Restaurants situated near Nationals Park will get at least a few more days of madness this weekend as the Nationals begin their home stand for the division title. And if they’re lucky — they meaning the restaurateurs — the streak could continue well into October.
The restaurants are preparing for more of everything: more beer sold, more staff needed and, in some cases, more menu items.
Although Osteria Morini, the Italian restaurant from New York restaurateur Michael White, doesn’t usually serve a hamburger, it’s making an exception for the playoffs. Before and during the home playoff games, a “white label burger” and a Port City Brewing Company IPA will run you $15, according to chef Matthew Adler.
On normal weekend home games, the restaurant sees a 25 percent to 35 percent bump in sales and expects that to increase for the playoffs, he said.
Playoff games will also likely help boost business by bringing in fans at off-peak times. Friday’s 3:30 p.m. start time will bring in tailgators during that less busy time between lunch and happy hour, and then boost dinner business more than usual.
“No matter what time the games are, it starts two hours before,” said Greg Engert, beer director for Neighborhood Restaurant Group, which owns Bluejacket brewery and the Arsenal restaurant in Capitol Riverfront. “So we’re always looking at, do we need to open early, or should we keep the kitchen open later.”
Bluejacket is coming up on its first anniversary, and Engert said the entire Nats season so far has been a learning process. The fans who come in “who drink Corona religiously” need a bit of a craft beer education, which is something the staff is happy to do if it creates craft beer converts, Engert said.
At Justin’s Cafe, the neighborhood’s restaurant and bar pioneer that was around for the Nationals’ last playoff run, these games come down to one major issue: keeping the beer cold, said owner Justin Ross.
The relatively small bar doesn’t have enough storage space for all the pints it serves during a peak time like playoffs, so the staff has to be prepared to go old-school: kegs in ice-filled tubs and trash cans behind the restaurant, waiting to be wheeled in.
“We’re definitely ordering a lot more beer,” said Ross, adding that they’ll probably set up a beer tent on the bar’s patio to help meet demand. “The home games are going to be wild, just because everybody’s so into it now. But the away games are a lot of fun too, because of all the people in the neighborhood who are really die-hard fans who want to come in and watch the game together.”
