Music venues
Blues Alley
One of the world's great jazz clubs, playing host nightly to mostly national and international acts. The atmosphere is wonderful, in a brick building off Wisconsin in an actual "Blues Alley." The venue is tiny and packed full; patrons are respectful and do not talk during performances if you want conversation, go elsewhere. The range of music, however, has become a little wider than jazz purists would likeâcheck the website calendar to make sure you'll hear music to your taste. Seating is not by RSVP, so get in the line early, which starts to form one half hour before shows.
Saloun
Cheap beer, free popcorn, and live musicâmostly jazz, blues, and rockâare all good reasons to come to this crowded dive bar. Audible conversations are not.
Other bars
Birreria Paradiso
Beer heaven for beer lovers! Paradiso keeps a healthy rotation of excellent brews on tap, expertly poured. Unlike most of the middling brews on M St, the prices are fair. Note to Mexicans: no roasted goat servedâthe brewery uses an Italian name to highlight its world-class gourmet pizza.
Degrees
Probably Georgetown's classiest bar, Degrees is absolutely beautiful, stylish, and has top-notch service to deliver its expert cocktails and appetizers. As you might expect, this is also one of the most expensive options around, and drinks start at around $14.
Martin's Tavern
Martin's Tavern is at once both a famous destination spot and just a low-key neighborhood pub. If you like to drink in good historical company, every president from Truman through the last guy has stopped in for a beer. JFK in particular loved it here. If you are willing to settle for less than a president, this is a good place to spot senators, former secretaries of state, pundit hackerati, etc. It's also a good place to have a burger and a beer.
Clubs/lounges
Modern
Georgetown is not the part of the city where one goes clubbing. But if you are in the area and want to have some drinks and dancing, this is a very laid-back, but still classy option that is more popular in the neighborhood than Blue Gin which attracts people from throughout the city. Music varies by nightâSaturdays are geared for wide-appeal, while Thursdays see the regular break-beat party.
Blue Gin
Once the toughest lounge to get into in D.C., Blue Gin has settled into a more relaxed, yet still high-end, trendy atmosphere. Dress to impress and expect the crowd to start arriving around midnight.
Sports bars
J Paul's
Only a run of the mill Georgetown barâlarge, noisy, homogeneous clienteleâexcept for the fact that it has a very impressive, oyster-heavy raw bar.
Rhino Bar & Pumphouse
This is not a good bar, but everyone tends to wind up here nonetheless. It's basically a run-of-the-mill, overcrowded sports bar with expensive beer although some of the microbrews on tap are excellent and reasonably priced, located near the university. If you like very crowded "bump 'n grind" frat-boy dance floors, cough up the $5 cover for the weekend parties.
The Tombs
Appropriately named for being in the tomb-like basement of 1789, the Tombs is the unofficial Georgetown University watering hole. Popular with students and faculty alikeâgraduate courses often relocate here directly after class. Th-Sa nights are extremely crowded, and the bartenders might ignore you. Opt for an afternoon, a weeknight, or better yet a Sunday brunch instead. 1985 "Brat Pack" movie St. Elmo's Fire revolved around a group of students who had just graduated from Georgetownâthe bar that much of the film takes place in is based on The Tombs.
The Who?
Two steps into a bar in Georgetown and you'll have encountered The Hoyas. "The Hoyas" are any and all of the Georgetown University sports teams, but the name can apply more broadly to anyone affiliated with Georgetown, or really anyone who decides to root for the home team. Their blue and gray colors are all over the place, and so is their merchandise. While the term can be applied to anyone and anything Georgetown, it's most commonly understood to refer to the university's famous basketball program, which has produced a long line of NBA stars in recent years, such as Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, and Dikembe Mutombo, and which continues to be one of the NCAA's most competitive teams. Now what is a Hoya? It's not, as commonly believed, the bulldog mascotâthat's Jack, and he belongs to one of the school's Jesuit professors. In decades past, when Georgetown students all studied Latin, the audience at one game descended into a bout of extreme Catholic nerdiness, chanting "Hoya saxa? Georgetown saxa!"âmeaning, "Who rocks? Georgetown rocks." The basketball games are a lot of fun, and a big event in town, but they've gotten too big for the university facilities to handleâthey play downtown at the Verizon Center.
Truly, you don't need a guide to find a sports bar in Georgetown, but here are a few especially noteworthy options:
There are many, many places to drink in Georgetown, from upscale, exclusive bars to college joints. In addition, many places are restaurants-by-day, bars-by-night. M St is the main drag for drinking, and you won't have to walk far to stumble in and grab a beer. The nightlife in Georgetown is crowded and plentiful, but a good deal less fashionable than in less-touristy hotspots like the U St Corridor and Adams Morgan. The booze may be overpriced, but it is nice to have some drinks in a neighborhood where you can walk the side streets intoxicated at night without any fear of getting mugged.