At the risk of affirming your suspicions that we’re total boozers here at district, schmistrict, I feel obliged to address an important upcoming calendar event. That’s right, mid-September means Oktoberfest mania is as pending as crunchy leaves strewn across the sidewalk.
Last year we celebrated by heading down to the Oktoberfest street festival along Barracks Row. It made for a fun afternoon along a strip we don’t often frequent, but the revelry seemed to lack in authenticity. I say “seemed to” because, well, I’m not German, making me hardly an expert on German heritage. But a Heineken beer tent? Not impressive.
And while the obligatory guides to D.C.-area Oktoberfests put out in the past week by local media are fun to peruse, I’m a little underwhelmed, to be honest, since I’m not a big fan of chain restaurants nor pricey cover charges. Or heading out to the suburbs unless I have to.
So, ever the resourceful reporter, I put Google to task, but unfortunately, my damn Google History slapped me in the face. Among the top search results was Hessen Haus in Des Moines, Iowa, an awesome German bar in my former hometown. In addition to a serious selection of Bavarian brews, Hessen Haus offers the incredible option of drinking from a glass boot. It makes for a convivial drinking game, with complex rules to boot (heh).
After a minute or so of pity-me nostalgia, I did a bit more research to see if any D.C. bars offer the magical glass boot option. Jackpot! As it turns out, the German-owned Café Berlin in Capitol Hill does indeed. A quick phone call confirmed (yes, I’m that big of a loser) that the bar has one boot available to patrons, with a $20 deposit—because like the friendly guy on the phone told me, “These boots aren’t made for walking.”
By this weekend they’ll have three Oktoberfest beers on tap, and next week the seasonal menu will switch to proffer fall favorites of the German variety.
Does anyone have any thoughts on Cafe Berlin?
so, i heard they moved oktoberfest from hessen haus to one of principle’s parking lots this year. what has des moines come to?
No thoughts on Cafe Berlin from me, either- though I wish I’d known about it when I lived in the D.C. area. Hessen Haus does rock, though.
The reason for the moving of Oktoberfest was complainst from Hessen Haus’s Yuppie neighbors in the nearby Court Avenue district condos about all the commotion to all hours. Hessen Haus remains the locus of Des Moines’ real Oktoberfest, but it was deemed politically advantageous to move the official focus, not to a Principal parking lot, but to Principal Park- home of the Iowa Cubs, Chicago’s Triple A team here in Des Moines.