Chicken + Whiskey, a new Peruvian chicken restaurant married to a whiskey bar, today joins the bustling 14th Street NW corridor. The experimental restaurant, located at 1738 14th Street NW, comes from the hospitality pros at Maryland-based Star Restaurant Group.
Alma Cocina Latina alum Enrique Limardo blends his native Venezuelan cuisine with locally beloved Peruvian chicken, complementing slow-roasted bird brined for 12 hours with fried corn cakes known as arepas.
The “pollo a la brasa” order (from $8.99 for a quarter up to $16.99 for the whole chicken) comes with two sides, including beans, yuca fries, and sweet plantains. There’s also salads ($10.99) like cucumber feta and quinoa, as well as sandwiches; Nacho’s Wrap ($10.99) features pulled chicken breast, smoked gouda, and a nacho cheese flour tortilla. Chicken wings ($8.99) are slathered with various sauces.
While food is available daily from 11 a.m. until late, the “+ Whiskey” part of the enterprise doesn’t start slinging drinks until 5 p.m. on weekdays and noon on weekends. The whiskey list is 66 bottles deep, offering a mix of both rare domestic and international varieties. The source of ice is a huge 75-pound block mounted on the back bar that’s chipped away for each drink.
The wood-heavy space, designed by Schamu, Machowski + Patterson, sits in a 127-year old row house. The goal was to create a 1940s-style eatery, and managing principal (and former DJ) Charles Koch built an “all vinyl” music program for the whiskey bar.
Star’s local footprint includes consulting work on Heist nightclub, as well as creating The Walrus Oyster & Ale House in National Harbor.
Status: Certified open at 11 a.m. (and +Whiskey at 5 p.m.); 1738 14th Street NW; website.
