ARE YOU STILL bitter about Chicago's crushing defeat before the International Olympic Committee this morning? Come on, don't be bitter. The U.S. gets the Olympics — well, probably more often than it should, and South America has never gotten a chance to host. So shake off the sour grapes and celebrate Rio de Janeiro.
WHERE TO DRINK:
Start the night at Ceiba, where you can pick up a $5 Caipirinha (the national cocktail of Brazil) between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. and from 9:30 p.m. to close. This is one of the very best happy hours in the city, and although none of the appetizers strictly honors Brazil, they're half-price during happy hour. Go ahead, order the guacamole.
WHERE TO EAT:
D.C.'s most high-profile Brazilian restaurant is Fogo de Chao — and if you want steak, this eatery's countless meaty advertisements plastered on every Metro wall may ply you. But that's a chain, so we're sending you to Grill From Ipanema, a quiet restaurant in Adams Morgan (yes, those do exist) that does Brazilian classics simply and well.
Continue Reading "Got to Get to Rio: An Olympic Night Out" »
WE KNOW YOU WANTED to go out of town and enjoy the beaches of Delaware or North Carolina before the unofficial end of summer on Tuesday. You wanted to stroll the boardwalk in your seersucker suit before you put it away for the winter.
But you can't. Because this is the season of the staycation, and you're poor just like everyone else. They're even taking away your Metro this weekend. But you must fight back! Don't sit in your house! This is Labor Day weekend, during which we avoid labor at all costs and embrace excess and hedonism — within reason. Don't do anything you'll be sad to see Facebook pictures of on Tuesday.
We've got your whole weekend planned out — and we'll try to save you as much cash as possible. Try this:
» Jazz in the Garden
Start off the weekend on Friday evening with the second-to-last jazzy evening in the National Sculpture Garden. Bring a bottle of three-buck chuck and any friends you can find who would rather drink and sit on grass than work in an office at 5:30 on a Friday. That should be most of them.
The music is provided by jazz guitarist Phil Mathieu this week, but it's really all about sitting on the grass and drinking either the bad wine you brought or the sangria you can pick up in the garden.
Continue Reading "Delicious Burdens: What to Do Over Labor Day Weekend" »
EVERYBODY KNOWS by now that Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Cambridge police officer James Crowley and President Barack Obama are planning to share a beer at the White House on Thursday, in what is perhaps the most over-reported male bonding session in recent memory. You know when and where it will happen, and you probably know that Obama will drink a Budweiser.
But if the president, Gates and Crowley wanted to take their meeting away from that picnic table and outside the White House walls, they might try these nearby, low-key locales. And hey, next time you need to patch things up — say, because you arrested your friend accidentally when he wasn't doing anything, or just because you need someplace to talk and share a brew — you can try them too.
» R.F.D. (810 7th St. NW; 202-289-2030, lovethebeer.com)
This place is a cavern. It's so big that no matter how many people come, it never feels full. You may have to talk quietly to keep your voice from echoing — so don't come here if you're imparting top-secret information — but the beer selection is spectacular and the location is unbeatable for Metro-takers. Of course, Obama's Secret Service men would have to circle for days before they could find a parking spot.
» Brasserie Beck (1101 K St. NW; 202-408-1717, beckdc.com)
A mecca for Belgian beer lovers, this bistro might tempt Obama to try something a little more extravagant than a Bud. The servers are cheerful and discreet, and the prez and his pals can sit outside. Although they might get interrupted by shrieking Obamamaniacs, so perhaps they'd better stick with the more private indoor seating.
Continue Reading "The Audacity of Hops: Bars for Long, Serious Talks Over Beer" »
PERU DECLARED independence from Spain 188 years ago Tuesday. This would seem a lot more momentous if we hadn't already celebrated what feels like a billion international independence days this month.
As it is, what with all the French champagne, Belgian beer and good old American red, white and blue food we've consumed in the past three weeks, Peruvian independence seems like overkill. But, hey, we'll take any excuse for a highbrow party in this town, especially if there's cheap alcohol involved.
But back to Peruvian independence. The pisco sour is the official drink of Peru -- and of Chile, a fact that's caused more than a few fights between the two nations. But you don't have to worry about that when you're knocking back $5 pisco sours at Poste's independence day party.
The Peruvian Embassy sponsors the shindig, which takes place on Poste's patio and carries a $5 cover charge, which will benefit Coprodeli, an organization that funds education, health care and disaster relief services in Peru. There will be a jewelry and fashion show from local salons and boutiques, along with a raffle to round out the night.
Continue Reading "Pisco in Our Time: Peruvian Independence Deals" »
WHEN YOU THINK OF HAPPY HOURS, you think of booze. Fair enough. But D.C.'s Z-Burger is debuting a happy hour that's just as intoxicating as your liquor of choice, but won't require you to flash a driver's license.
