Touchdown, a new bar that is opening today on U Street NW, is so sports-focused that it employs a full-time “Director of Sports Marketing.” The director, Karim Soumah, formerly of the recently closed CommonWealth—in fact, five of the bartenders at Touchdown come from the shuttered Columbia Heights restaurant—not only wants sports fans, but the players themselves: “I want athletes to feel comfortable here.”

Soumah’s first get? Touchdown is an official sponsor of D.C. United and will be hosting the team’s anniversary party in June.

With 16 television screens spread across two floors, Touchdown will feature a variety of sports, including pay-per-view boxing (look for online payment options instead of cash at the door) and FIFA video-game tournaments. Two happy hours per night—one from 3-7 p.m. and one from midnight to last call—will put a nice dent into the already well-priced menu. Most canned and bottled beers range from $5-$6, including Tröegs HopBack Amber and Great Lakes Eliot Ness.

The menu reads like what you’d get at most sport bars: nachos, quesadillas and burgers. But one item caught me off guard: mac ‘n’ cheese made with peanut butter—a recipe from Chef Tolga Erbatur‘s Turkish mother. So even if the Redskins are once again an embarrassment (I still love you Donovan McNabb —you’ll always be an Eagle to me!) there should be something to talk about.

Photo by Stefanie Gans