At first, he seemed like he was not interested in being there but he went above and beyond for us when it came to service. He has a subdued personality which can be misinterpreted but he was fantastic. Our place settings were constantly refreshed and our table cleaned very well in between each plate. We had a couple different small plates and then shared a big plate.
1. Alligator ribs with Brussels sprouts cole slaw: 4 stars; i have never had alligator anything and i really liked this. It was not gamey at all and it was tender. The BBQ sauce was on point.
2. Crayfish hush puppies: 4.5 stars; fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside; i barely remembered to dip it in the sauce because they were just so good. Full of flavor too. You could see veggies in it as well.
3. Fried oysters: 4 stars; it had like a citrus, fruit topping as well with onions. It was very good. The sauce with it gave it a kick as well.
4. Fried chicken with maple kimchi donuts: holy smokes, 5+ stars; this was the treat of the evening; i have never had kimchi ANYTHING and this was a great first taste to kimchi. It was a savory with mild sweetness donut. The chicken breading was just perfect and the chicken was cooked very well. Check out my picture with the chicken cut in half. The gravy was also awesome and i found myself scoping the rest of the gravy into my fork to savor alone too! The green chile grits that comes with it is out of this world. You must try it.
5. Applie crumb pie with crème fraîche: 4 stars; simple and classic treat. Very buttery. Caramel was a nice touch.
Service was excellent as I mentioned; Jose made us happy! He refilled our drinks, plates, silverware constantly and at the right time each time. It was greatly appreciated and we never had to ask for a refill especially on my hot water.
The décor was great. There is a huge fireplace in the dining area. It gets hot in there FYI. The bathroom is super clean and chic. The soap is almond scented. It was very clean. Poorly lit in the stalls though lol.
We had no expectations coming in. They have only been open for 2 months. We were surprised as to how good their food and service was. We can’t wait to come back!