[NOTE: for March Madness 2019 spots, click here]

March Madness is upon us, and it does not get better than Thursday and Friday for the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. See TV schedule and bracket here. I’ve highlighted all the sports bars, which are your best bets to have an atmosphere, and specials. I’ll be taking off the afternoon once again, like I’ve done every year I’ve worked. Email/Tweet at me if you wanna meet up if your friends aren’t. Saturday is St. Paddy’s Day, so be forewarned

Dupont Circle

• Public Bar
  • showing every game
  • TBD food/drink specials
• Buffalo Billiards
  • $22 buckets of 16 oz. Bud Light/Coors Light / $6 Captain Morgan
• Lucky Bar
  • doors open at 2p
• Across the Pond
  • Specials during games Thurs-Fri, & Sun
  • $5 apps
  • $4 house pilsner, $5 Carlsberg; $9 Modelo & Jameson shot combo; $10 PBR & Jameson shot combo
  • HH specials 4-8p
• City Tap House
  • Special $5 pint special throughout tourney

Adams Morgan

• Ventnor Sports Cafe
  • open at 11a Thurs & Fri
  • $5 tall boys of select beer every game  / $5 green beer & discount pitchers Sat 
  • Skyline Chili-style Coney dogs during Cincy games
• Jack Rose
  • Courtside Rooftop HH
  • Opens at 5p
  • 5 Pints, $7 Punch and $9 Whisk(e)ys
  • 4-5 TVs

U Street / Shaw / Logan Circle / Bloomingdale

• Franklin Hall
  • open at noon
  • $3 Narragansett pints / $8 Narragansett Liter Mugs for all games
• Duffy’s
  • $5 pints of green beer starting March 14th
• Nellie’s Sports Bar
  • open at 11a
  • $4 Miller lite bottles during games
• Stoney’s
  • discount drafts ($4-6 Bud Light or Vienna Lager) / $12 Bud Light pitcher / $15 Shock Top pitcher / $20 Vienna Lager pitcher / $5 shots
  • $5 grilled cheese / $7 super grilled cheese during games
• Exile’s
  • Opens at 2p Fri for extra-long HH
• Solly’s
  • Open at noon Thurs-Sat for tourney
• Ivy & Coney
  • Open at Noon
  • HH till 7p ($2 Stroh’s, $4 Combos)
• Player’s Club
  • Open at Noon
• The Pub and the People
  • Open for lunch at 11a

Chinatown / Penn Quarter

• Penn Social
  • doors open at noon
  • $4 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, and $5 Devil’s Backbone
• Penn Quarter Sports Tavern
  • HH 4-7p
  • 1/2 price nachos on Thurs at 7:30p
• Whiskey Diner
  • drink specials during all games
• Hill Country
  • During games, $9 pitchers of Genessee Cream Ale any time game on
• Penn Commons
  • open at 11a
  • HH starts at 4p
  • HH all the time if you wear team gear for any A-10, Big 10 or ACC game
  • beer madness bracket
• Rocket Bar
  • doors open at 4p
  • $4 16 oz. Dos Equis cans during all games
• The Partisan
  • Meat Madness available after 5p (32 types of charcuterie)
  • 2 TVs
• City Tap House
  • Special $5 pint special throughout tourney

Columbia Heights / Petworth

• Lou’s City Bar
  • BOGO HH kicks off 11:30a-7p
  • 10 lunch items for under $10 ready in 10 minutes
  • 23 TVs

Capitol Hill/Navy Yard/The Wharf/H Street/Ivy City

• The Ugly Mug
  • open at 11a
  • specials
  • live bands at 9:30 Fri & Sat night
• Union Pub
  • $15 Bud/Bud Light Buckets / $14 Bud Light Pitchers / $5 Goose Island IPA drafts / $5 rails
  • all day on gamedays
• Dirty Water
  • open at 11a
  • $24 Budweiser tubes / $28 8 Bud Light bottle buckets
• Finn McCool’s
  • open at 11a Thu-Fri & Sun; 9a Sat
  • $4 Heineken draft / $18 Heineken buckets during games (except Sat.)
  • food specials as well except Sat.
  • 4 122 inch project screens, 12 60″ TV
• Dock FC
  • all games
• Star & Shamrock
  • open at noon (Bullfrog Bagels available)
• The Brig
  • open at noon
  • 10 TVs
  • HH 3-7p $6 Half Liters | $11 Liters on selected beer / $4 Tall Boy 16oz. Can
    Natty Boh, PBR / $5 Besos Del Sol White Sangria / ​$4 Bavarian Pretzel with beer cheese
• The Brighton
  • open at 11a
  • drink specials if you wear alumni/team gear

Cleveland Park/NW DC

•  Jake’s
  • downstairs open Wed-Sat for games
• Millie’s
  • food specials /prizes
  • $5 Cisco drafts all tournament long

Downtown/West End

• Bottom Line
  • open at 11a
• Blackfinn
  • open at 11a
• Old Ebbitt Grill
  • open at 7:30a or 8:30a
• Union Trust Bar
  • open at noon
• Stoney’s on L
  • open at 11a
  • Pigpile Totchos $10, 20-wing platter for $18, Nachos $8
  • $4 Stoney’s Drafts, $12 Bud Light Pitchers