As I noted in the recently published list of DC bars where 35+ could feel comfortable going out even at 11p on a weekend night, it would probably be easier to make a list of the spots where the majority of the patrons are 25 or under (roughly Generation Z at this poitn) late night (after 11p) on weekends. So’s here’s a partially crowd-sourced list of spots below. You can use this list if:

• You’re 21-25 and want to goto spots that are mostly the same age as you;
• You’re over 25 and want to feel like you’re 22 again
• You’re any age and want to avoid places where there are a lot of 22 year olds or other people who don’t look like they’re old enough to legally drink

Note that at all almost all of these spots there are still a significant number of customers in the upper 20s/early 30s age frame, and often a few folks older, and the crowd can be very different earlier in the night or on weekdays. So if you don’t like going to places with young’ns, don’t write all of these spots off at all times.

Who else am I missing? Disagree? Tweet/DM at @barredindc or DM @therealbarredindc on Instagram or email barredindc@gmail.com or drop a comment below

Dupont (“Midtown” “Club Central”)

• Madhatter
• Sauf Haus
• Decades
• Sign of the Whale (temporarily closed)
• Public Bar
• Mission

Adams Morgan

• Shenanigan’s
• Town Tavern
• Johnny Pistolas
• Grand Central
• Madam’s Organ (band/floor dependent)
• Dan’s Cafe
• Club Heaven and Hell

14th/U St/Logan Circle

• Hawthorne
• 801
• Takoda
• The Brixton (temporarily closed)
• Player’s Club
• Nellie’s
• El Rey (67% agree)
• Salazar

H Street

• Dirty Water

Georgetown

• The Tombs
• Church

Downtown/Chinatown/Penn Quarter

• Ultrabar
• Rocket Bar

Columbia Heights

• The Wonderland Ballroom (2nd floor) (73% agree)

Navy Yard

• Mission Navy Yard

Suggested but not added: Franklin Hall (57% say it should be on list), Little Miss Whiskeys 2nd floor (51%), Recessions (52%), Cafe St Ex basement, Chicken + Whiskey “speakeasy” (35%), Madams Organ (40%)

Post Updated : April 6, 2022

Let’s get this first out of the way: for many people, there’s no such thing as “feeling old” at a bar, as you can have fun anywhere. Younger folks aren’t going to side-eye you out of there or intentionally make you feel uncomfortable. But a lot of people prefer to go out to spots where people are relatively closer to their age (at least within the same decade or so) just to feel more comfortable or for a scene to more their liking. During the week, the daytime, or earlier in the evening almost every bar in DC will qualify. But as it gets later in the night, particularly on a Friday or Saturday night, the less-coveted-to-brands-that-advertise-demographic (35 and up), many DC bars will skew younger.

For those that care, here’s a crowdsourced (also based on my experience-don’t fully agree with the choices below) on the many DC bars “where you won’t feel old” at if you’re over the age of 35. Virtually every hotel bar would qualify, not generally mentioned. To be honest, it would probably be easier to create the shorter list of bars where folks 35 and up might actually feel old at, but here we are (find that here).

Who else would you add?
*-don’t really agree with this choice

Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights/Petworth/ParkViewBrightwood Park

• The Raven
• Lyman’s Tavern
• Wonderland Ballroom (not second floor)
• Midland’s
• Looking Glass Lounge
• Red Derby
• Jackie Lee’s
• Reliable Tavern
• Neptune Room
• Moreland’s Tavern
• Marx Cafe
• Library Tavern
• Slash Run
• The Artemis
• OKPB

H Street/NoMa/Union Market

• The Pug
• Biergarten Haus
• The Queen Vic
• CopyCat
• Hill Prince
• Cotton and Reed
• Granville Moore’s
• District Daiquiri

Capitol Hill/Navy Yard

• Tune Inn
• Trusty’s
• Tunnicliff’s
• The Dubliner
• Scarlet Oak
• The Eastern
• Maxwell Park Navy Yard
• Boxcar Tavern
• As You Are Bar

Dupont Circle

• Fox & Hounds
• D.I.K. Windows
• Pizzeria Paradiso
• JR’s
• Annie’s Paramount upstairs bar
• Tabard Inn
• McClelland’s Retreat
• Across the Pond

