October 14, 2009
definitely worth the short drive from DC if you’re in the area. casual and comfortable atmosphere with friendly staff. the food was very good and the beer was solid. visited here on a Friday evening and even though the place was busy, we only had a 20 minute wait to be seated.

July 31, 2009
Not Bad. Not great but not bad. Their beers are decent, but tend to lack any real backbone. Food is plentiful but bland. Service was great 2004-2006 and only ok since (2009). Only place in the area, so one cannot be too choosy. Good for kids.

May 29, 2009
the general store next to the restaurant is fun, lots of gag gifts and a good bottled beer selection. The pubs own brews are awful. Two were undrinkable. three were just barely OK. The barley wine was the best. The bad ones tasted musty, like they added mildew. Yuk All the staff seemed borderline retarded. Couldn’t answer simple questions or make eye contact.

April 27, 2009
I had the pleasure of visiting Franklins and getting a private tour with Greg, the assistant brewer. Definitely a unique place with a lot going on. They have a good selection of house beers, all good to above average, with a cask offering, several English-style and American-style ales, along with some Belgian stuff. The store also has a very nice bottle selection, plus lots of other random stuff that you just have to see. A bit tricky to get to from DC with public transport, but I managed.

December 12, 2007
Near DC and worth a stop if nothing else than to say you have been. The best part of the place is the incredible General Store which does have a good beer selection. I could have spend a lot of money if not travelling the next day. Outside that the place seems to offer solid food, good service which is prompt and friendly, colorful decor and a variety of beer.

December 5, 2007
A pretty cool place and worth a visit. I’m not quite sure what makes this place so cool, but the pizza is good and they have a decent selection of their own beers most of which were very good.

April 30, 2007
Cool place in a historic building. They had nine beers on tap, with a tenth being a nitro version of the regular porter, although they were out of one of the regular taps. Pretty good variety of styles offered as well. Food was good and so was the service. Definitely worth stopping by.

March 22, 2007
A neat place. Set up like a flashy BBQ joint, the general store is next door and is a thing to see. Lots of tourist items, toys for the kids, and the beer and wine selection is for real. I picked up a sampled pack from a Virginia brewery. Only beer I had while dining was the imperial stout, which was solid, and the BBQ was decent enough to satisfy me and my picky BBQ tastes. It doesn’t touch true Oklahoma and Texas BBQ, but it wasn’t an imitation like so many other places in the north offer.

January 17, 2007 [ Updated January 19, 2007 ]
I never knew this place existed. About 4 miles from College Park, they have plenty of dirt cheap parking in the adjacent lot (25 cents and hour). Colorful comtemporary interior, with two levels. I drank at the upstairs bar. Nice happy hour from 4 -6:30pm, with $1off pints and discounted food. I had a $3 quesadilla that was decent. All the beers are above average, and they had a nice selection when I visited. Impy Stout, Barleywine, IPA, 2 strong ales, Red, Coffee Stout, and a few others. The crowd was mostly regulars and business travelers when I stopped by. Worth a visit.

October 28, 2006
This place is a diamond in the rough. From the outside you’d have no idea what lies inside. The restaurant/brewery is pretty sizable. They usually have 6 to 8 beers on tap, all of which are brewed on the premises. The food is pretty good, a step above your typical bar food. The service is always very good, the people are friendly and some are knowledgable about what’s on tap. If you stop in for lunch or to fill your growler, you have to check out their "general store". The beer selection is slightly below average, but I found a few gems I hadn’t found anywhere else. They carry a selection of six packs in the cooler from various American micro breweries (approximately 40 different brands). The selection of dry singles is small and cluttered, but if you take your time to go through it there’s some good stuff. The prices were average. Franklins is unique, I wish there were more places like this out there. Stop in to have a good lunch, taste their selection, fill your growler and hit up the general store for some micros you might not have seen elsewhere.