Here’s a quick list of bars and specials for the 2018 H Street Festival, today Saturday October 13, 2018. The festival runs from Noon to 7pm.

4th-5th Streets

• The Big Board
  • extended “New Belgium patio” with $5 New Belgium drafts/cans
  • $3 hot dogs, “crazy” corn, cookies
  • games + giveaways
  • $20 credit/debit card minimum
• Bar Elena
  • $4 hot cider (add $3 bourbon shot)
  • other food/drink deals
• Nando’s
  • extended patio

7th-10th Streets

• Taqueria Rosticeria
  • extended patio
• Po Boy Jim
  • extended patio
  • Po Boy eating competition at 7p (no utensils)
  • DJ
• Dio Wine Bar
  • culmination of 1 year anniversary celebration
  • “autumn-inspired, warm and whimsical wine garden”
• Dirty Water
  • will be crazy with UGa-LSU at 3:30 and Sox game at 8
  • extended patio
• Chupacabra
  • extended patio

10th-12th Streets

• The Haymaker
  • extended patio
• Duffy’s Irish Pub
  • 20 oz specials: $6 Guinness (on tap), $5 Guinness Blonde, $4 Miller Lite
  • $3 PBR/Natty Boh Tall Boys
  • sidewalk patio sales
• Ben’s Upstairs
  • drink specials upstairs

• Little Miss Whiskey’s
  • beer garden out front
• Cusbah
  • $8 Crown Royal (including flavors)
  • $6 Smirnoff
  • $5 Brooklyn Summer Ale
• Choong Man
  • extended patio

12th-13th Streets

• The Queen Vic
  • Jameson Irish Whiskey Double Decker bus parked in front
• Sticky Rice
  • open
  • extended patio
• On the Rocks
  • extended patio
• The Pug
  • open
• Granville Moore’s
  • extended patio
  • $5 Ommegang Short Sleeve saison and Boulevard Jam Band cans / $7 Duvel and Ommegang Nirvana IPA
• Dynamix Lounge
  • extended patio

13th-15th Streets

• Dangerously Delicious Pies
  • extended patio
  • Free live music upstairs in Pie Shop starting at 2p-midnight (shows on the hour)
• Hill Prince
  • Federalist Pig BBQ stand in front!
  • extended patio
• Biergarten Haus
  • huge beer garden in front
  • Brats and beers in festival area cash only
• RedRocks H Street
  • extended patio
  • DJ sets all day
  • $8 House Sangria / $10 Tropical Red Bull slushies / $6 Draft beer & cans / $7 Sankofa Hypebiscus pale ale
  • $8 Redrocks spicy sweet chili wings, $14 whole pepperoni neapolitan pizzas / $12 whole cheese pizzas / $8 ravioli pomodora
• H Street Country Club
  • patio extended onto street
• Rock and Roll Hotel
  • “Browdown Throwdown 7”
  • Free open to all ages
  • Bands 1st floor, DJs on 2nd floor and rooftop
  • extended patio
• Star and Shamrock
  • open
  • extended patio
• Sospeso
  • special menu 9a-9p
  • balcony open
• Impala
  • $5 Modelo, Corona cans / $6 Pacifico draft
• Stable
  • extended patio
• IMM on H
  • extended patio
• The Pursuit
  • $8 Rose
  • $35 Rose all day

Wisdom, the low key gin emporium next to the Potomac Ave. Metro in Hill East, celebrates ten years in business the week of October 14th-20th. Owner Erik Holzherr has established both a great neigborhood spot and where gin lovers come to sample an extensive selection.

Specials (including normal HH specials)/Hours (subject to change for anniversary week)

Heller & Wilde [2519 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Facebook, website] has soft-opened in Foggy Bottom in the former Bayou (barely Alfred House) space. The spot calls itself a “Prohibition era inspired pub with turn of the century food and classic cocktail menu in the West End neighborhood.” Bayou, which had frequent live music, closed last summer 2017, with the private-party only Alfred House closed New Year’s Day.

See some photos here.

Tiki Trail DC (Website, Facebook, Instagram)  returns to DC for a month-long celebration of tiki starting Wednesday August 1st, ending Friday August 31st. The treasure hunt has grown 50% from last year, to 12 bars (listed below). A free map is available at each of the bars; with a tiki drink purchase, each bar will give you a clue. When you get all the clues from all spots, the secret location and accompanying invitation will be unveiled for the end-of-the-trail luau held in September. Portion of proceeds will go to Island People Recovery, aimed to helping Puerto Rico recover from devastating Hurricane Maria.

The Tiki Trail is the brainchild of the management team (including The Trusted Barman, Brian Nixon) from McClellan’s Retreat & Truxton Inn; this year the signature presidential/political tiki mugs from sister spot Barrel/PoliTiki will also be available for purchase at McClellan’s Retreat & Truxton Inn as well (you can see some of those mugs featured at McClellan’s Retreat above; note that if you order any drink in the mug a deposit will be required).

Participating Venues 

Georgetown

• Farmers, Fishers, Bakers

Dupont Circle/Adams Morgan

• McClellan’s Retreat
• Bar Charley
• Jack Rose

U Street/Columbia Heights

• Archipelago
• Service Bar
• Good Silver

Shaw/Bloomingdale

• Truxton Inn
• The Passenger/Hogo

H Street/NoMa/Eastern Market

• Copycat & Co.
• Cotton & Reed
• Barrel/PoliTiki

This morning, Jessica Sidman of the Washingtonian reported that the folks behind the awesome Columbia Heights Laotian restaurant, Thip Khao, were opening up a 3rd (1st is in Seven Corners in NoVa) restaurant somewhere in DC this fall. The owners did not reveal the neighborhood or the name of the restaurant, which will have a completely different menu than Thip Khao and will seat 40-50.

A reliable source* informs me that this spot will be coming to Shaw, around 7th and Q NW. The new place will almost assuredly be in the 1st floor space at 1604 7th St NW, directly north of Dacha. Dan Silverman posted scuttlebutt in summer of 2016 that a Lao noodle shop would be coming to this very space; it does not appear that particular concept will be coming, but should be exciting nonetheless.  A building permit (Excel link alert) for restaurant build-out was issued in fall 2017 to Bobby Pradachith, a Thip Khao co-owner/chef. This source also informed me that neighbors should expect longer hours (lunch? breakfast?) with an expanded focus on cocktails, which J Sidman also reported.

For NoMa/east siders who saw my earlier Tweet , there still may be good news. Last week, ABRA approved (see p 24) a tavern liquor license transfer application for a spot called Laos in Town in the Loree Grand building at 250 K St NE. The only retail spot in the building, TD Burger, which opened in 2013, appears to be closed (phone is disconnected and online orders are no longer available), so perhaps another Laotian spot is coming to town. The only other place to get Laotian food, the food truck Sang on Wheels, apparently stopped serving earlier this year (Sang is now on scissors at the Dupont Hair Cuttery).

* “Reliable” meaning I have never met this person nor know their name. They did tweet at me once. I think this checks out though.