Downtown/Penn Quarter/Chinatown

• The Bottom Line
• Post Pub
• Stan’s
• The Hamilton
• Clyde’s Gallery Place
• Old Ebbitt Grill
• Jackpot
• Crimson Whiskey
• Flight
• The Smith
• Denson Liquor Bar
• Round Robin Bar
• The Hay Adams
• Free State
• Off the Record
• Silver Lyan

Georgetown/Glover Park/

• Martin’s Tavern
• Bar a Vin
• ENO
• Clyde’s
• Pizzeria Paradiso
• Breadsoda

Adams Morgan

• The Blaguard
• Bedrock Billiards
• Jack Rose (1st floor particularly)
• The Imperial
• Grand Duchess
• The Game/ Tiki on 18th
• Pop’s Sea Bar

U Street/Logan Circle/14th

• Black Jack
• Bar PIlar
• Solly’s
• Exile’s
• The Saloon
• Lounge of 3
• The Crown and Crow
• Lounge of 3
• Stoney’s
• Left Door
• The Gibson
• Barcelona Wine Bar
• Commissary
• Jane Jane
• Churchkey
• Kingfisher
• TRADE

Shaw/Bloomingdale

• Hopsotch
• Boundary Stone
• Uproar
• The Pub and the People
• 600T
• All Souls
• Truxton Inn
• Maxwell Park
• The Passenger
• Zeppelin
• Chaplin’s

Congress Heights

• Georgena’s Players Lounge

Brookland/Ivy City/Woodridge/Takoma

• Brookland’s Finest
• The Public Option
• Dew Drop Inn
• Takoma Station

Cleveland Park/Chevy Chase/Tenleytown/Woodley Park

• MacIntrye’s
• Chevy Chase Lounge
• Nanny O’Brien’s
• Atomic Billiards

Hellbender Brewing Company, which opened in November 2014, has not been open since last Friday, March 18th. On Saturday, the brewery posted a message on their Instagram, stating that they had “reached a critical mass of routine and essential repairs and maintenance in the brewery, and will be closing the taproom today and tomorrow to ensure we can keep providing great beer and ambiance.” They are normally closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and again posted Wednesday afternoon (3/23) that their “Taproom Will be Closed Until Further Notice.”

I’ve learned that the popular brewery has been closed, not necessarily due to repairs, but because their ABRA manufacturer Class B (brewery) liquor license was cancelled by the ABC Board on November 18, 2020 because they failed to meet the September 30, 2020 renewal deadline and failed to respond to a cease and desist order on October 28, 2020. Meaning, Hellbender has been operating (likely completely unintentionally) without a liquor license for 16 months.

Either ABRA or the brewery itself must have figured this out last week, as the brewery made a request to the ABC Board last Friday to reinstate their cancelled license (see page 6), the last day they were open. Today (Wed March 23rd), the ABC Board met and voted unanimously to deny their request to reinstate the cancelled license (order that will be posted by end of the week may contain the rationale).

So what does this mean? Without a liquor license, Hellbender cannot, of course, open its tap room to the public. But it also means it cannot produce beer and sell cans or kegs to liquor stores, grocery stores, consumers, and bars. I think anything that’s already been sold or distributed can be sold, but unless they get some sort of reprieve, nothing new can be made or leave the premises. Hellbender would have to re-apply for a manufacturer’s liquor license. Luckily for them, manufacturer licenses aren’t currently required to go through the same protest process as bars/restaurants, and I’ve seen applications seemingly approved pretty quickly. However, the fact that they had this mistake may lead to ABRA/ABC Board slowing down the process. Hellbender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2016.

Bo & Ivy Distillers, [2052 West Virginia Ave. NE, website, Facebook, Instagram] which took over the Jos A. Magnus & Co. distillery space in Ivy City (above Atlas Brew Works) in late 2020, is now selling its spirits. The distillery is launching with 3 spirits: gin, corn whiskey, and vodka. Sales will start from the distillery soon (M-F 10-4p, with advance ordering and scheduled pickup) but currently you can pick up at least the gin and corn whiskey from Ace Beverage in near American University in Upper NW. Tasting room/bar is under construction and they hope to be open to the public later this year.

