The Early Word on The Gryphon, Dupont's Gastropub

With its chandelier of antlers and alligator bites on the menu, The Gryphon, Dupont Circle's latest gastropub, wasn't afraid to make a dramatic first impression when it opened in mid March. But what did its earliest visitors think of the bar's food and service? Here's what Yelpers, bloggers and others had to say about The Gryphon.

The Is It a Sports Bar News? On Facebook, user Gabriel asks a philosophical question. "Why does a sports bar take reservations?" [Facebook]

The Solid All Around News: Also on Facebook, fan Sarah says, "Great atmosphere, great service, great food.....going back for more.....just what DC has been missing!!:)" [Facebook]

The Get Off My Lawn News: Right now, The Gryphon is averaging 2 stars on Yelp, with 15 reviews in. One is from Heather G., who says, "The music in this establishment is just too loud. I managed to last an hour before I had to leave. My head began throbbing and my throat was hurting from having to yell a conversation. I feel like an old lady complaining about the noise level, but it's louder than any live concert you will attend." [Yelp]

The Bad Service News: Also on Yelp, Davis K. says, "The owner was rude as hell to us when we complained about the lack of service.  It was almost laughable how bad the service was. I'm never going back." [Yelp]

More Bad Service News: Yelp's Michelle M. says, "The combination of bad service, kicking us out and not changing games when requested ensures that I will never be crossing their threshold again, and neither should you." [Yelp]

The Yuppie Hangout News: Colin C. describes The Gryphon as "Pretty much a yuppy hangout and everything is fairly overpriced, but standard for the area.  A couple of bars and lots of tv with good service and priced about the same as the rest of the bars in the area. Food was surprisingly decent and a good amount of HH specials that make it a bit more reasonable." [Yelp]

The Lots of TVs News: On Foursquare, user Bandar says, "Cool spot lots of tvs wnd still retains an upscale feel, awesome food as well!" [Foursquare]

The Let's Review The Preview Party News: Pamela's Punch heads to the opening and says, "The Gryphon's most redeemable qualities are its ambiance, menu, and 31 TVs. This is a place where a guy can watch sports and bring a girl on a date (two things that rarely go together)." [PP]

The Sleek Decor News: Urban Daddy says that The Gryphon "isn't the kind of place with jerseys on the walls and Jägermeister coolers behind the bar. Nope, instead try animal skulls and gold snakeskin wallpaper on the walls, and chalkboards with the day's betting odds behind the bar...In short, it's the kind of place where Redford and Newman might have hung out in The Sting. Well, that, with 31 TVs." [UD]

The Stellar Short Ribs News: Famous DC also attends the opening party. "If perhaps you've moved on from fried chicken fingers and a plastic ramekin full of ranch as your go-to bar snack, try Executive Chef Joeseph Evans' Korean short rib tacos with Siracha mayo or crispy fried oysters with a hot-maple sauce. My favorite treat of the night, however, were the short ribs and grits. If there weren't so many people there I would have kindly requested the waiter seat me in a dark corner and leave the tray." [FDC]
· All Previous Coverage of The Gryphon [-EDC-]