Not to be confused with Free State Distillery in Upper Marlboro (though many also call it Arthur…read moreWheeler Spirits haha), this place is located just off of the main street in chinatown, and it's surprisingly lowkey. It's a basement bar with a bit of a dive vibe, but it's hard to ignore the nautical, blue crab theme throughout. Turns out that one of the owners is a Marylander, which is cool to see reflected in the decor in a place in dc, even though it is next door. They have a happy hour and they have a great variety of drinks in general. It's bring-your-own-food (BYOF) and there are a bunch of delicious looking Asian spots nearby, including upstairs. It didn't start getting crowded until closer to 10, which, as I said, is surprising for this part of town to me. Everywhere in Chinatown is not going to be packed and busy, and this place is here to remind you of that. Stop by if you're looking for a more chill vibe. Staff are pretty cool.

Free State is perfect for a chill bar in the Downtown area. It's exactly the kind of place you want…read moreto share a few drinks and be able to hear the person in front of you. I had a delicious orange crush drink and my friend had a sangria. The bartenders are extremely chill and nice; they only come up when you need it which is nice for good conversation. I'll easily be back when I want to catch up with friends without a speaker blaring in our ears. Great place to introduce to more people!

Amazing service and incredible drinks! Graham is the best bartender in the city…read more Also the creativity is unmatched! Order what you want from the menu but they are also willing to make you specialized drinks to your liking.

Deliciousness - 3/5 Happiness -5/5…read more This place is for drinkers as it has no food, so if you want to lift an ale (and go out for dinner before or after, or bring food in with you), this is the place to be. They have a large beer, wine, and liquor list (although not nearly as many English beers as I expected from a place called Crown & Crow). I won't deny that I wasn't a fan of either of the mixed cocktails I had, with both (including strangely a smoky drink) being too sweet. But the beer was expertly poured and the wine was a very generous serving. The prices are also more than reasonable, which is great for a DC bar. But what really elevates this place is the service. By late night, the place was jam packed. But each and every bartender was extremely friendly and they expertly worked the crowd, getting drinks served quickly (which too few places manage to do) and swiftly clearing off tables of dirty glasses. I also greatly appreciated the free goldfish that they happily dole out to the patrons. The staff made this a really good time.

Great local bar with large rotating craft beer selection. Highly recommend for any beer…read moreenthusiast. They have wine and cocktails as well. They are happy to recommend beer for your taste, and let you sample. It can be very busy and difficult to get a seat at the bar or get a table on a Friday or Saturday evening. We ordered food, and were expecting elevated bar food. The tater tots were a huge disappointment- they were very large squares , bland, and not crispy. The wings were okay. The cheeseburgers were the best- from the restaurant downstairs- mallard. Huge burger, done perfectly medium.

Here's a review written as part of a visit to both Churchkey and Birch & Barley (the downstairs…read morerestaurant -- together they form the "2 Enjoy Everything" concept by Neighborhood Restaurant Group): A DC Gem That Delivers on Every Level If you haven't made it to Churchkey on 14th Street yet, move it to the top of your list. I visited as part of the full experience -- dinner downstairs at Birch & Barley, then up to Churchkey for drinks -- and honestly, it's one of the best evenings I've had in DC. Churchkey itself is everything a great bar should be. The beer selection is absolutely unreal -- hundreds of carefully curated labels spanning every style, region, and flavor profile you can imagine. What sets it apart is that the staff actually knows the menu. Our server walked us through a few options based on what we liked and landed us on perfect picks both times. That kind of genuine expertise is rare. The tavern pizzas from the wood-fired oven were a wonderful surprise -- thin, crispy, and the perfect companion to a cold draft. The smash burger also deserves a mention: simple, well-executed, and hits the spot. The vibe is warm and lively without being overwhelming. Great for a date, a group, or even just sitting at the bar solo with a good beer and good conversation with the bartender. This place has earned its reputation as one of the best beer bars on the East Coast -- and then some. Highly recommend making a full night of it with both floors. You won't regret it. Feel free to adjust the tone or add any personal details from your actual visit!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Great beer selection and a nice environment. Our servers were very friendly and I like when there…read moreis a QR code AND you can place orders as you go. Pretzel: These were amazing! The pimento cheese dip was great. Pulled pork nachos: Huge portion! These were also exceptional. BLT w/ tomato soup: "This hit the spot". Nashville Fried chicken sandwhich: I was quite disappointed in this, considering how good everything else was. The chicken was very dry and overly salty IMO. Not at all spicy either. Thyme fries: Loved these! Really cool flavor profile. I would happily come back and try a different entree.