The name Bo & Ivy comes from the location of the distillery – WV Ave. NE used to be the B&O Railroad Line and they’re in the Ivy City neighborhood.

The distillery appears to be owned by husband/wife team Julia Fletcher (the General Manager, native West Virginian who attended GW) and Michael Curcio (heads up operations). Vince Bridgeman also appears to be a partner, focusing on growth. All three are military veterans (Curcio is a former Navy pilot, Bridgeman is a retired Marine, and Fletcher served as a former Naval intelligence officer and may still be in the Reserves). The husband’s and wife’s Instagram accounts (linked above) are a great behind the scenes look at the distillery as it launches.

According to the website, the gin ($26-$29) is a traditional dry gin w/ notes of citrus and a bit of ginger on finish, meant for martini & Gin and Tonic drinkers. The corn whiskey/white dog/moonshine ($20-23) (mash 80% corn, 15% rye, 5% barley (grains grown in Virginia) is 100 proof, great for sipping and potentially in a whiskey sour (or vodka/tequila substitute). They claim the vodka is DC’s “only fully craft, in-house production vodka made from 100% corn”; 84 proof and will be around $21-24.

Aslin Beer Company, which originated in Northern Virginia in 2015 and had a temporary popup in a vacant lot across from the Nats Park a few years back, has resolved a protest of its application for a liquor license for its new beer garden coming to the southwest corner of 14th and S St. NW, and reportedly hopes to open by early summer.

According to Brian Romanowski, ANC commissioner in the area, Aslin has agreed to close the beer garden at 11p on weekday nights and midnight on weekends, with a total occupancy of 203 outdoors and 47 indoors (for a total of 250 to include some standing?). “Lots of noise mitigation as part of the deal!” said Romanowski.

The same site was part of a failed attempt to open a beer garden by Dacha in 2017. Dacha tried to open a beer garden for 600. A protest followed and ABRA said the bar could have a total occupancy of 200 (150 outdoors) with outdoor closing hours the same as the ones granted to Aslin (with 1:30a/2:30a closing for indoors). Dacha thought the cut in occupancy made it not worth it and abandoned the project. Aslin ended up with a slightly larger capacity.

Read Eater (May 2021), Washingtonian (May 2021) and UrbanTurf (November 2021) for more details and renderings of the project. Owing to its former location of a gas station, the working title of the beer garden was Aslin Filling Station last May, but that name has not been officially filed with ABRA as of yet. Another beer garden, Garden District, is on the northeast corner of the same intersection.

Biergarten Haus, the popular H Street beer garden, temporarily closed on February 14th for renovations. When it reopens the week of March 7th, Barred in DC has exclusively learned that many things will be quite different, not just the new sign that was installed earlier this year. The pleasant, convivial beer garden atmosphere that has been a fixture since May 2010 remains out back (both on ground level and the roof deck), but patrons will see many new things including the following:

• A new upgraded menu (owner Aaron McGovern told Barred in DC expect the menu to be sort of a cross of Brasserie Beck and Old Ebbitt Grill – think steak, fish, French dip sandwiches, though some German favorites will remain).
• German beer will move from essentially 100% of the taps to 25% of taps, with American craft beer (so yes, there will be IPAs on draft)
• New tap system and draft lines. Nitrogen so that growlers (which will be for available for sale) can be filled properly.
• A completely renovated main bar area (see pic below, new flooring and many other features)
• A new 50(ish) seat dining room (“The Lodge”) with fresh cocktails where the rarely-used bar next to the ground floor beer garden was previously located. Includes stone fireplace. There will be elk antler light fixtures
• A few private cabins (air conditioned if needed with their own TVs)
• The upstairs “Elk Bar” will be open daily with regular weekly event/programming, trivia will move here on Tuesdays, live musical act (cover tunes) already booked for every Wednesday for a year. Possibly trying to attract Formula 1 groups and other supporters groups
• New tables built around trees in the ground floor beer garden (at least one has already been built)
• Renovated bathrooms

McGovern said that while the spot has remained successful, he thought it needed to evolve to continue it to be successful – noting the proliferation of beer gardens in DC since it opened 12 years ago. He recognized that some regulars and fans may be skittish when they read about these changes, he thinks they’ll be happy when they see how it ends up.

