Sit Back and Relax: Dive Bars In the District

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NEW YEAR'S IS is over. Christmas is over. Face it, you're exhausted.

Whether you've been traveling and you're jet lagged and tired from dealing with your family, or whether you worked over the holiday, you just want a break after a month of insanity. So get yourself to a darkened hideout: a tiny, cheap, dirty bar where the regulars never leave. Yes, even in this city of $9 drinks and carrot cake, they exist. And we found some for you!

You have to visit Dan's Cafe for yourself. Yes, it kind of smells like urine, and it's dirty and small. Yes, you can play pool for 50 cents. Yes, you might end up doing shots out of a honey bottle. Just go with it. You don't need a happy hour here; the drinks are so cheap that you can get stupid on your pitiful NGO salary.

On Capitol Hill? There's only one place to go. The Tune Inn is an institution, beloved by many, feared by just as many. Everything is cheap and greasy — there's a happy hour from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. on weekdays and between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Saturdays, but you hardly need it — and the jukebox is unmatched — if country tunes from yesteryear are your poison of choice.

Another of D.C.'s best jukeboxes resides at the Raven Grill, a place where little is grilled and cheap beer flows like water. This Mount Pleasant spot doesn't actually serve food, but you won't care, not even a little bit.

Polly's Cafe takes only cash, but if you have some they'll serve you the gooiest, most delectable grilled cheese sandwich you've ever had. This basement dive on U St. never seems to be full, even when everything else is packed. And that's exactly what you want.

» Dan's Cafe, 2315 18th St NW; 202-265-9241. (Woodley Park)
» Tune Inn, 331 1/2 Pennsylvania Ave. SE; 202-543-2725. (Capitol South)
» Raven Grill, 3125 Mt. Pleasant Ave. NW; 202-387-8411. (Columbia Heights)
» Polly's Cafe, 1342 U St. NW; 202-265-8385. (U St.-Cardozo)

Photo by Jay Paul