Again, recapping the news that was in DC bar-land for the first half of December-

• No NYE plans yet? Check out my continually-updated list of events at DC bars
• Pics & recap of the fun times of the Barred in DC Circulator Bus Bar crawl
• Barred in DC hit 400 followers (now up to 422) on Twitter; not too shabby for a 9 month old website/blog run by a fake journalist
• Bar Openings
  • Stoney’s on L (West End) (Facebook, Twitter) – 2101 L St. NW – opened Tuesday December 17th – new outpost of the P Street spot, same food, but not divey at all, much nicer, with actually some cocktails (Post, WCP)
  • Right Proper Brew Pub (Shaw) (website, Facebook, Twitter)- 624 T St. NW – opened Tuesday December 10th – nice 115-seat micro brewpub opened with 4 house beers, 3 collaboration beers & a guest tap. Ridiculously cheap (for DC standards) with $4-6 beers. 65 seat dining area with lounge/bar area in front. Need to make a visit stat. (Eater, DC Beer, Urban Daddy, WCP, Post)
  • All Souls Bar (Shaw) (website, Facebook) – 725 T St. NW – opened Sunday December 8th – neighborhood 40-seat corner bar; cool curved bar inside. Definitely excited to check this out with simple menu with a small list of wine, beer, & cocktails. Solid on sparking wine. (PoPville, WBJ, GGW, Eater, WCP)
  • City Tap House (Chinatown/PQ) (website, Facebook, Twitter) 901 I St. NW – Philly-based 40-tap gastropub seating 180. Set to open in first half of December; already had a semi-private event for the UVa Alumni on November 22nd. Full-court press on media coverage. (PoPville, Post, Washingtonian, Eater, WCP)
  • Dunya (Shaw) (website) – 801 Florida Ave. NW -opened Dec 3rd 150-seat Turkish tapas spot serving high-end cocktails with outdoor roof deck from former owner of Shaw’s Tavern. Open late (PoPville, Post, Eater)
• Bar Announcements
  • Southern Efficiency (Shaw) – 1841 7th St. NW – ETA Saturday December 21st – the 3rd in the trilogy of adjacent bars (Mockingbird Hill & Eat the Rich) from Derek Brown focusing on whiskey and Southern food. To sample early, bar will be having an intriguing Southern Whiskey 101 class for $45 next couple days. (Washingtonian, InTheCapital, Zagat, Post)
  • El Rey  (U Street) – 919 U St. NW – ETA late December 2013 – taqueria & beer garden from Hilton Brothers, made up a shipping containers. With a retractable roof (Post)
  • Pinstripes (PoPville) – 1000 Wisconsin Ave. NW – ETA January 2014 – huge 34000 square foot venue with 14 bowling alleys, 6 bocce courts, bistro/wine cellar, and outdoor patio with C&O canal. (PoPville, Post)
  • Compass Rose (U Street) -1346 T. St. NW – aims to open in early January. Also seeking a few seats on patio, per SALM)
• Other News
  • Glass House Coffee (14th/U Streets)- settlement agreement recently reached with local ANC. (SALM)
  • Cause (U Street) receives approval to construct rooftop deck.
  • AdMo ANC votes to request that ABRA modify the moratorium (similar to the recent action in Dupont) to allow for new restaurant liquor license, but keep in place prohibition to have new taverns or nightclubs
  • Board Room incorporates classic Anna Maria Italian Restaurant sign (PoPville)
  • Thrillist lists DC’s best dive bars: The Red Derby, The Raven, The Big Hunt, Codmother, Recessions, American Ice Co., The Board Room, & Capitol Lounge. Sadly still haven’t made it to the first two; the next three are certifiable dives, while the last three certainly are not.
  • Mad Momo’s (ColHi) will be closed for two weeks starting Monday, Dec. 23rd (so no NYE celebration there).
• Barred in DC Activity
  • Bourbon Adams Morgan: First trip in a couple years to an old 18th Street fave; great beer on tap & bourbon. Pretty lively dance floor upstairs. Skews 4-5 years older than the rest of the strip.
  • Duke’s Grocery (Dupont): chill late night crowd post 12:30am on weekends and very lively dinner + HH crowd on weekdays
  • Maddy’s Tap Room (Downtown): big beer & whiskey list, great set up to watch 4 games at once on huge tvs. Nice space. Stop 1 on Barred in DC Circulator Bus Bar Tour
  • Touchdown Sports Bar and Grill (U Street): pleasant surprise of a sports bar (2nd trip there); lively atmosphere in cozy first floor (sound on for game we watched); the many tvs make up for the lack of size on most of them. Stop 2 on Barred in DC Circulator Bus Bar Tour.
  • Ventnor Sports Cafe (Adams Morgan): Fun two-level sports bar with friendly bartenders. Bar extended us $3.50 Bud Light bottle special, which was nice. Stop 2 on Barred in DC Circulator Bus Bar Tour.
  • Mellow Mushroom (Adams Morgan): bonus stop for 2nd straight Barred  in DC bar crawl. Great draft list; upstairs (4huge tvs) decent spot to catch a game.
  • Jack Rose (Adams Morgan)
  • City Tap House (Penn Quarter / Chinatown): stopped by opening week for couple beers at a very bustling HH. Very nice space, good variety/organization for beers. Lots of space for private events. Cool touch-personalized happy hours for groups of friends. Eater DC mentioned my tweet about the bar in a recent story.
  • Ceiba (Downtown): post-work holiday party HH; $5 mojitos, piso sours & other Latin drinks + $6 bites in lounge
  • Sushi Taro (Dupont Circle): terrific 1/2 price drinks + sushi happy hour in cozy 14 seat bar from 5:30-7p. Must get there by 5:20 to be in line to secure spot on Fridays.
  • Darnell’s Bar (U Street): made my first trip to this tiny crowded dive near 9th and Florida. Definitely a very diverse spot with good tunes, though didn’t have any drinks.
  • Blackjack (14th Street): Festive and good crowd at this 14th Street spot above Pearl Dive Oyster Bar
  • Black Whiskey (14th Street): Deafeningly loud rock music and a half-full upstairs bar
  • Pizzeria Paradiso (Dupont Circle): Took advantage of great can food drive for Martha’s Table to get a couple cans of quality craft beers in exchange for a couple of cans of food. Also noticed decent 12 oz. draft beer prices.
  • District Chophouse & Brewery (Chinatown / PQ): Rectify a 6+ year oversight to finally stop by this 7th Street mainstay for its great happy hour. Bar only serves its own 9 beers that are brewed on site; most of these drafts are $3.25 or $3.75 (about $2) during the happy hour that runs until 7p (see perhaps the only copy of the HH list on the interwebs here. Other specials on wine, cocktails, and food can also be had; served by very helpful & friendly bartenders.