This post has been updated on February 12, 2022 with details from co-owner/head brewer

Barred in DC has learned that a new brewery, Lost Generation Brewing Company, is coming to the edge of the Eckington neighborhood at 327 S Street NE. The ABRA ABC Board approved the brewery’s application for a manufacturer license on Wednesday (see page 16 of PDF). An application for a brewery certificate of occupancy has also been applied for, and they’re aiming to open late summer (presumably August or September) 2022. Construction starts on Valentine’s Day.

The historic warehouse (dating over 100 years) at 327 S St. NE (2 blocks north of the Alethia Tanner Park) is adjacent to the popular Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT, multi-use but mostly bikes), and housed a former Nabisco bakery and distribution hub. The 34,000 square foot building was bought for $5.6 million in 2017, with owner’s plans to “renovate the building into small-bay spaces, creating a hub for arts collective food makers” according to the Washington Business Journal. Currently, one of the spaces is occupied by the 3,000 square foot private venue The Sun Room, from the Salt & Sundry folks.

Based on corporate filings and a USPTO trademark application, I figured out that the brewery is co-owned by local resident Jared Pulliam and his wife Anne Choe. After publishing this post initially on Friday, Feb. 11th, I was able to connect with Jared and obtain lots of great details (more verbatim below) for the new spot.

Both Jared and Anne are DC area natives, the latter has always worked in restaurants and bars-mostly in the role as manager. On the other hand, Jared started as a high school teacher (teaching mostly AP Psychology and Modern American Culture, as well as US History and Government), started homebrewing as a hobby and then got a side job at Chocolate City Brewing (the DC brewery was open 2011-2014 just up the MBT in the building that now houses Dew Drop Inn). Jared says “I’d shut down my classroom in the afternoon, pack my bags with all the papers that needed grading and head to the brewery to fire it up. I’d usually bang out my grading during the lauter. Then around midnight, I’d shut it down and try to get a few hours of sleep before doing it all again.” Realizing this was not the ideal situation, they decided that Jared should go full time into brewing, and most inspired at the time by IPAs, he got a job at Lagunitas Brewing Company in California and eventually rose to Lead Brewer (overseeing all 3 branches of production plant and helping develop the recipe for their first Hazy IPA). Wanting to realize their dream of starting a brewery in the DC area, they moved back here; the pandemic put their plans on hold, so he took a job as head brewer at Calvert Brewing Company in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

As for the brewery itself, the space will take up nearly 5,000 square feet-roughly half devoted to the taproom and the other half for the brewing area (divided by a window wall). They will focus on IPAs and Lagers (author’s note: YES!) but with 16 taps there will still be variety. The brewery’s business will be primarily based on the taproom-they have some distribution points lined up but mostly will sell beer on tap (glass, crowlers) and cans from the taproom itself. Anne is working to make the space “more like an awesome bar than a cold corner in a brewery“; the mostly brick and exposed wood roof (which will they keep natural) will provide a great vibe.

The name Lost Generation is referring to the artists and intellectuals of the 1920s/30s who were disillusioned and moved elsewhere to places like Paris (Jared is a self-described “literary snob”). This phrase also evokes prohibition which coincided roughly in the same time frame. Jared further says “my great grandfather owned an auto shop right off L Street in Mt. Vernon Square called Owl Garage where he installed suped up suspension kits on rum runners so they wouldn’t show their weight as they snuck kegs into the city from PG County.” (here’s hoping they can pay some homage to this garage-which was at 6th and L NW and open 24 hours/day-in the brewery).

Some online sleuthing has scoped out a potential Facebook page (see logo above) launched Jan 1st, expect the website to go live later this month,

Lost Generation will join City-State Brewing in Edgewood (about 3/4 miles north) as MBT breweries, with Right Proper Brookland, Red Bear Brewing, and the new DC location of Crooked Run Fermentation (also broken by Barred in DC following a ABRA approval) in the vicinity as well.

