The Red Derby

Aaron has been trying to get me to the Red Derby for about a year now. Located at 14th Street and Quincy, the Red Derby is not exactly next door. Realty agents probably still refer to this neighborhood as Columbia Heights, but it is out there. It took us about 35 minutes to get there from out apartment near Adams Morgan. The plan was to meet our old friend Beth and her cousin, Ashley, who were both home visiting for the weekend. Sadly, Beth somehow got overly excited by her taxes and did not realize it was 11:00 until 11:15. After walking 35 minutes through semi-questionable neighborhoods, Aaron and I decided to just eat anyway. Aaron had only been to the Red Derby in the evenings before today. They are famous for their policy of cans-only beer and have extremely reasonable prices (most beers are $2 - $6). We had read in a couple local papers that the brunch was a well-kept secret and decided it was worth a shot. The menu was very egg-focused: hamburgers with fried eggs, a BeLT (BLT with fried egg), breakfast burritos and fried egg sandwiches. Mimosas, bloody mary's and screwdrivers are $2 each when you purchase brunch. I took healthy advantage of the $2 deal. The food was reasonable priced ($7-9) and was quite tasty. Aaron had a Derby Burger (with arugula, avocado and cucumber) and I continued my search for decent breakfast tacos in DC and ordered the breakfast burrito with bacon. Both of us were more than happy with out orders. A very pleasant two hours were passed with couple rounds of mimosas and bloodys ended by a nice extra large can of English Strongbow Cider. The servers and patrons were all very enthusiastic about the beautiful weather and the cheap drinks. The Derby provides a large assortment of games from Battle Ship, to Connect 4 and Yatzee. As a shout out to my absentee sister, I forced Aaron to play Yatzee with me. Then I made us stop playing and order more drinks after he got three Yatzees in a row. It was a great morning and I highly recommend Red Derby to anyone who is willing to make the track to 14th and Quincy.

The Red Derby
3718 14th Street, NW
202-291-5000
www.redderby.com