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18th Amendment
Still in its infancy when we visited, this place 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 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.
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Apex
Crown jewel of the gay P-St dance-club scene, Apex brings out the college kids and buff boys in droves, especially on Fridays. Don't come here to cruise, though; everyone's far too busy getting their groove on to be bothered. This is a popular spot for after-hours dancing on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Beacon Martini Sky-Bar
This patio on the roof of the swank new Beacon Hotel offers ample sky-high city views and an opportunity to mingle with new friends over signature martinis. If you're hungry, order from the light fare menu.
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Big Hunt
Yes, the name is played for every pun it's worth: The bar advertises itself as the 'happy hunting ground for humans in pursuit of a mate, food and drink.' But it's not actually that cruisey. Most patrons focus on the 27 on-tap beers and bar-eats deals amid cheesy Hemingway decor: animal-print upholstery and mosquito nets. Coin-operated pool tables are on the 2nd floor.
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Blue Gin
When it opened a few years back it attracted the likes of Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn (in town to shoot the popular movie The Wedding Crashers ), instantly putting this trendy cocktail lounge at the top of Washington's hot list. Its residential location, however, means pretty strict conditions liquor-wise and no one under 25 is allowed. As a result the crowd here is more mellow, less worried about the scene than at some of DC's other hip spots.
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Bottom Line
This long, dark and friendly basement bar draws prosperous patrons for lunchtime and happy hour. It's more grown-up than most pubs in the area and many folk appear to be conducting business-related tête-à-têtes.
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Bravo Bravo
The mood is flirty, the dancers are polished, and both men and women wear their best clothes to this salsa and Latin dance club popular with the under-30 set. Set in an enormous basement, the place gets going around on Friday and Saturday nights and doesn't slow down until after . Thursday nights feature live go-go music.
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Brickskeller Inn
This underground beer paradise has 900 varieties, listed on a menu heavy enough to cause trouble after the fifth pint or so. Shandies, stouts, darks, lights, lagers and creams - it claims the world's largest selection. Its subterranean red-brick warren is usually choked with college-age folks arrayed around big circular tables. Most bottles cost around US$4 , but true exotics can cost up to around US$15 . It also offers accommodations.
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Buffalo Billiards
The 30 pool and snooker tables pull college kids and yuppies into this bright, below-street-level cave. There's usually a wait for a table - in the meantime, pull up a lounge chair and play Score Four.
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Bullfeathers
Clubby and cozy, this is one of Capitol Hill's long-time favorites and political paparazzi may just get lucky and catch your senator walking out the door. Named after Teddy Roosevelt's euphemism of choice for BS, it serves affordable beers in graceful old environs.
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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.
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Café Saint-Ex
Reminiscent of the Parisian Latin Quarter, Saint-Ex attracts a mix of ages, ethnicities and orientations. A bar salvaged from a 1930s Philadelphia pub, seats from an old movie theater and classic movies running on the TVs lend a nostalgic air. The downstairs lounge, Gate 54, plays up the aeronautic theme with a wooden propeller from the owner's grandfather's WWI fighter plane (author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was also a pilot).
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Café Salsa-Bar
Old Town's best happy hour is offered from to , 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.
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Capitol Lounge
A year after it was severely damaged by a fire in August 2005, Capitol Lounge is back in full swing with hardly a scar marring its pretty face. More upscale than other divey neighborhood pubs, this Hillie hotspot offers cigars and martinis along with 10¢ wings. Pool tables, sports on TV and familiar faces draw the staffers in droves. They come to flirt, network and just talk smack about work.
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Capitol Steps Political Satire
This troupe claims to be the only group in America that tries to be funnier than Congress. It's actually comprised of current and former Congressional staffers, so they know their stuff. The best of political comedy, this DC tradition pokes satirical bipartisan fun at both sides of the spectrum.
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Chi-Cha Lounge
On first thought, Arabic arguilehs (hookahs) and Andean food don't seem a felicitous combination, but Chi-Cha makes it work. Curl into velvet settees, nibble Ecuadorian tapas and order a pipe of Bahrainian fruit-and-honey-cured tobacco. Ah, East and West do combine beautifully. Hookahs are available weekdays only.
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Club Chaos
A must-visit on the DC gay club circuit, this place offers everything from bawdy drag brunches to country-western dance nights. Thursday's Latin night packs the gay boys and draws a fair number of women into this steamy basement for dancing to salsa and meringue. Saturday night is also popular. Early evenings midweek, live comedy and drag shows attract a more mature crowd.
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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.
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Cobalt & 30 Degrees
The latest, greatest addition to the 17th-St gay scene is the reincarnation of a club that burned down in 1998. Reopened and renovated, the first floor now has Food Bar (its menu gets mixed reviews). The 2nd-floor lounge, 30 Degrees, has been dubbed the 'Pottery Barn' for its oh-so-tasteful decor. Cobalt is the disco ballroom where pretty boys get down and let loose.
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Common Share
Any cheaper, and you're involving brown paper bags. This place commendably considers the buzz a basic human right, selling every beer (even nice ones like Guinness) and mixed drinks for just around US$2 to around US$3 . Beaten-up curbside freebies furnish the place, but at these prices, who's complaining?
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Continental
A stone's throw from many Rosslyn hotels, this posh new pool hall isn't your average billiards club. There's no stale-beer-and-cigarette stink where spaghetti lights form constellations on the ceiling and the patterned 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 style faux pas that somehow manage to epitomize cool.
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Cue Bar
This new U St establishment is making ping-pong cool, and a mixed-race crowd is lining up to play. A basement-level joint vaguely reminiscent of a community rec room, Cue Bar offers a couple of pool tables, a lounge area full of furniture, TVs with sports and the ever popular ping-pong table (around US$10 per hour). On Sundays an 8-ball tournament starts at .
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Da's Rfd Washington
One of DC's top two bets for serious beer geeks (the other is the Brickskeller), it offers a dizzying 40 local and international beers on tap as well as 300 bottles. This is definitely a good choice if you want to sample a microbrew; plus it's centrally located near the MCI Center if you're in the neighborhood to catch a game.
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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.
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Degrees Bar & Lounge
In the lobby of the swanky Ritz-Carlton, this classy place captures the feel of an incinerator with exposed brick walls and black slate floors. The lounge is all the rage among the businesspeople who work in the area and come here to sip the signature Zentini, which replaces vodka with sake in a martini.
