Nationals Park: Not just beer and hot dogs

The first new attraction, Das Bullpen, is a hangout spot outside the park, located across the street from the Half Street Metro exit. 

Don’t let the name fool you — Das Bullpen is as American as it gets. The outdoor space has a frat party feel, complete with beer served in the quintessential red party cup and cornhole, a game where players toss bean bags into a wooden board with holes in it.

The open-air hangout gets its name from the European-inspired beer and bratwurst served at the space, including Boddingtons, Czechvar and Leffe, on tap for $6 to $7 a cup. It bills itself as the “low-key location to grab a drink and food before or after the game,” and has a younger, 20-something clientele that seemed to enjoy the laid-back atmosphere.

Inside the stadium, the popular Five Guys Burger and Fries located on the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk is now gone, and will be replaced with Shake Shack, a burger joint started by New York restaurant owner Danny Meyer. The restaurant is known for its wide variety of burgers and rich milkshakes that have had New Yorkers raving.

A Shake Shack has already opened at City Field, the New York Mets’s ballpark, and includes a menu with the traditional Shack Burger, topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and special Shack Sauce, as well as French fries and the popular hand-spun shakes.

Shake Shack will be accompanied by other new venues, including Blue Smoke, which will serve up pulled-pork sandwiches, Box Frites, a Belgian stand that will offer French fries and a variety of dips, and El Verano Taqueria, which will bring authentic Mexican food to the ballpark.

The concession is expected to open “before June” — in the meantime, Nationals fans can fill up on Ben’s Chili Bowl half-smokes.