Full Email Details Below

First off, one small edit is that I am only co-owner of Lost Generation Brewing Co. Anne Choe, who is also my wife, is the other equal owner. We are both area natives. She has always worked in restaurants and bars, mostly managing them. I on the other hand started as a high school teacher, but found a serious hobby in brewing and when an opportunity opened up for me to start working at Chocolate City Brewing (a now defunct brewery that opened the same year as D.C. Brau), I did. I’d shut down my classroom in the afternoon, pack my bags with all the papers that needed grading and head to the brewery to fire it up. I’d usually bang out my grading during the lauter. Then around midnight, I’d shut it down and try to get a few hours of sleep before doing it all again. To say the least, this wasn’t the best scenario. We decided that it would be best for me to leave teaching and go full time brewing, but if we were going to do it, we were going to go all in. At the time, the D.C. area didn’t have nearly the robust brewing culture it does now and so we looked to go somewhere with strong roots in brewing the style that we were most inspired by, IPA. So California it was. I got the job at Lagunitas in Petaluma and quickly rose to their Lead Brewer which meant I oversaw all three branches of the production plant and did all the hiring, training and managing of it as well as some of the recipe development for creating their first Hazy IPA brand. It was an awesome experience and an awesome crew. But at the end of the day, we always dreamt of coming home and opening up the brewery we always wished had been here back when we were living in D.C. With my decade of brewing and her rich front of house experience, we knew it was time to come home and make it happen.

The space is divided into two: a nearly 2500sqft taproom and an almost equal sized brewing area, divided only by a window wall, so it’s still one large open space. Our beer focus is IPA and lagers, but really, we love making and drinking good beer, no matter the style. We will have 16 taps, so there will be a good amount of variety. Our focus is the taproom. We have some hand selected distribution points that we will be going to at first, but for the most part, we’ll be sell our beer by the glass, crowler and can inside the taproom, which Anne has worked diligently on crafting a space that will feel more like an awesome bar than a cold corner in a brewery. (It doesn’t hurt that the Nabisco space is mostly brick and exposed wood roof, which we’ve left completely natural.)

Lastly, as far as timing, we’re starting construction on Monday and we hope to be serving refreshing cold one’s to people on the MBT late summer. You, included.

…

Calvert was once I came back to the area. Due to the pandemic, we had to put our plan on hold, so in the meantime, I took the job at Calvert to help them transform and reimagine their brand a little bit.

I taught AP Psychology and Modern American Culture, mostly. But also US History and Government.

We have been working on this for years now. We probably had our first concept art sketched up 5 years ago? And Anne and I have been dreaming of it since we’ve been together, which was 12 years ago.

Lost Generation refers to the group of artists and intellectuals of the 1920’s and 30’s which includes Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, etc… But just folks who were disillusioned with the culture of where they were and moved to places such as Paris to find invigoration and inspiration. For us, that was California. On top of that, during that same period of time, alcohol was clearly the leading topic of discussion due to prohibition. In fact, during that time, my great grandfather owned an auto shop right off L Street in Mt. Vernon Square called Owl Garage where he installed suped up suspension kits on rum runners so they wouldn’t show their weight as they snuck kegs into the city from PG County. Also, I’m a literary snob, so the Lost Generation period is just something I adore.

Updated Jan 29, 2022 to add a timeline

On Friday afternoon, DC officially suspended the liquor license of H Street neighborhood burger bar, The Big Board, for multiple violations of legal requirements regarding masking of staff and checking for proof of vaccination in a 9 day period.

The ABC Board issued a summary suspension of their liquor license (meaning there was no hearing); the bar can request a hearing within 3 days, in which the case the hearing should be held next week.

The bar appears to be still open serving food and soft drinks (which it legally can do) but not serving alcohol (BYOB not permitted).

In Phase 2, almost 20 DC bars or restaurants were issued a similar summary suspension. Most settled with the Government and were eventually suspended 15 days, though this increased later in Phase 2 to 30-40 days.