I won't be back unfortunately and you should probably keep walking and find something else. Didn't…read morerealize what kind of restaurant this was until I was told to order off an app and then my food would be ran out to me...and that's all you get for customer service. Runners just do that. Run around the restaurant throwing food down on tables and run back to the kitchen. Never checking on anyone to see if they need anything and how the food is. I ordered the SW Salad ($16.50) with a steak add on ($9.00) at medium temp. I also ordered a cup of Clam Chowder ($5.95) as an appetizer. Chowder came out pretty much right on top of my salad, but no big deal. Chowder was decent taste, but only found one clam. Ok whatever. Salad came out looking like a side salad on a large plate with five slices of rare, tough steak. It was so rare, that it was extremely hard to cut through, but again, who was I going to talk to about it. No wait staff would even look my way. I couldn't even get a refill on my water and there is no place in the app to order a glass of water...so that's that. Unfortunately it was just an extremely bad experience for $40. I'll be looking for dinner somewhere else tomorrow night.

Henceforth is a gem of an institution within the H St corridor. There's plenty of good vibes to go…read morearound here. I came here for trivia in particular. I enjoyed the format of the trivia while enjoying my drink. I also thought the service was pretty decent. I will definitely come back!

Some of the best finds require a little searching and The Unforgiving Minute was worth every step…read more A hidden speakeasy affiliated with a local gem the Henceforth. My date found this gem on TikTok and it became the second stop on my birthday celebration. We left Daru and a short drive later we were on the hunt. Hidden in an alley behind Henceforth we stopped to ask someone working at a nearby spot for directions. We found the alley, spotted the blue light, and rang the bell. The door opened and we were whisked inside. Up the stairs a hallway lined with smaller parlor style rooms set the tone before we even reached the bar. Velvet fabric draped the ceiling over a grand bar decked out with bottles and dim lighting. Bar seating up front and high top tables arranged along the wall. We had not even ordered yet and the atmosphere had already delivered. To our surprise our escort to our seats was also one of the bartenders. Around 10pm there was only one other gentleman at the bar. No drink menu so we went with a staple old fashioned. Watching the bartender chisel ice and lower it into the glass with with a bar spoon was a talent worth watching. It was so memorable it made me want to chisel ice myself. The old fashioned was great. The no photography rule was listed and we followed it without question. No one around us had their phones out taking pictures and my date and I were not about to be the ones to break the code. A party of women came in looking incredible, clearly there to celebrate something special. Black girl magic was fully in the building!! The couple seated at the high top to our right came in after us and we quickly became their guides. They lucked up on this place as first timers just like us and we balanced the experience together comparing drinks and sharing what we had learned. That kind of spontaneous connection is always the best part of a new space. And that is the honest note worth sharing. The bartender was clearly more in tune with the creation of drinks than creating an experience for guests. For a new visitor on a birthday celebration that gap was felt. We never even got to share what we were celebrating. It may have been an off night, but we can see how given the right inviting bartender those in the space would engage more, which feels like exactly the vibe they are going for. For a cocktail experience that elevates the night or a chance to extend it somewhere unexpected this place delivers. We would certainly go back with a group and a more inviting bartender to show us the ropes. Next time we may start at the Henceforth before coming over. The Unforgiving Minute is a gathering place worth coming back to.

This place has a wide selection of beer on tap! Great outdoor open air seating. If the weather is…read moreright, this is the place! Highly recommend to relax with a cold one!

I went for a friend's birthday. But if you're looking for a beer "garden" to watch games and/or…read morejust hang out with friends, Aslin is the place to go. Though they do offer some non-beer options, this location may not be ideal for those who don't prefer beer. Be prepared to know what you want to order... especially when they are busy. The day I went there were World Cup games and a UFC fight on. So the venue was PACKED. I felt the person behind the register was losing patience as we tried to figure what to drink.

Got recommended this place and was really excited to check it out. We ordered the mussels and a…read morechicken salad, and honestly, it was an excellent choice. The lettuce was super fresh, the dressing was the best I've ever had in DC, and the chicken was perfectly cooked. The mussels were absolutely exquisite. I'd definitely come back to The Sovereign!My only note for improvement is the service. It took the waiters a while to get to our table, and attentiveness was pretty low overall. Granted, the restaurant was packed, but if it's going to be that busy, they should definitely schedule more staff. It would make the whole experience complete. Other than that, everything was excellent!

