Domku hours

[from Kera Carpenter]

I'm happy to announce that Domku Bar & Cafe will begin opening for dinner on Sundays, beginning October 15. Dinner hours will be from 5:00pm to 10:00pm. The kitchen will be closed from 3:00pm to 5:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Comments

[bill]

If Ms. Carpenter would like some ideas she should go on line and check out Folk Gaspoda. A great little place in Warsaw, Poland. Good service great prices and super food. A little kitchy with the pesant dress for the servers. No E.euro spot would ever be caught dead not offering BREAD!
Try Ze Mean Bean in Fells Point, MD

[John]

Domku is a fantastic restaurant. I think we are just so incredibly lucky to have anything in our neiborhood other than the carryout Chinese-Greek-Italian-and-Burgers places that are all over the place. And on top of that to actually have a place that's worth going to even if you don't live near-by! My only advise would be a put up a web site with the menu and other information on it, I bet you could pull some extra business that way

[kb]

Congratulations to Domku on winning the 2006 Washingtonian Best Bargain Restaurant award. Kind of says it all in my opinion. For those who want to quibble, I hear there's a Ruby Tuesday not far away...

As for the menu - late night snacks would be a great addition.

[AJS]

You're certainly correct, Chris, that DC overhead can be more expensive than in Pgh. But that doesn't change the fact that Domku's pierogies are wildly overpriced. As I stated, I think many items are priced properly. But by the number of times the price issue has been raised on this comment thread, however, I think there are indeed some pricing problems.

[Chris]

I don't want to be argumentative, but I am quite familiar with Pittsburgh and to say that nobody in Pittsburgh would pay $12 for a few pierogies, while true, is also drawing an unfair comparison because there's also no comparison between the high overhead in DC (even in little 'ole Petworth) compared to Pittsburgh. You see, you're not just saying for some pierogies when you're buying them, you're paying salaries, rent, taxes, etc.

I re-read my earlier entry, and I noticed I forgot to mention something -- I did comment that I'd like to see the portions a little bigger but I wouldn't want the quality of the food items to go down. I think that needs a little illumination. Let me give an example -- sure, Domku could probably find cheaper pickled herring (which I love) to serve, and therefore be able to serve larger portions at a cheaper price, but chances are, that pickled herring wouldn't be as good as the stuff they have, which is, no doubt, more expensive.

[AJS]

I agree the prices are a little off. Some items are very reasonably priced -- I tend to get them every time I go (including the sandwiches and soups). Others items are grossly over-priced, such as the pierogies. No one in Pittsburgh, for example, would in their wildest dreams pay $12 for just a few pierogies.

I think Domku is truly a fabulous restaurant and we in Petworth are so lucky to have it. I hope all these comments are taken in the spirit in which they are intended, of wanting to help. After all, if we didn't care no one would be writing these never-ending comments.... :-)

[Dan]

More COWBELL!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jb]

I don't know if I'm speaking for others who have made the same complaint, but when I criticized the prices, it wasn't that the prices themselves are unreasonable. It's that you get too little for the money.

$12 for an entree isn't bad, but getting a tiny amount of food for that $12 is (unless you're in 1980s LA).

I seriously doubt it would make them instantly unprofitable to change their portions to decent sizes. And it's much more of a problem to have so many unsatisfied customers, which this thread has made clear they do.

And I think there is a difference between a slow-paced meal and not getting any food for an hour after sitting down at a table. The latter is simply unacceptable if it happens all the time, which it clearly does. A lot of people have suggested they serve bread, which is a good start.

I'd like to go back and try more of the items on the menu, but unless they address these problems, it hardly seems worth it. But I'd much rather it succeed than fail, so I hope someone at the restaurant is reading this thread and taking all the well-intentioned criticism to heart.

[Alex]

My wife and I love Domku. The menu is perfect. The service is usually slow, but is always friendly, and like others we just don't go unless we're up for relaxing with a beer before eating. The music, art, and quality beer are all appreciated. One good and surely affordable suggestion I've seen here, though: More bread!

