Park Tavern

This might be the worst run tavern I’ve been to in DC. Food runners bumbling around aimlessly, bartenders idly thumbing through the PoS while ignoring customers, a man older than the rest of the bar staff who I can only assume is the owner or GM trying to do every job «to help» but actually just slowing an already slow staff down… Don’t go here.

This place is great — I love that Canal Park has a place to get good food and drinks. I wish we’d see more public/​private combination spaces like this in DC. Feels very European. The food is very good — I’ve been there for brunch and lunch, and enjoyed my meals both times. And having a couple of kids, it’s so great that it’s next to Canal Park’s splash fountains — our two-​year-​old has a blast playing in the water, and wears himself out before it’s time to eat (which makes for a more pleasant meal for the grown-​ups! ;) I agree with some others here that the service can be slightly less than attentive, but I’ve never had bad service. All in all, I’m very glad this place is here and hope it sticks around! Highly recommend for those with kids.

Park Tavern has a new chef who is changing their menu.
Came here for brunch before the Nats game and was surprised with how empty it was. «Brunch» menu included pizza, burgers, a mixed green salad. They did have French toast and a breakfast sandwich, but nothing else listed on their online brunch menu. Food was okay.
Pros: loved the layout and they did have a nice bar.
Tip: come here for drinks and appetizers with friends, not for a meal.

We decided to give this local establishment a second chance after many times before, only to be disappointed by servers, who cut in line making us wait longer for food, with little or no apology. There are much better places every day in the neighborhood to go instead. This restaurant as a poster child for poor management.

Stopped here unexpectedly and also my first time here.
Aesthetically nice environment with dancing fountains outside, A nice Terrace patio with seating and upon entering the interior a nice homey would burning smell for what looks like really good pizzas and burgers.
Sat at bar, bartenders nice yet a little distant and not too interactive
Nice venue any time of year, yet probably ideal for fall and winter months, when the ice rink returns as well.
Striving to post more reviews not just for negative service but for positive too.
Totally would recommend this place and would. come back. White female and black male bartenders… Get more connected with your customers especially someone like me, who was a first-​timer.
Overall fair to good job!

This place has a lot of potential. Great location and atmosphere but every time I go I leave disappointed. The service is friendly, but not attentive. The real problem is the chefs the food is never quite good. I’ve had half cooked French toast, bland nachos, bland pizza, and shrimp with no cocktail sauce. It’s a nice place, but not a good place.

Noisy ambiance. Good sandwiches. Average salads. Average drinks.

I live nearby and have sadly gone there thinking, maybe this time will be different. Not so. Food is mediocre on a good day and good luck getting what you ordered. The service is absolutely atrocious. It seems like it’s the first day on the job for everyone working there. The worst part about this place is that the management clearly doesn’t care. There are dozens and dozens of bad reviews on Unilocal and yet nothing changes. I can’t wait until they go out of business so something else can open in that space.

Food was better than I expected! Especially the delicious fries, however I felt super ignored by the bartenders even before the nats crowd came in.

Fish tacos were fabulous, some of the best I’ve ever had. Mac and cheese with blue crab also excellent. Sangria and service was spotty, but I’ll be back, regardless. Nice atmosphere, too. Great little spot.

Really not sure what happened here but there were so many problems with the service that it was almost comical. Almost. Went with my family on Father’s Day before a 1:35 nats game. I ordered the chicken salad sandwich with a side salad instead of fries, which is an option listed on the menu. I also asked for balsamic vinaigrette and the waitress looked confused and asked if I wanted balsamic on the chicken salad. Uh… No. I said I wanted the side salad with balsamic instead of fries. My brother also ordered a side salad. The waitress was very confused about the salads. She asked us what kind of salad? Again, a side salad was listed on the menu. My dad ordered the «Park burger». 10 minutes later the waitress came back to tell me they were out of chicken salad. At noon? And why did it take her 10 minutes to find that out. Another 15 – 20 min goes by and our food comes out, except they bring my dad a pork BBQ sandwich instead of the burger and he says something to the waitress and she says «oh I thought you said pork burger.» WHAT is a pork burger? And why would you not clarify that? Are you so unfamiliar with the Menu that it doesn’t occur to you that he probably said park burger??? They also gave me some weird yellow creamy salad dressing instead of balsamic and it was on top of the salad not on the side like requested. They then brought out two servings of fries for my brother and I, and we had to explain to the waitress that we wanted the salads instead of fries.
Food was ok, no bugs like the poor other review had to deal with. Beer selection was decent but I will not go back and would strongly recommend you don’t either.

I’ve been here twice and each time it was nearly deserted. I can see why – the pizza was a piece of inedible charred cardboard, the beer selection modest, and the bartender wouldn’t or couldn’t tell me the base liquor used in the drink of the day.

