Entertainment in Washington, DC
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Continental
A stone’s throw from many Rosslyn hotels, this posh pool hall isn’t your average billiards club. There’s no stale-beer-and-cigarette stink here, where spaghetti lights form constellations on the ceiling and columns are painted like palm trees. Tiki heads and bars painted with silver glitter complete the picture. The owner says Disneyland was the inspiration for his style faux pas that somehow manages to epitomize cool.
reviewed
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B
Five
One of the city's hottest clubs, Five keeps its patrons happy by (1) letting them inside (you won't find super-snotty bouncers here) and (2) offering a smorgasbord of house, reggae and hip-hop with occassional drum & bass spun by well-known local and international DJs. Spanning three floors, Five has a popular Caribbean-inspired rooftop deck. The bars are where to flirt. Coupons (check the local papers) grant free entry until 00:00.
reviewed
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C
Caddies On Cordell
You'll find a giant rooftop deck here, where people gather for sunset shots then linger over beers late into the night. Caddies is a down-to-earth place where the crowd is a mix of graduate students and restaurant servers, the vibe as low-key and refreshing as the breeze sweeping the patio. Inside, there's a golf theme, TVs broadcasting sports and a golden-tee video game that's ridiculously popular. The place also offers a full menu.
reviewed
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D
Saloon
The Saloon takes a firm stand against packing patrons in like sardines, with posted rules against standing between tables. That’s great, because the added elbow room better allows you to enjoy a brew ordered off one of the most extensive beer menus in town. For a casual drink or place to start the night in the U St area, it’s arguably your best bet. Keep in mind the Saloon is usually closed for the month of August.
reviewed
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E
DC Sanctuary
Check your attitude at the door. DC Sanctuary welcomes everyone - black and white, straight and gay - so long as they have an appreciation for soul-soothing house and garage, blue lights, disco balls and a mellow vibe; this is not a pick-up joint. Couches, paintings and a big dance floor fill the minimalist-looking space. The club is in a transitional neighborhood, far from any Metro stop, so you'll need to drive or take a cab.
reviewed
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F
Clyde's
A true Georgetown warhorse, Clyde's has been around for almost 40 years. Back in the day, it used to cater mainly to Georgetown students, but Clyde's has gone upscale in recent years; now yuppies are more likely than students to drink in this classy saloon. The Railroad Bar, salvaged from a Baltimore station and tucked into the back of the bar, is the best spot in the house. It's famous for its half-price burgers at happy hour.
reviewed
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G
Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant
This place sticks out in Chinatown like James Joyce in Shanghai. Somehow the Chinese restaurants are not so conducive to drinking, so Fadó packs in the thirsty, especially after games at the nearby MCI Center. Every room in this Disney-esque pub is decked out in its own unique Celtic style - country library, medieval castle etc. The place is old-school; its clientele remember when this was still considered in the 'hood.
reviewed
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Union Jack's
A staple of the Bethesda nightlife scene, Union Jack's tries to recreate jolly old England in the 'burbs. There's a restaurant resembling the pub in the Harry Potter movies and a front room attempt to recreate downtown London, with many street lamps and a replica of Big Ben. Way in the back is a marvelous saloon with pool tables, darts and welcoming leather chairs. The entire thing sounds ridiculous, but somehow it works.
reviewed
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Chi-Cha Lounge
Slip through the double-sided mirror door, settle into a low settee and order up a hookah of fruit- flavored tobacco. Amid glowing candles and a backlit bar, the trendy clientele sip tropical cocktails and nosh on Andean-inspired tapas.
reviewed
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Play Lounge
How can you resist a place with the motto 'no rules and everyone has a good time?' Especially when said place has a stripper pole that draws lines of girls waiting to show off their moves? The scene at this one-room club is reminiscent of a kick-ass college party - no space and tons of sweaty, thriving bodies. If you're in the right mood (and can get past the burly bouncer), it can be a great place to let loose.
reviewed
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Café Salsa-Bar
Old Town's best happy hour is offered from 16:00 to 19:00, when all drinks and appetizers are half price at the 2nd-floor bar, which of course packs out during these hours. The drink selection is varied - Latin American beers to match the Nuevo Latin menu served in its downstairs restaurant, delicious mojitos and a fabulous Caribbean rum cooler, which blends four different rums with pineapple and orange juices.
reviewed
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Rocket Bar
Rocket Bar is an almost inexplicably popular pool hall, although there’s lots more going on than some stick – shuffle board, Golden Tee, all the oldies and goodies. It’s a good spot on the singles’ circuit, especially if you’re looking for a place to check out members of the opposite sex without all the pomp, circumstance and dressing up that comes with a night of clubbing.
