Must-see nightlife in Washington, DC

An awesome, welcoming spot filled with local beer buffs. With its concrete floor, exposed ducts and hodgepodge of tables, the taproom mightn't look like…

Dispensing drinks since 1847, the bar at the Willard hotel is one of DC's most famous watering holes. The small, circular space is done up in classic…

Right Proper Brewing makes sublime ales in a building that shares a wall with the joint where Duke Ellington used to play pool. It's the Shaw district's…

Bar Charley draws a mixed crowd from the neighborhood – young, old, gay and straight. They come for groovy cocktails sloshing in vintage glassware and…

Table seating, an open fire in winter and a discreet basement location in one of the city’s most prestigious hotels, right across from the White House –…

When you walk into Copycat it feels like a Chinese fast-food restaurant. That's because it is (sort of) on the 1st floor, where Chinese street-food…

Stepping into Primrose is like being in Paris and finding the quintessential cafe hidden down a tiny lane. The ostrich-feathered chandeliers, turquoise…

Grab a table, pull up a stool and crush your opponent at Hungry Hungry Hippos. Or cozy up to a serious game of Scrabble. Board Room lets you flash back to…

By day hang out in the retro cafe, drinking excellent coffee, munching sandwiches and browsing the soul and indie LPs for sale. You can even cut your own…

The best jukebox in DC, a dark interior crammed with locals and lovers, that neon lighting that casts you under a glow Edward Hopper should rightly have…

The downstairs whiskey bar at the sleek Watergate Hotel is impressive, but it pales in comparison with the hotel's rooftop bar and lounge, which offers…

This is one of DC's great dive bars. The interior looks sort of like an evil Elks Club, all unironically old-school 'art,' cheap paneling and dim lights…

Every college of a certain pedigree has ‘that’ bar – the one where faculty and students alike sip pints under athletic regalia of the old school. The…

Airy, Zen-like Ching Ching Cha is a world away from the shopping mayhem of M St. Stop in for a leisurely pot of rare tea (it brews more than 70 varieties)…

Right Proper started out as a small brewery in Shaw, but it had to expand to this Brookland facility. Now both sites make beer, with Brookland as the more…

Happiness reigns in Dacha's freewheeling beer garden. Kids and dogs bound around the picnic tables, while adults hoist glass boots filled with German…

Tucked in the basement underneath the acclaimed Dabney restaurant, the Cellar pours loads of wines by the glass, including many varietals by hard-to-find,…

If Alice had returned from Wonderland so traumatized by her near beheading that she needed a stiff drink, we imagine she’d pop down to Little Miss Whiskey…

Coppery, mod-industrial Churchkey glows with hipness. Fifty beers flow from the taps, plus five brain-walloping, cask-aged ales. If none of those please…

Besides being one of DC's best places to grab frites and steak au poivre, Granville Moore’s has an extensive Belgian-beer menu that should satisfy any fan…