Ordered 2 plates of wings with blue cheese.
I was served 2 plates of «pink» wings with ranch.
Ohh, they also decided not to toss the wings, but serve them plain, with the sauce on the side… I thought it was a joke?
No clue what they are doing here, such a shame a good location has morons working here.
Waste of money.

Park Tavern was found when I couldn’t find parking to get to the Five Guys. Let me tell you that this little venue has a really good fish sandwich and the staff has a way to bring a smile with its service. It wasn’t crowded as the Five Guys, Subway or Food Trucks which made it easy to order and enjoy ESPN for lunch. It’s best to get there now before the word gets out on how easy it is to grab food for lunch. I guess you can call this a quiet place to eat that’s doesn’t have a wait time in SE near the Navy Yard & DOT. I will return again to try other items on the menu soon. Also, during the winter there’s an ice rink and during the summer there’s a water park for the kids.

Not a bad bar, but not a great one.
We walked in one evening and stood around waiting to be seated for a few minutes before realizing that no one was coming. I believe they were short staffed that night because I’m not sure I ever actually saw a server walking around.
We finally caught a seat at the bar where the sub par service continued.
The food was fantastic and drinks were on point! Had the service been on the level as the chef was this would definitely be a 4 star review.

I’ve been wanting to try here a lot, because it’s got a unique location. In the summer, there’s a little splash/​water area right outside where kids can play amongst the streams of water randomly shooting out of the ground. The water jets are illuminated at night, so it’s quite enjoyable to see in the dark as well. In the winter, they install an ice rink, and from the bar area, you can watch skaters skillfully or timidly make their way around on the ice.
We finally got the chance to come here, on a cold, cold day in November, and we left with mixed views. I point blank asked the bartender if he had any views/​insight about the regular bar burger vs. their BBQ sandwich, and he was flummoxed. Had nothing to say about either. Really? It’s a burger. Either you think it’s good or not, or at least steer me towards something else. As it happens, it was fine, but nothing special. I could have walked across the street to Five Guys and gotten a better burger even cheaper. It’s just that this place has beer. ;)
My lunch date had the fish sandwich. She liked it a lot, noting that it was actual flaky fish on the sandwich, not a patty. The beer batter was good, and lightly seasoned.
We’ll come back here sometime, but we’re not in a hurry about it. I hope they improve, and want to see this place flourish.

The bar is low. We keep trying Park Tavern because we live in the neighborhood.
Service is spotty at best — every time we’ve gone (upwards of 20 times) we lose our server for 20 minutes at a time.
Soup was room temperature — not just gross but a significant health risk in terms of bacteria. None of the wait staff seemed to care at all about customers.
We keep crossing our fingers and hoping it gets better. So much potential.

I really like this place. They started my affinity for fish tacos and after trying many fish tacos in DC I’ve come to the conclusion… they have the best darn fish tacos in D. C! First, they are stuffed with cod fish, something that’s virtually unavailable in this area. Second, they don’t skimp on the fish. You have to work to hold the fish in the tortilla. Third, the fish is served over a tasty coleslaw with guacamole. My only regret is that you only get 3 tacos, 4 would be perfect.
The service is just as quality as their food. Our waitress was very attentive, yet not over bearing, and as sweet add she could be. The great fresh food, convenient location and the service just landed this place on my «go to» list.

Park Tavern has a GREAT location right in the middle of the up and coming Navy Yard neighborhood. They have a lovely outdoor patio and a great happy hour that’s perfect for saving some money on drinks before a Nationals game.
But…that’s where the positives end. Service is awful. They don’t seem to have enough wait staff and our waitress seems to have had tables scattered around the whole restaurant. It took her at least 10 minutes before she spoke to us when we sat down and there were long gaps between when she came over.
Their menu is tiny. They have a couple of sandwiches, some appetizers, and a couple pizzas. That’s it. They need more variety (at least a chicken sandwich! Maybe a pasta dish?). Also my boyfriend ordered a beer off their menu and they said they didn’t have that one. No big deal, right? Well then it happened two more times. At least tell us before we order what you actually have.
I suspect that they’ll survive until a better new American restaurant with happy hour comes along then they won’t be able to afford their rent.

I’ll throw the bad part first. The service should be much better if one is putting down $ 15 for a burger and that takes 30 minutes from the time I sat down to get it. Add in only one bartender servicing the bar and the waitstaff with all of their orders; chaos in display. For what should be a higher end addition to the Navy Yard, the previous reviews are on target. And if you have draft beer on the menu, it should not be out. There was 2 of the 6 that were out. And this is on a weeknight. Again, a bad sign of growing pains.
That said, I do hope this place succeeds too and will try again should the reviews show that has happened. And now for the food… I chose the dark burger and with low expectations from the service, I was however pleasantly surprised. I could taste all of the ingredients and the char from the grill was what made this burger taste like a $ 15 burger. I would have liked a little bit of toast to the bun but not a biggie.
So here is to hoping Park Tavern pulls it together because it is a great location, with a great interior, and can be a definite niche in this area.