The Washington Post - 17.02.2020

9

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the washington post

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friday, february 21, 2020

Q: Besides Rocket B ar, anywhere
else t o shoot pool d owntown or in
Penn Quarter? Capitol Hill o r
Georgetown would be t oo far.
a: Have you checked out astro
Beer hall, which opened a few
months a go i n the old Mackey’s/
Laughing Man space across f rom
Metro Center? I t’s been fairly s low
whenever I’ve been there, b ut
there’s a pool t able downstairs, in
addition to pinball a nd video
games. And l liked the f ried
chicken sandwich.
The only o ther place I can
think of downtown with a pool
table is recessions. Pros: t he
giant “King Kong” d rinks at
happy hour. Cons: nightly
karaoke. Though if you’re playing
at l unch or right after work, t hat
shouldn’t b e a problem.

Q: A bunch o f places around H
street/ Union Market/ Ivy City
have o pened u p in the last year or
so. Would any of them be suitable
for a group happy h our during the
week, or day-drinking on a
saturday?
a: Anything i n Ivy City attracts
crowds for day-drinking on
saturdays. That’s, like, the r aison
d’etre of t he neighborhood these
days. I absolutely love Bar
Sirenis, the c ool blue oasis i nside
Don Ciccio and Figli f or amaro
cocktails, and the large,
revamped b ar a t New Columbia
Distillers.
Around Union Market, the
bare-bones Last Call feels l ike a
late-night bar, but my no. 2 new
bar of 2 019 would work for a ll
your n eeds, opening a t noon on
weekends and 5 p.m. during the
week. (Can’t remember what the
specials are, but the d rinks start
at $ 3 normally.) Up the street,
Cotton & reed is one of the m ore
underrated d istillery tap r ooms, I
think. Always l oud and fun, and
the drinks are great.

Q: My husband’s 4 0th birthday is
coming up next m onth and I’d

like t o take him to a whiskey

tasting (not a distillery). Are there

any good b ars in Virginia t hat are

primarily w hiskey b ars? Bonus if

it h as s omething for the

nondrinkers. I f it’s i n D.C. that’s

okay, b ut t hen it needs to be

Metro-friendly a s I refuse to

drive!

a: Your q uestion r eminds me that

I need t o get out t o the

MacMillan Whisky room in the

Mosaic D istrict. I’ve heard good

things from p eople in the b eer

industry, b ut I haven’t b een

myself.

In t he District, I would strongly

steer y ou toward Jack rose, which

boasts a bout having the l argest

whiskey collection — bourbon and

scotch — in the Western

Hemisphere. T hey do guided

tastings every saturday, and have

flights available every night. I also

like t he Next Whisky Bar at the

Watergate Hotel, a gorgeous space

with a large w hiskey c ollection and

a special o ccasion vibe, t hough

with the prices t o match.

rebellion, near Dupont Circle,

also has a tremendous b ourbon

selection, and i s a little m ore casual

than the o ther two.

Q: Thanks to y ou a nd L isa Bonos

for the first-date bar feature [ Dec.

6, 2 019, Weekend section].

slightly different q uestion —

what w ould y ou recommend as a

bar for the t hird date? You know

the idea: still getting to know

each other but past t he i nitial

icebreaker. Don’t want a plastic-

cup warehouse, b ut want

something with a little

individuality and p erhaps less

anodyne than a good first-date

bar. What do you think?

a: our view i s that the t hird date

is m ore of a dinner, commit-to-

the-evening d ate rather than

what L isa once referred to as “the

ambiguous ‘ let’s get drinks’ ” date.

We’d s teer y ou toward

somewhere s uch as Lapis in

Adams Morgan, where b oth of u s

have b een on successful dates/

date n ights. It s hould be

somewhere c asual, m aybe with

sharing plates? In 2 018, I wrote a

piece o n date n ights for less t han

$60, and o f that list, I ’d s uggest

Bindaas, Mezcalero or La

Jambe, a ll of w hich have n earby

bars y ou can head to afterward if

you want to keep the evening

going, such as red Derby or the

passenger.

Q: Is there a good sports b ar on H

street n e or somewhere on the

Hill? Biergarten i s good when the

weather i s nice e nough, b ut I’ve

found it hard to find another

place with good/big T Vs a nd a

decent vibe. I used t o love

Maddy’s a nd even Maddy’s

downtown, but I’m looking for

something on t he east side o f

town now. D ouble b onus points

for decent food.

a: haymaker is a good

neighborhood spot with enough

TVs, and I ’d p ut that o n your

radar as a place to check out. The

menu ( jalapeño p oppers, burgers,

pork t acos) i sn’t b ad.

Duffy’s has s ome good-size

TVs, but o nly four o ver the b ar,

and the layout can be kind of

awkward when it gets crowded,

especially i f you don’t h ave a

table. It’s s till worth popping i n

for a low-key g ame t o see how you

like i t.

I should add that I was at red

Bear last w eekend, and t hey had

the D.C. Defenders game on a ll

the TVs. I t’s not a sports b ar per

se, but they have a fair number o f

screens, and were t he University

of Washington’s a lumni bar f or

the football season. Also, the b eer

garden tables and open s pace

make it b uzzy, even when there

are lines to order drinks a t the

bar.

Q: My favorite area b eer f estival

was the n oVA BrewFest at

Morven Park, which had a

see happy hour on 11

deb Lindsey for the Washington Post

Located in the union Market area, Cotton & reed is an underrated distillery tap room that would be
suitable for a group happy hour or day-drinking on a Saturday.

Happy Hour with Fritz Hahn

excerpts from the Post reporter’s online discussion

March 8–21, 2020

A two-week celebration of contemporary

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March 11

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• The Washington Post

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