TIMELINE

• May 10, 2021: Mayor Bowser announces that virtually all restrictions on businesses and restaurants/bars will be lifted on May 21^st, with the exception of the mask mandate indoors only. Certain types of nightclubs and bars continue to be restricted at 50% capacity until June 11.
• May 11, 2021: The Big Board (TBB) posts to its social media accounts the #ReOpenDC logo and the message:
  • “As a Big Board patron over the last year you know how seriously we’ve taken covid guidelines & restrictions. With majority of U.S. residents having vax access, including our staff, we fully support the 100% reversal of restrictions to pre covid levels! We believe its the right thing to do & trust our patrons to make the right choices of when to dine with us or stay home! … We encourage other restaurants and businesses to post similar support for reopening!”
• May 13, 2021: CDC updates its guidance to state that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically/socially distance indoors or outdoors.
• May 17, 2021: DC lifts indoor mask mandate in most situations (technically for fully vaccinated only).
• May 21, 2021: Virtually all restrictions on businesses and restaurants/bars lifted, with the exception of 50% capacity in certain types of nightclubs and bars.
• June 11, 2021: All restrictions on DC businesses lifted.
• July 27, 2021: CDC updates it guidance (due to “rapid and alarming rise” in cases/hospitalizations, and the increased infectiousness/transmissibility of Delta, even with vaccinated) to now recommend everyone (including fully vaccinated) in areas of substantial or high transmission (roughly over 50/cases daily for DC) to wear a mask in public indoor places.
• July 29, 2021: DC announces that the indoor mask mandate is reinstated.
• July 31, 2021: The DC indoor mask mandate is reinstated. Because of the trickiness of enforcing mask mandates on customers when people can stand, eat, drink, the ABRA regulations require only that staff are masked at all times when indoors and that patrons wear a mask when entering.
• August 3, 2021: NYC announces that it will be the first US city to require at least one vaccine for indoor dining and other indoor venues, effective August 16th. San Francisco follows the next week (New Orleans and Honolulu also do, but allows negative test)
• October 6, 2021: Los Angeles announces vaccine requirement effective November 8, 2021.
• November 16, 2021: Mayor Bowser announces that the indoor mask mandate will be ending in most places (though DC is still in the range of cases where CDC still recommends universal masking)
• November 21, 2021: The DC indoor mask mandate is lifted.
• December 2, 2021: DC Health issues indoor mask advisory.
• December 13, 2021: Philadelphia announces vaccine requirement effective January 3^rd, with no test out option January 17th
• December 20, 2021: Mayor Bowser announces reinstatement of the DC indoor mask mandate. Boston announces vaccine requirement effective January 15^th.
• December 21, 2021: The DC indoor mask mandate is reinstated. Chicago announces vaccine requirement effective January 3^rd.
• December 22, 2021: Mayor Bowser announces that DC will be imposing a citywide vaccine entry requirement for indoor dining, gyms, and other indoor venues, effective January 15th.
• January 13, 2022: The Supreme Court effectively blocks the Federal Government (OSHA) from requiring vaccinations (or tests) for all employees of companies with 100 or more employees, ruling that OSHA lacked the statutory authority to issue the mandate. Justice Gorsuch’s concurrence makes clear that “states and local governments” are not prohibited from issuing vaccine mandates, as they “possess considerable power to regulate public health.”
• January 13, 2022: The Big Board posts on Twitter (not on Facebook or Instagram):
  • “There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk “his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor” on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else… Stranger in a Strange Land”
  • “As has always been the case for us, everyone is welcome. This rule applies yesterday, today and tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll see you January 16th.”
• January 14, 2022: ABRA investigator visits The Big Board and speaks to the owner who says “repeatedly told her that the establishment would not comply with the vaccination requirements.” ABRA issues a verbal warning because staff not wearing masks
• January 15, 2022: Vaccine requirement goes into effect. ABRA visits The Big Board, observing staff not wearing masks, patrons entering not wearing masks, no one verifying vaccination status, and no sign posted about vaccine requirements. The Big Board’s owner, in response to a statement that masks are required to be worn by staff, states “Until the Mayor change[s] her mind on the orders, I am not going to change mine.” ABRA issues 1) written warning for the mask issues and a 2) verbal warning for failure to check for vax proof.
• January 18, 2022: ABRA visits The Big Board and fines it $1,000 for not following mask requirements and issues a written warning for not checking for vax proof.
• January 19, 2022: Daily Caller reporter Henry Rodgers starts GoFundMe (after friend jokingly suggests that they should start one) for bar that as of Jan 29th has raised $17,000
• January 20, 2022: ABRA visits The Big Board and fines it $1,000 for not following mask and vaccine requirements
• January 21, 2022: Department of Health finds The Big Board not in compliance with the mask and vaccine requirements.
• January 22, 2022: ABRA again visits The Big Board and finds them not in compliance with the mask and vaccine requirements. It sends the results of their investigation to the ABC Board for further review.
• January 26, 2022: The ABC Board votes to issue a summary suspension of The Big Board’s liquor license without a hearing.
• January 28, 2022: After the Office of Attorney General drafts a notice of summary suspension, the Board signs it and it is issued at 4pm, suspending their license immediately. The Big Board continues to serve food, but no alcohol is allowed to be sold, served, or consumed.
  • The ABC Board said that The Big Board’s “operations … present an imminent danger to the health and safety of the public” due to its “repeated non-compliance” with 3 Mayor’s orders and the ABRA regulations that were amended in accordance with those orders. The Board said that The Big Board’s “violations represent a method of operation that places the public in imminent danger to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The repeated occurrence of the establishment’s violations and failure, unwillingness or disobedience by the owner and the establishment’s employees to comply or require compliance further exacerbates the imminent danger to the health and safety of the public.”
• February 2, 2022: Deadline for The Big Board to request a hearing with the ABC Board.
• February 4, 2022: The last day a hearing would be held if a timely request was made.

