Russia House, web site, Facebook, Twitter, 1800 Connecticut Ave. NW (corner of Connecticut & Florida Ave., near 21st & S), 202-234-9433, opens at 5p everyday, closes at midnight except Fri-Sat (2:30a), est. 2003 [Yelp, WaPo, Tripadvisor, Urbanspoon, Washingtonian]

Way at the top of Dupont Circle neighborhood at the corner of Connecticut and Florida Avenues, this lounge is spread out through several floors and rooms, including a piano bar, all fancily decorated, and apparently is frequently by lots of Russians and other eastern Europeans like Ovie and others Caps players.  Kind of a dark spot and sometimes a weird vibe, I actually am somewhat a fan of this spot, though I haven’t been in a couple years. It’s been open to the public since 2003 (was apparently a semi-private club before that since 1995), same owners as another international-themed spot-Biergarten Haus. Seemingly endless selection of vodkas; the Baltika beers (all named with a #, I think #4 and #7 are good, but that’s just a guess) are worth trying out.

Barred in DC Rating: 3/5