reviewed
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Habana Village
Squeezed into an old townhouse with a cosmopolitan bar and romantic back room is the Village, which is as close as the capital gets to Cuba. That’s not particularly close, but you do get some good, stiff mojitos here, and the music – salsa, meringue, mambo, tango and bossa nova – could make you imagine you were in Miami when the dance floor gets packed, which happens every now and then.
reviewed
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Kelly’s Irish Times
Kelly’s implores: ‘Give me your tired, your hungry, your befuddled masses,’ and the masses respond. Fans of the on-tap Guinness and Wednesday to Saturday live music tend to be younger than the patrons next door at the Dubliner – students and staffers and other suds-drinkers. The layout is like every Irish pub you’ve ever been in, but it’s an exemplar of the genre.
reviewed
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O
Chief Ike’s Mambo Room
What we love about Ike’s is how it’s a place to get a good Latin groove going…while surrounded by leering Evil Dead–esque murals of psychedelic voodoo zombies and assorted other undead. There are punk and hip-hop clubs upstairs if you tire of monster movie mambo, but they don’t quite match the awesomeness of the whole Mexican Day of the Dead funfest on the bottom floor.
reviewed
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Third Edition
For a cinematic college-bar experience, visit this place, which was featured in the 1985 film St Elmo's Fire. This is a serious singles' scene: People are listening more closely to pick-up lines than to the music. When you get tired of the crowded dance floor, relax at the tiki bar on the back patio. Nearly everyone who graduates from Georgetown has some comic or tragic story about this place.
reviewed
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Penn Ave Pour House
This very popular bar pays tribute to the Keystone State (Pennsylvania) on its first floor, where you'll find Penn State pennants gracing scarred walls. The menu features sausage sandwiches and Iron City beer on tap. Regardless of your Pennsylvania obsession level, this is a fun place to hang out, usually packed to the gills with interns and congressional aides. Upstairs you'll find a plush lounge.
reviewed
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Home
Smaller, more intimate and, as clichéd as it sounds, a lot like home, this plush place is a must-go when doing the DC club circuit. It features armless couches for lounging, multiple dance floors and the requisite VIP rooms, but the whole atmosphere just feels more casual than other velvet-rope nightclubs. Sweeping 30ft carved plaster ceilings and decorative marble panels up the swank appeal.
reviewed
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Comcast Center
The University of Maryland Terrapins is a consistently strong NCAA basketball team. Season ticket–holders buy up all the seats at the sleek, new Comcast Center on campus at the University of Maryland. If students don’t pick up their entire allotment, single-game tickets may go on sale about two weeks before the game, but phone the ticket office to find out for sure.
reviewed
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Solly’s
Solly’s is always a good kick-off to the U St stumble: a neighborhood corner tavern on one floor and a meat market/hormone perfumery on the second. It’s a beer and shot kinda place, but on weekends the clientele is as young and beautiful as anywhere else in the city (although all ages are well represented). This is a big rugby bar, so if you like to scrum, here’s your spot.
reviewed
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U
Millie & Al’s
This comfortably worn dive is an Adams-Morgan institution, famous for its $2 drafts, Jell-o shots and hit-the-spot pizza (best consumed in that order). Two TVs show a constant stream of sports. M&A has always been, and probably will always be, a yuppie bar with a frat-house flavor – the kind of place where you can expect to be hit on and have beer spilled on you in the same night.
reviewed
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District of Columbia Arts Center
This grassroots center offers emerging artists a space to showcase their work, from theater to multimedia creations. The 750-sq-ft gallery features rotating visual arts exhibits, while plays and other theatrical productions take place in the 50-seat black-box theater, including the improvisational, interactive Playback. Have a look at the website to see if anything interesting is going on.
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18th Amendment
The amendment embraces a speakeasy theme – hence the name. Gangsters and bootleggers should head directly to the basement, where the furniture is made from beer barrels and whiskey crates, and there are pool tables on which to fight your duel. Upstairs there’s a late-1920s art-deco air, reminiscent of prohibition-era Chicago. It has ample seating and eight beers on tap.
reviewed
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Local 16
Local 16 has such a great layout – the feel of a hip, semi-Victorian mansion that happens to have been crossed with a slamming bar and sweaty dance club. The problem is it gets too damn sweaty – this is one of those places where you have to elbow someone just to get to the bathroom on weekends, although with that said, the person you elbow is probably pretty attractive.
reviewed
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Birchmere
Known as ‘America’s Legendary Music Hall,’ this is the DC area’s premier venue for folk, country, Celtic and bluegrass music. The talent that graces the stage is reason enough to come, but the venue is pretty great too: it sort of looks like a warehouse that collided with an army of LSD-savvy muralists. Located north of Old Town Alexandria off Glebe Rd.
reviewed