Adams Where? The Weekly 18th Street shitshow? What does WBH have to do with that? Well, your author lived for two years on Calvert Street, just past the insufferable weekend crush of shwasty-faced hoodrats, gang-bangers, interns, fake IDers, and drunk-ass bros, and despite having a sweet apartment, was not thrilled with said swarm of ragers providing a ruinous end for an otherwise nice night out in a different part of DC. So why the hell am I writing this? Because nearly three years later, new delights have opened, old stalwarts have remained, and I’ve discovered under-the-radar gems that I overlooked in my previous desire to avoid 18th & Columbia and environs at all costs.
DISCLAIMER: 18th Street is still chock-a-block with absolute SHIT bars – and I’m gonna name them: Grand Central, Tom Tom, Town Tavern, Columbia Junction or whatever it’s called, Shenanigans, and many others. Avoid. It also still home to most dubious pizza by the slice ever – Jumbo Slice and its derivatives. No level of drunkenness makes this a good idea. Also avoid.
So with that out of the way, let’s get on with it, starting from the top of the hill to the bottom.
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April 7, 2013 | Categories: Bars, Caffeine, Cocktails, DC, Food, Late night, Mexican, Reggae, Rooftop, Tea, Value | Tags: Adams Morgan, Bars, DC, nightlife, Restaurants | Leave a comment
This sign made me do a double take
The post I just made about Iraqi tea was a necessary precedent for something I’m very excited to share with you. There is now an IRAQI TEAHOUSE (Chaikhana) IN THE DC AREA. Abu Nawas Tea Gourmet, in Fairfax. OK, so it’s in Fairfax, but everything good and ethnic in DC is in the suburbs for the most part (case in point, it’s in the same shopping center as Bon Chon, home of the best fried chicken in the universe, no arguments allowed).
Read on to see why it’s so special:
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August 31, 2012 | Categories: Caffeine, DC, Iraqi stuff, Late night, Tea | Tags: DC, Hookah, tea | Leave a comment
Want all the outdoorsy fun of a rooftop but feeling lazy and want a seat? Then you want a beer garden. DC doesn’t have many, but the ones it has are all pretty good, summarized here by Serious Eats. My favorites are the Standard and Biergarten Haus. Standard has awesome barbecue, Mexican grilled corn, and freshly fried doughnuts in addition to a small but good selection of beer, but be warned: it’s crazy popular and thus very crowded. Go around happy hour to beat the crowds. Biergarten Haus is a more properly German kind of place and one of the best bars in the semi-hoody and often dubious (despite what the hipsters may say) H St NE – spacious, quite large list of German beers on tap, lots of German food on offer. No food after 11pm though, so bear that in mind.
Burrs n Nomz chez Standard. Photo from Serious Eats
June 4, 2012 | Categories: Bars, DC, Drinks | Tags: Bars, beer, DC | Leave a comment
Next time somebody claims you can’t get good Indo-Pak food in the DC area, throw some dal in their face and slap them with a hot chapati, and call them out on their ignorance. For the meatier side of things subcontinental, I present: Ravi Kabab, an Arlington institution steeped in Lahori deliciousness.
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February 8, 2012 | Categories: DC, Food, Value | Tags: DC, Food, Kabob, Karahi, Pakistani Food, Ravi | 1 Comment
It’s noon on a Sunday, the light slowly filters in through your blinds, and you curse the copious quantity of Cristal of last night as if it was a soul-sucking vampire. Realizing that, damn it, you may have earned a day off with that legendary party, but you’re not gonna let a whole day waste away (half is quite enough), you need something to pick you up, set you straight, and let you get on your way.
What is that something? If you’re in the DC area, it’s a visit to the Eden Center for something like this:
- Steaming bowl of Awesomeness
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January 12, 2012 | Categories: DC, Food, Value | Tags: Banh Mi, DC, Eden Center, Food, Pho, Vietnamese | Leave a comment
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
for good booze flowed, but we had to face some lines.”*
For the last two-ish years, DC has been torn between two drink dens specializing in superlatively mixed craft cocktails. They both turn out drinks unseen elsewhere in the city, if not the world, and they both have their fair share of devotees. But the two could not be more different. One is overly exclusive, in-your-face-with-upper-class-hipster-arrogance†, shrouded in too-low light, and with a door policy rarely seen outside Moscow nightclubs. The other is welcoming, catering to and attracting all types – and the light is better.
They are the Gibson and the Passenger, and I favor the latter. Here’s why:
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October 17, 2011 | Categories: Bars, Cocktails, DC, Drinks | Tags: Bars, cocktail bars, cocktails, DC, DC nightlife, The Gibson, The Passenger | Leave a comment
Note: The first installment in We Ball Harder’s recommendations of commercial establishments. Unless otherwise specified, anywhere mentioned on WBH comes highly recommended, because why would we waste your time with mediocre places?
Quick: who has the best rooftop in DC, the best late night food, awesome drinks, and sweet music all in one venue?
The answer: El Centro DF, Richard Sandoval’s (Zengo, Masa 14, La Sandia) newest venue, located right next to Black Cat. You walk in on the ground floor to what looks at first like a spruced-up Chipotle, with a bare concrete floor, wooden bar tables, stools, and other wooden accents, a counter for salsa, and indeed a a menu hanging down from the ceiling over the cashier advertising tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and the like. In the very back are stairs going downstairs, leading to the basement restaurant and tequileria, where they serve more formal sit-down food and a staggering array of agave and maguey distillates. More on that below.
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September 24, 2011 | Categories: Bars, Cocktails, DC, Drinks, Late night, Mexican, Rooftop | Tags: Bars, cocktails, DC, DC nightlife, good food, Mexican | Leave a comment
We Ball Harder 