From 2-5 p.m. on Mondays, those who are able to reach Z-Burger's Tenleytown location during the workday can help themselves to 99-cent milkshakes. Which means you could, in theory, sample the eatery's full slate of 75 milkshakes without breaking the bank. Not that we'd recommend that. And your doctor probably wouldn't, either.
The shaky happiness starts on Monday, July 27.
» Z-Burger, 4321 Wisconsin Ave. NW; Mondays, 2-5 p.m.; 202-966-1999
Photo courtesy Brotman Winter Fried Communications
WE KNOW YOU can't take a vacation this summer. Not only is everyone strapped for cash, but with so many people out of work, everyone with a job is working triple-time. A staycation even seems dicey. But you can make time for one night, right?
It's time to explore Bethesda. OK, it's not exactly Colonial Williamsburg, but it IS on the Metro, and we'll take convenience over butter churns any day of the week. And hey, anything is better than the same Capitol Hill hangout every day of the week.
If you're in the mood for pure relaxation, snag a booth at the Barking Dog. Weekdays between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., you can get $1 off every beer, rail drink, glass of wine or appetizer. After that, you can hit the teeny indie-house Bethesda Row cinema for a screening of "Summer Hours."
Continue Reading "Red Line to Relaxing: Besthesda Happy Hours" »
NOW IS THE time, residents of the District, to swoop in and enjoy Georgetown — this weekend marked the end of the Georgetown school year.
Before the interns ruin everything — for what is an intern but a college student with a smug smile and a government ID? — take advantage of the bars and happy hours that normally don't seem worth wading through the crowds of drunken 18-year-olds with their hats on backward for.
Start at Third Edition, where the drink and food specials are ever present and ever changing. Take a crack at the dance floor when it's not bone-crushingly crowded and revel in the novelty of a bar that has clean bathrooms.
Continue Reading "Reclaim Your Territory: Georgetown Happy Hours" »
YES, HOT ON the heels of Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby, America celebrates another holiday so soaked in alcohol that it should avoid open flames. World Cocktail Week is upon us — OK, it's been upon us for a few days now, but you can still catch the end of it.
D.C.'s classiest bars and most creative bartenders spend this week one-upping each other, dishing out new and exciting spring cocktails. Even though you've missed some of the happy hours on offer, don't skip the last few. And remember, these are cocktail events for suave city-types. The first sign of a sombrero, and the whole thing is off.
Tonight's event, held at Proof, might be too rich for anyone's blood in this economy — $145 buys you a five-course dinner accompanied by five specialty cocktails, preceded by a party at which you can try five more specialty cocktails and munch hors d'oeuvres. First, you should ask yourself if you want to pay $145 for one night. Second, do you really want to be 10 cocktails deep on a Monday?
Continue Reading "Find Your Signature Drink: World Cocktail Week" »
IN MEXICO, CINCO de Mayo isn't that big of a deal. It's mostly a regional holiday. So what does it say about the U.S. that we've taken over Cinco de Mayo so blithely, so wholeheartedly? Is it just that it's a great excuse for margaritas?
But if you feel like having to untag a bunch of Facebook pictures of you in a sombrero tomorrow, D.C. has plenty of places for you to celebrate the holiday — which doesn't commemorate Mexican independence, but instead a victory at a decisive battle against the French.
Enough with the history. You're in it for the guacamole, right? Our favorite party of the night is at Cafe Citron, which features live salsa music from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and a DJ handling merengue, reggaeton and salsa thereafter. You can load up on half price appetizers between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. to offset the $4 beers, $5 shots and $6 margaritas that will later incite you to you jump on a table and scream "Happy Mexican Independence Day!" and pass out. If you make it long enough and brought your sombrero, there are costume contests taking place at 8 p.m. and midnight.
Continue Reading "History, Heritage, Hangovers: Celebrating Cinco de Mayo" »
THERE'S NOTHING LIKE a weekend of sun and toasty temperatures to instill in us some joie de vivre. But how can you keep that warm glow from fading? First, try to endure the workday. Then, strut on out and enjoy National Dance Week.
You can find an insane schedule of activities — including free performances, classes and lectures — at Danceistheanswer.org. But if you want to create a dance party of your very own, there are plenty of local hangouts more than ready to host a shaking of your booty.
And since most D.C.-ers are too uptight to really dance until they've knocked back a few, we'll clue you in on a couple of spots with dance floors and drink specials.
First stop: the Wonderland Ballroom. Sure, it's a little divey — but the DJs are great and the specials are unbeatable.
Continue Reading "Shaken, Stirred, Swingin': National Dance Week" »
Addison Road