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