[Markus]

One more thing -- as for prices, I think a lot of those complaining are not considering the fact that Domku ownership needs to profit (or at least come reasonably close). The fact is that a lot of what is offered at Domku is not common in other restaurants around DC, and there is a price that goes along with that.

[Amanda]

My husband and I love Domku and eat there quite often. The food can take a while, but we don't mind at all. It works well accomodating a large group of people coming and going and we have organized a number of informal groups to meet there to eat. The wait staff is very friendly and competent. Domku is place where you can relax and spend an evening eating and drinking. For this reason, we never go for a quick meal. That's what El Torogoz is for. I also have to disagree that the portions are small and the meals overpriced--for a small, independent restaurant that offers high quality entrees, the I think the portions and prices are competitive. (Although I agree that the brunches are a bit over-priced for what you get.)

As for improvements--
*They are more often than not out of an item on the menu. This has turned off a number of friends we've brought to eat there.
*The owner could show regulars a little love. Even a "hello, thanks for coming" would be appreciated. It would make the restaurant feel more like a neighborhood gathering place, and might encourage more loyalty from other residents.
*Since so many people do seem to think it's too spendy, why not add a few lower priced items to the menu?
*Incorporating pumpkin into the fall menu would be great!
*I really enjoyed the art opening and there was a good-sized crowd there that evening. Maybe rotate the art more often and feature artists from Petworth?
*I second the idea of specials on the weekends.
*The brunch menu has some room to grow (check out Tabard Inn--amazing brunches and a decent value).

[Markus]

Two comments based on what others have written...

1. I love the "ricketty" tables and chairs. Along with the decor in general it gives Domku a special feel and character. I think the visual appeal of the place is a big positive.

2. Bread is a good idea, and being of Eastern European descent, I am familiar with a lot of powerful dark breads that go so perfectly with a beer. I think this is a very good idea that wouldn't be prohibitively expensive to get into at Domku.

[Chris]

It's nice to say that Domku should have lower prices and more servers (and faster service, really, means more servers), but I'm wondering if it occurs to anyone that this is like asking for more public services and lower taxes?

In any case, I don't really care whether the service at Domku is faster or not. I don't go there when I'm in a hurry to get someplace else -- I go there to relax and enjoy an evening out.

I would like to see some of the portions maybe a little larger, but I wouldn't be willing to see that if it meant a decline in the quality of the food items.

I LOVE the emphasis on Eastern European -- frankly, that's why I go there. If it were more of a funky Trist-like place and less of a place with E. European dishes, I probably wouldn't go.

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents.

[Erin]

I agree with many of the sentiments already expressed, and like others, I really want to like Domku. To me the inherent problem with Domku is that it’s having an identify crisis – not sure if it’s a Tryst-like funky coffee shop/diner/hang out joint, or a classy specialty restaurant. Things like the atmosphere, the rickety tables and chairs, the loungy sofas, and the lack of bread with dinner, etc. make it feel like the former; but the specialty menu and hefty prices (for the amount of food that you get) are those of the latter. Either type of restaurant is fine – there is plenty of room in the world and in Petworth for both, it just seems like Domku is not quite either.

But to the question at hand, I have a couple of specific suggestions for consideration:

1) Add some appetizers to the menu that would be suitable for sharing, reasonably priced, and served in a decent portion.
2) Have one or two nights a week with happy hour specials (it seems like lots of bars/restaurants are starting to have 2-for-1, half priced martini specials, and/or appetizer specials).
3) Serve bread, or something creatively Eastern European with entrees so people can relax while they wait for their food to arrive (this seems pretty standard for any restaurant that is not a dive).
4) Fix the tables so they are not rickety (again, not a problem in a dive, but Domku is trying to be classy – I think?).

[Heather]

I absolutely love Domku and whenever my parents come to visit it's like pulling teeth to get them to go somewhere other than Domku!

