Capitol Hill

Once the regular home to Roberta Flack, this place has seen some ridiculously famous clientele—Burt Bacharach, Carmen McRae, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Ramsey Lewis, and Johnny Mathis were all fans. The live music continues upstairs, but for the most part this is just a nice neighborhood style and mildly divey pub, particularly gay/lesbian-friendly, and a block off Eastern Market.

Quiet, off the beaten track lounge located in East Capitol Hill, specializing in delicious cocktails made with fresh fruit and the largest Absinthe selection in the city. For a romantic night, grab one of the private tables for two behind curtains and discreet servers who won't bother you unless called.

Cap City is always packed and popular. For that very reason it deserves something of a warning—the drinks are below average and overpriced, ditto the food, and both the crowd and the staff tend to be rude, especially on crowded weekends. On the upside, the building is rather beautiful, as it is in the Old Post Office Building, and it has a rooftop patio.

This Barracks Row Cuban/Tex Mex/Puerto Rican bar and restaurant has a piano bar on the second floor with a piano man well and above the average. The food here is fine; the Cuban food is better. The upstairs bar has an excellent happy hour special upstairs featuring $3 margaritas, and there is patio seating in good weather.

Capitol Hill dive bars don't really live up to that name. The neighborhood is populated with yuppies and Hill staffers. The name refers to general positions on U.S. national security policy. TVs are tuned to CNN. Regardless, this is a good bar, with cheaper drinks than you'll get elsewhere in the neighborhood, and it approximates the look well enough!

Trusty's sister bar in Eastern Market, with an excellent draft selection, pizza and pub food, average prices. Happy hour M-F 4PM-8PM.

Intimate basement pub underneath the Pour House, self-styled as "old world." Excellent beer selection.

Loud and rowdy sports bar with pub fare and some seafood. Saturday and Sunday brunch starting at 10AM. Happy hour M-Th 4PM-7PM, F until 9PM. Sits below its classy sister bar, Top of the Hill.

Trusty's is as about as local as you can get on the eastern side of Capitol Hill. A true neighborhood dive bar, and removed from the rowdy Eastern Market/Barracks Row scene, Trusty's is generally populated with long-time and new neighborhood residents alike, most of whom know each other and the bartenders. It's a good place to get a feel for people who actually live in the area, and the burgers, cheesesteaks, and chili are amongst the best in the city. Drafts and cocktails are served in mason jars, and cans of Tecate and PBR are always on special. Most importantly, it's one of the last places in the city purporting to be a dive bar that actually still has dive bar prices. An excellent place to get loaded before heading to a D.C. United match at RFK Stadium!

Tunnicliff's

Nothing terribly out of the ordinary, this is just a good bar. Prices are cheap, it's right by Eastern Market, wooden interior, and there's patio seating. The menu offers decent Cajun cuisine. As a plus, dogs are allowed on the patio, and rest assured, they come in droves.

There's certainly no shortage of bars in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, most of which are concentrated around the West side of the Capitol, and on the Eastern Market/Barracks Row strips. Catering to a diverse crowd of overworked hill staffers, lobbyists, lawyers, lawmakers, Marines from the nearby Barracks and neighborhood locals, there's something for everyone.