After Virginia Senator Tim Kaine was stranded on I-95 in the early January 2022 snowstorm for over a day (with scores of others), he went to dinner with his family to Bloomingdale’s The Red Hen and tweeted that he had their very popular rigatoni with sausage. This inspired Rob Flaherty, Digital Director for the White House to note that it was one DC’s top 5 dishes, which in turned inspired a Barred in DC thread and subsequent polls to figure out which dishes you thought were DC’s top (or essential dishes).

Here’s a list (totally based on popularity) – these are all essential eats:

(% of those who’ve had the dish who said it was one of DC’s top dishes)

1. Rasika Palak Chaat (West End, Penn Quarter) (69%) $12, crispy baby spinach, sweet yogurt, tamarind, date chutney. 49% of all those polled said this was one of DC’s top dishes. Next closest was 32%.
2. Rose’s Luxury Pork and Lychee Salad (Barracks Row) (63%) Part of choose-your-own prixe fixe menu ($75 Tues-Th, $85 Fri-Sat). Dine-In only
3. Mangialardo’s “G” Man Sub (Capitol Hill) (61%) $9.75, Ham, salami, mortadella, pepperoni, fontina cheese, provolone cheese, oregano on hard or soft roll. 9a-2:30p M-F only
4. The Red Hen Rigatoni (Bloomingdale) (56%) $22, mezzi rigatoni, tomato, garlic, fennel sausage ragu, fennel pollen, pecorino romano.
5. Thip Khao Naem Khao (Columbia Heights) (47%). $16 (+$2 sour pork), crispy coconut rice salad, peanut, lime, scallion, scallion, cilantro, green lettuce wraps. Often special versions.
6. Compass Rose Khachapuri (14th Street/U Street) (46%) $16, cheese-filled bread, organic egg, butter, za’atar
7. St. Anselm Buttermilk Biscuits (Union Market Area) (45%) $11, with pimento cheese
8. Roaming Rooster Fried Chicken Sandwich (Woodridge, U St, Tenleytown, Foggy Bottom) (43%), $10, several variations of a buttermilk fried chicken breast sandwich (OG Nashville or Honey Butter is way to go
9. Rose’s Luxury Cacio e pepe (Barracks Row) (40%) – Not currently on menu
10. Dukes Grocery Proper Burger (Dupont, Foggy Bottom, Woodley Park/Cleveland Park) (38%) $15, creekstone farms angus, melted gouda, pickles, charred red onion, sweet chili sauce, rocket, garlic aioli on brioche
11. Cane Jerk Wings (H Street) (36%) $13, 12-hour marinated and pimento-smoked
12. Granville Moore’s Mussels (H Street) (33%) $21 ($12 at Sunday dinner), several different varieties, known for the Bleu
13. St. Anselm Salmon Collar (Union Market) (31%) $19, with lemon and garlic butter
14. Ben’s Chili Bowl Original Half-Smoke (U Street, H Street) (21%), $7.69, suggested with mustard, onions, and homemade spicy chili sauce

Check the links above-there were nearly 200 dishes mentioned, rarely multiple times.