Yes, the service is slow...but when i go out to eat i like my meals to be leisurely.

Yes, the bill can add up when getting alcohol and a starter...but what restaurant doesn't.

I think a lot of people envisioned Domku being the local hang-out restaurant / pub and their expectations are not being met. But I don't think that's what Domku is pretending to be.

As for some things I'd like to see...

1. Specials added to the menu for the weekend

2. Vary the pierogies -- maybe add a new flavor as a weekend special.

3. Keep the beet salad and chicken nelisniki -- my absolute favorites!

4. Do Happy Hour specials (not sure if they already do this).

[Kieca]

I want to love Domku, but I don't, even though I want them to succeed. For me it's not just the menu (even though there are only two entrees I can eat on it since I am a non-mushroom eating vegetarian, and I guess more options couldn't hurt, even though I am not looking for boring Americanized food). There's just too many things that go wrong when we go, it seems.

It usually takes forever (45 minutes and up) to get your food, even if you order a simple grilled cheese and you are one of three tables in the place. I don't mind this as much at dinner, but I have been there at lunch when I need to get back to work, and that is a problem.

About 3/4 of the time I have been there, someone at my table orders something only to be told it is unavailable (one day it happened with not one, but two things we tried to order). I am not sure why this is, but it happened at lunch one day, so it isn't an end of the day ran out of things problem.

And my fiance has wanted to go there for coffee in the morning, but it doesn't open until 11, and the last time he did go at 11.30 there was nobody there. He yelled Hello a couple of times and waited around, but the place was wide open and seemingly empty. Which isn't smart for a lot of reasons, and he came home empty-handed and annoyed.

(This is a secondhand story so take it with a grain of salt) Finally, I had a friend go in there with some other moms and kids for lunch one day not too long ago, and it took the standard long time to get the food, so the kids were losing it, because they are all about three years old. The moms asked for some crackers or bread or anything to help keep the kids preoccupied while they waited for the food, and they were told no, there was nothing. Granted, maybe the moms could have been better-prepared, but it isn't unusual for restaurants to either bring kids' food first and quickly or have some small thing around to give them while they wait, especially when the food takes a while.

Anyway, I hate being so negative, because I wish Domku all the luck in the world, but this is why I don't often go there, even though I live less than two blocks away.

[Markus]

I hate to make a comment like this because it goes against everything I believe, but it's like pulling teeth for me to get my girlfriend to go to Domku b/c she's not too enamored w/ the E. European fare. I love it. I'm Latvian. Maybe there are others who feel similarly to her and the inclusion of a few more boring americanized menu items might help bring in a larger crowd.

I personally prefer a focuesed, eastern european menu...but...

[jb]

I've only been once, and I agree wholeheartedly with the other posters here about the slow service. But that wasn't my only complaint.

I know we fat Americans eat too much, but the portions we got ordering entrees were ridiculously small. They looked like appetizers, and (as someone else here pointed out) the prices are pretty high.

I got the mushroom pierogies entree, and it was just a few perogies with nothing else on the plate. And they were bland and poorly drained, sitting in a puddle of water. Not great. And certainly not worth $12.

[AJS]

The service has always been very friendly and courteous, but too often too slow. Maybe Domku could hire another server -- it frequently seems short-staffed.

[ths]

Faster service and better service. You can lower prices, switch around the menu, whatever...but if it takes you one hour to get your food it doesn't matter at all if it's good or bad, you're so fed up that you just want to get out of there.

[mv]

Make the menu simple and lower the prices. It's a great place and I would hate for it to close but its not somewhere I feel like i can go and grab a beer and get a decently priced meal. Temperance Hall, on the other hand offers that.

[DS]

Better, faster service!

[Joe Martin]

Domku owner Kera Carpenter keeps asking me for menu suggestions and what to do to draw in more customers.

How's that for an opening for a million responses here on the P/N?

Bring it on.