Great spot for a Friday afternoon. Large porch with ample seating, and unlike most of the places with outdoor seating in Dallas which are hampered by certain ordinances and procedures that DON'T allow dogs, this place welcomes them with open arms and bowls of water. The outdoor seating around the side is covered, and also had a tv if you want to catch a particular game. Inside, there are a variety of tables, community tables, bar seating, and dart boards, so there is something here for everyone, rain or shine.
This place has a great pub feel but comfortably accommodates the crowds that hit it on the weekends. They've got a great selection of beers on draft and also in the bottle, and feature upscale pub fare which has never disappointed me.
I've been on a Belgium kick the last several months, so started with a Maredsous 8, which they've got on tap and serve in the proper glass, and then I focused on what to order, which was a difficult task because this is a good menu. What I did know is that I wanted whatever I got to come with fries, because their fries are awesome. Lightly seasoned, fried perfectly to the point of browning, with a soft crunch on first bite and then a steaming soft center, topped with kosher salt and parsley and served HOT. So I narrowed it down to the Cuban Sandwich, the toasted Ham and Gruyere, and the Reuben, and stopped all decision-making at that point and let our waitress surprise me.
What I really wanted, and what I'd recommend anyone visiting for the first time get, is the Capitol Burger. They do it really well. A sirloin burger with hickory smoked bacon, caramelized onion, dijon mustard and choice of Maytag blur or Cotswold cheese, cooked to your liking and served with those fries. After my last couple of weeks of eating though, I just couldn't bring myself to go with a gut-busting burger.
I was happy with her choice for me, the Cuban:
Slow roasted pork, bacon, pickles, cheddar, swiss and spicy mustard on a pressed hoagie roll. Ok, so it's not perfectly authentic and doesn't have the caribbean hot sauce served with it that I love so much, but this is a good sandwich. There are two things that I particularly like about it. One, they advertise it as slow roasted pork, which lots of places serving Cubans do, but rarely deliver on. While the sliced pork loin may have been slow roasted before it was packaged and shipped to other places, this place appears to do it on their own, and from the fattier shoulder as opposed to the loin. This sandwich contains good sized pieces of seasoned pork, which appear to have been slow cooked, pulled, and then seasoned with thyme and some other things and finished on the flat top. It could have been a little more tender, but it was good for this sandwich nonetheless. The other thing I really liked was the pickle. Normally on these types of sandwiches you end up with the lengthwise sliced, soggy dill that you find on the shelf at the grocery store, but at Capitol Pub they go over to the refrigerated section, grab the never-heated, always cold processed, crispy Claussen dill pickle chips. And they. work. great on this sandwich, providing a refreshing coolness and crisp snap to every bite, they break the monotony of the heat and meltyness of the meats and cheeses on this thing. Oh, and the bread is great here too, not too generic, not too soft and not to hard, and makes this thing something worth ordering.
Summary
Atmosphere: upscale pub, indoor and outdoor seating both covered and uncovered, bar seating, see and be seen, great place on a nice day, great place for happy hour, great place for beer, good for groups, good place for a visitor to grab a bite and drink solo
Food: upscale pub, appetizers, burgers and sandwiches
Dog Friendly: yes
When to Go: lunch (Fridays and Saturdays), happy hour, dinner, late
Crowd: 20somethings, 30somethings, trendsters, yuppies, douchers, cougars, hotchicks, groups of girls, groups of dudes, mixed groups, students
What to Order for the First Timer: Capitol Burger with fries
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