THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2010
8
NightLife Intern 101: Going out without going broke
by Fritz Hahn and Lavanya Ramanathan
Intern season is well underway, with fresh-faced young people spending their summers doing a mountain of work for lit- tle or no pay. But lack of funds doesn’t have to mean a lack of fun — there are plenty of ways to enjoy happy hours and nightlife without a lot of cash.
HAPPY HOURS Happy-hour competition is hot on Capi-
tol Hill, where every bar seems to be trying to lure intern crowds with cheap food and cheaper drinks. The Hawk and Dove (329 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. 202-543-3300. www.
hawkanddoveonline.com) offers $2.50 do- mestic beers from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays, plus free food from 5 p.m. until it runs out. (Friday’s taco bar is extremely popular.) Don’t miss the nightly specials, including $3.50 Oberon from 4 p.m. until close on Tuesday; $2.50 Miller Lite pints from 4 to 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday; and $2 wings at Tuesday’s happy hour. Happy hour at Union Pub (201 Mas- sachusetts Ave. NE. 202-546-7200. www.
unionpubdc.com) changes daily, but there’s almost always a reason to stop in, besides the covered patio, that is. Wednesday’s deal is the most popular, with Bud and Bud Light specials all night — $2 per bottle or $8 for a bucket of five. Monday is even cheaper, with $1.50 pints of Pabst Blue Rib- bon from 4 to 7:30 p.m. The deal at Capitol Lounge (231 Pennsyl-
vania Ave. SE. 202-547-2098. www.
capitolloungedc.com) isn’t that great — a buck off everything in the house from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays — but the nightly specials offer a better value. On Tuesdays, wings are 25 cents each. Thursday nights mean pitch- ers, which are a little more than two pints, including craft beers from Dogfish Head, Bell’s, Great Lakes and Founders, for $12 a pop.
On the other side of the Hill, it’s hard to
beat the prices at My Brother’s Place (237 Second St. NW. 202-347-1350. www.
mybrothersplacedc.net), which is popular with interns and students year round. Do- mestic drafts are $2.50 from 4 to 8 p.m. weekdays. Tacos are $1 on Tuesday and Sat- urday nights. At Friday’s beat-the-clock happy hour, domestic drafts are 75 cents from 4 to 5 p.m., with the price rising 25 cents each hour until 9 p.m. And on Satur- day from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., there’s an open- bar option with unlimited beer, wine and rail drinks for $15. Tell someone over the age of 26 that
you’re heading to McFadden’s (2401 Penn- sylvania Ave. NW. 202-223-2338. www.
mcfaddensdc.com) and they’ll probably roll their eyes, but the vaguely Irish Foggy Bottom pub is the kind of place interns love. The music is a mix of classic ’80s and recent Top 40, and the crowd is young and up for dancing (on the dance floor or atop the bar). And McFadden’s doesn’t limit it- self to after-work specials; deals include $3
BILL O’LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST Union Pub offers daily happy-hour deals, including Wednesday’s Bud and Bud Light specials: $2 per bottle or $8 for a bucket of five.
beers from 9 p.m. until close on Thursdays and 8 p.m. to midnight on Fridays. Here’s a surprise: One of the summer’s cheapest happy-hour destinations is also one of the most desirable. The enormous rooftop deck at Clarendon Ballroom (3185 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. 703-469-2244.
www.clarendonballroom.com) is one of the most popular spots in Northern Virginia, with lines down the block on weekends. And on Wednesdays, for the Weather or Not Happy Hour, specials include $1.50 beers, $3 wine and $5 appetizers. (In case of inclement weather, check the Web site before heading out.) You can also enjoy summer weather at
Public Bar (1214 18th St. NW. 202-223- 2200.
www.publicbardc.com), which offers $3 domestic beers and $4 imports on its rooftop from 5 to 8 p.m. weekdays. (On Wednesdays, there is a $5 cover, which in- cludes $2 Coors products and a free drink for the first 100 people to arrive.) The crowd is mostly office groups, and the at- mosphere is lively.
FREE NIGHT LIFE There are plenty of people in Washing- ton willing to spend $20 just to get in the door of a dance club or lounge every week- end. But you don’t have to be one of them. In fact, a number of D.C.’s hottest dance parties are free. On the third Saturday of the month, which happens to be tomorrow, the Fat- back DJs turn Liv (2001 11th St. NW. www.
fatbackdc.com) into one of the funkiest, sweatiest dance floors in town. Capacity crowds move and groove to vintage R&B, soul, boogaloo, even a choice disco cut or
Online summer guide
For more on happy hours and free night life, plus free outdoor movies
and concerts, day-trip ideas and our list of things every intern must do while in Washington, see
goingoutguide.com/ summerguide.
two. Doors open at 10 p.m.; arrive early or be prepared to wait in a long line. Wonderland Ballroom (1101 Kenyon St.
NW; 202-232-5263.
www.thewonderland
ballroom.com) offers some of the best deals for your dancing dollar. DJs spin from 10 p.m. until close Tuesday through Saturday, and there is always some variation on a beer-and-a-shot-for-$5 special on week- nights. The electro-and-house weekly See You Next Tuesday is one to put on your cal- endar, and don’t miss tonight’s excellent Dirty Bombs party with DJs Meistro and Deep Sang dropping hip-hop, funk, house and deep grooves. Don’t be deterred by the wary door staff
at Cafe Saint-Ex (1847 14th St. NW. 202- 265-7839.
www.saint-ex.com); your
patience will be rewarded when you work your way to the downstairs bar, Gate 54. On any Friday or Saturday night, Gate 54 is a writhing mass of 20-somethings breaking it down on the dance floor. Dress up, dress down, it doesn’t matter; no one’s judging you here. Other plusses? There’s no cover, ever, and popular club jams pump from the speakers on the weekends, making it easy to want to dance. (Note: The bar is decided- ly more esoteric on other nights, when DJs spin everything from cowboy to fuzz to, on
one occasion, Hindi-movie ballads.) LOCAL MUSIC
At some point this summer, someone will probably say to you: “There is Wash- ington, and then there is D.C.” It’s true, and to many, the latter is de-
fined by U Street, mambo sauce and the musical traditions of jazz and funky, drum- driven go-go. Get to know D.C. Duke Ellington grew up on 13th Street NW and made his name playing the clubs of U Street along with such major jazz stars as Miles Davis and Cab Calloway. Today, the best and brightest musicians stop at Twins Jazz (1344 U St. NW. 202-234-0072. www.
twinsjazz.com) and, farther afield, Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. 202-337- 4141.
www.bluesalley.com). Both venues can be budget-blowing when you factor in $10-per-person drink minimums, but in- terns can take advantage of discounts. At Twins, students with ID can get half-price tickets for certain Friday shows. And at Blues Alley, admission to the 10 p.m. show Sunday through Thursday is half-price for students and congressional staffers. Or get a taste of the old U Street cool for
free at Cafe Nema(1334 U St. NW. 202-657- 3215.
www.cafe-nema.com), where every Thursday night for years, local stalwarts the Young Lions have played a long set. For the definitive introduction to go-go,
your go-to man is octogenarian Chuck Brown, the official “Godfather of Go-Go.” He headlines the (also very D.C.) National Capital Barbecue Battle on June 26 ($10; Pennsylvania Avenue and Ninth Street NW,
www.bbqdc.com).
fritz.hahn@washingtonpost.com ramanathanl@washpost.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128