More of a 3.5, rounding up because I would have probably liked it a lot more if I ate meat…read more Which probably makes it clear that if you are vegetarian this is not the friendliest menu. The beer selection is incredible, vibes are solid - it is pretty old world and upscale for a beer joint - but if you are looking for a full meal vegetarians should go elsewhere. They *have* vegetarian options but it's one of those things where they do the bare minimum because they have to and your choices are like...the one thing. Which leads me to the one vegetarian entree, the risotto. It was fine. Not mindblowing. Small portion for the price - small portions all around, frankly. See my pic. Our server, who was impressively attentive/efficient given that he was the only person making the rounds to all of the tables in the upstairs room, which were packed because of the World Cup, recommended getting.the brussels sprouts small plate without bacon, so I did. I did not like it. It came with pomegranate seeds and a sauce that were sweet but then had parmesan and savory flavors that did not go. I suspect the salty, fatty bacon was important to balancing out these flavors. People I was with got house pickles, fries and meatballs which all appeared solid. The portions for the fries and meatballs were pretty teeny for the price IMO. Like I said, beer selection is out of this world. Not mad at the prices or portions there, especially given that it's largely imported. Is this personally a place I would make a go to? No. Only if I am taking out a friend who is super into beer tasting. But if I were super into French and Belgian beer and or really liked that kind of food (eg mussels and very meaty Northern European dishes) ? Maybe. So my personal recommendation is to come, have beer, enjoy the ambiance, and treat food as an afterthought for if you need something to eat.

The best bar in DC. Love it! Great service. Great location. Great ambiance as well. Make sure to…read morevisit

My boyfriend and I went to Dacha Beer Garden (Shaw) for an afternoon date and it was such a vibe…read more The patio was full but still felt cozy and fun lots of energy without feeling chaotic. The sunlight coming through the big windows and umbrellas made everything feel warm and relaxed. It's definitely one of those spots that feels very DC weekend.We ordered the giant pretzel with cheese and mustard and it was SO good soft, warm, perfectly salted, and ideal for sharing. The fries were crispy and seasoned just right. We also tried a couple of beers (the grapefruit one was especially good and refreshing), and everything paired perfectly with the food. It's casual but still cute enough to make it a real date. You can sit, talk, enjoy your drinks, and not feel rushed. I'd absolutely come back, especially on a sunny day. Perfect for daytime dates, meeting friends, or just enjoying good vibes in Shaw.

I recently visited Jackpot Bar and really enjoyed the overall vibe. The ambiance is super chill…read morewith a speakeasy feel--dim lighting, cozy atmosphere, and the kind of place you can actually relax and have a conversation without shouting. It feels tucked away in the best way, like a hidden gem. The service was solid--friendly, attentive without being overbearing. What stood out most was their beer selection. There's a great variety, so whether you're into something light or want to try something more unique, you've got options. Overall, it's a great spot if you're looking for a laid-back night with good drinks and a cool, low-key atmosphere. Definitely a place I'd come back to.

Friends and I were looking for a bar for a drink before an event at Capital One Arena. We found…read morethis Jackpot (pun intended). If you're not paying attention, you'll miss the door for this downstairs bar. With happy hour every day from 4-8pm, you can't really go wrong. There isn't food for purchase but you get a free basket of popcorn to munch on. The location is small, so it did get pretty packed / busy when we were there. Patience with the bartenders as they try to get everyone's drink orders. Super easy spot for a quick drink in general or before a show at CapOne.

This was such a fun night. Stumbled upon them having bingo on a Monday night, such a fun group of…read morepeople! The bartender, Rich, gave us a history lesson and we took his recommendations and enjoyed each place we visited. We loved that they had board games, free popcorn, you can bring outside food and then the best part: no talking about the outside world!

I've been hearing about this place for years but never actually stopped by. They're currently on my…read morelist of weekend happy hour spots, having it all day on Sundays. I made a last minute change to meet a friend here, but much to my surprise... they had a PS5 and Tekken booted up at the bar. I am by zero means a Tekken player. Yes, I'm a huge gamer, but I'm terrible at Tekken. But the mere concept of being able to watch and play it at a bar is incredible. That aside, they got a bunch of board games like Trouble, Uno, Trivial Pursuit... the classics man! Oh right, the bar part. Their drinks are great. The staff are great. The specials are great. And they give you popcorn! And they have a whole little table with all the popcorn fixings if you don't want to eat it plain. You can literally bring in food from anywhere on top of that. I'm not sure if it's a Sunday thing, but the place really doesn't get too busy. It's quite a vibe. If you've never been and you're in the Logan Circle area, go.