[Click through our slideshow for a glimpse at what you can expect to eat and drink at GBD]

The wait is over! The highly anticipated GBD (short for Golden Brown Delicious) from Neighborhood Restaurant Group is expected to soft open Thursday and officially open for business on Friday, April 5. On the menu: fried chicken and donuts from husband-wife chef and pastry chef duo Kyle Bailey and Tiffany MacIsaac, who are also the culinary brains behind 14th Street’s Churchkey and Birch & Barley.

With booze-baked doughnut flavors such as Grapefruit Campari Old Fashioned and the Butterscotch Bourbon Glazed Brioche (with bacon!), this spot’s a drink-lover’s paradise, even before you factor in the expertly edited beverage program from NRG vets Brent Kroll and Greg Engert.

The donuts are the route getting a pseudo-drink-fix in the morning, as the shop opens at 8 AM weekdays and 10 AM weekends for breakfast and brunch, and serves through 2 PM. Dinner is launching very soon, starting at 4 PM and running through 2 AM, Sunday–Thursday and 3 AM, Friday–Saturday, and that's when the expanded food menu and the excellent drink options take center stage. We got a taste at a special preview party this week; here's what you can look forward to sipping with your golden, brown and delicious food.

Wine

Sommelier Brent Kroll selected GBD’s 10 wines — four draft, four dessert and two sparkling by the bottle — and collaborated with Room 11 punch virtuoso Dan Searing on four house punches (vodka, rum, bourbon and gin). Wines on tap include M. Lawrence sparkling rosé (a dry, prosecco-like bubbly not found on draft anywhere else in the District), Brotherhood Riesling (also a draft exclusive — the acidity and slight touch of sugar make it a good bet for either a chicken or doughnut pairing) as well as Qupe Syrah and Molinos Tempranillo.

Punch

The rum punch already stands out as a crowd favorite with orange sour, pomegranate and earl grey along with small-batch Corsair spiced rum. The bourbon version uses grapefruit juice and ginger-sage honey and lemon with Smooth Ambler Old Scout; the gin punch is a simple mix of house-made apple and Tuthilltown Half Moon Orchard; and the vodka uses a lavender-rose spirit with rhubarb syrup and lemon.

Beer

But don’t forget the beer; master beer director Engert infused GBD’s draft list with the same passion and attention to detail evident at Churchkey, Rustico and NRG’s other establishments. Featuring 18 drafts (no bottles), the selection here is broken down into “drinking beers,” “fried chicken beers” and “doughnut beers,” a dozen of which will be on regular rotation.

Expect rare finds like Beasley’s Honey White — brewed by Durham’s Fullsteam Brewery with honey, oats and tellicherry black pepper to pair specifically with fried chicken — and Maine Beer Company’s Mean Old Tom, a vanilla-based stout special ordered to pair with MacIsaac’s doughy confections. Then there’s Belgium’s Pannepot; with dark fruit notes like rasberry and fig, Engert calls it more of a “‘tweener” appropriate for chicken or doughnut pairings. Can’t decide? Try the Ritterguts Gose, a tart wheat beer that Engert describes as “one of the most delicious beers to drink by itself.”

Photos by Lauren Sloat