Chintzy chairs, brass fixtures, Manhattan cocktails, location in the basement of one of the city’s most prestigious hotels, the Hay-Adams, and right across from the White House. If you came to DC to see important people get drunk, saunter on down to Off the Record (there’s a reason it has the name – the politicos who imbibe here don’t need the nearby reporters capturing their quotes). The on-site Steinway piano was a gift from the Kennedy family.