The Wonderland Ballroom, Washington, D.C.

We went to brunch after church Sunday. Robert was all excited about a place he'd heard about, The Wonderland Ballroom, a beer bar with food where they offer a "bottomless bacon basket" during their weekend brunches. He was really, really excited about the bacon thing. So, humoring him, we left the church in Takoma and Metroed to Columbia Heights, where we walked several blocks east to an, um, "transition" neighborhood, where we found a decrepit building housing the Wonderland Ballroom.

We entered the building. It was dark inside; it looked like a place that had seen many beer-drunken nights. We were greeted by a couple of people who later proved to be employees, though no one guided us to a seat; we found our own table with two bench style car seats and sat down. And waited. Eventually, someone came by and said "We don't have table service here." It turned out to be one of the owners. We said we'd come for brunch, and he said they didn't do brunch anymore (no eggs), just lunch foods. They did, however, still have the bacon baskets, so we put in our order. They also have about a dozen different beers on tap, so Robert got us a couple of those.....Anchor Steam, I think they were.

The menu was simple. We both wanted the same thing, so I let Robert order it—a sausage burger with fries— and I got a grilled vegetable wrap with chicken, so we'd have multiple foods to discuss. I'd expected the sausage burger to have, perhaps, slices of link sausage on the hamburger patty, but what he got was a patty with mixed ground beef and pork sausage, topped with a thick slice of cheddar cheese. My wrap was tasty, but very "vegetarian" (though it did have some chicken in it) with a preponderance of broccoli.



And, the beer and baskets of bacon kept coming.


This is an interesting place. It's certainly very friendly. I was pleasantly surprised that the men's room was not toxic. The food is adequate (if one remembers where one is). The prices are cheap. I think probably it's a very busy place on weekend evenings, though the "brunch" crowd is very limited.

What was particularly interesting at Wonderland Sunday, though, was a charitable fund raiser they were holding. It wasn't scheduled to start officially until four, but they were already getting ready. They were holding their Second Annual Sun Dress Fest to raise money for the Latin American Youth Center, and evening diners would be treated to a pig roast (charcoal was burning in barbecue grills on the patio). The gimmick, though, was how one became entitled to half-price drinks for the evening: one had to wear a sun dress. Even the guys. No dresses in your closet, guys? No problem! They had them for rent for a $10 contribution. No doubt this was the doing of Rose, the female half of the husband and wife owners of the bar. She even made her husband, Matthew, and the bartender and the waiter put on sun dresses. The band out on the patio got into the act, too.