Atlas district
Biergarten Haus
The outdoor courtyard is an enormous draw on H St, as is the great selection of German draughts served in huge mugs, meaning this is one crowded hotspot in good weather. If you can get past the bartenders to that courtyard, by all means spend the night here, but otherwise the indoor section is more than a fine spot for a pint. The food is not up to par with the rest of what is on offer, but even low quality German food will go well with some good beer and F-Sa live polka bands.
H Street Country Club
H St's take on Dave & Busters is possibly aiming to steal the title of the street's most eclectic venue: upscale Mexican cuisine in the dining room via a nationally acclaimed chef, an impressive cocktail menu via a nationally acclaimed mixologist, and then an outrageous mini-golf course, along with pool tables, shuffleboard, skee-ball, etc. The golf course is a work of art, full of random Washingtonian references and inside jokes like Marion Barry's Awakening on hole eight. It can also be extremely crowded, and best played on a weeknight or otherwise very early in the evening. Alcohol is served on the course, so it's 21+.
Red Palace
D.C.'s carnie bar the Palace of Wonders and music club the Red and the Black have merged to form one big bar and music venue. Fans of the side show acts, fire dancers, and sword-swallowing bartenders rightly mourn the passing of the original Palace, but this remains a good spot for a show and it's a whole lot easier to see the big stage post-remodel and at least burlesque remains a frequent dish on the menu.
Rock and Roll Hotel
Not a hotel, rather H Street's biggest performance venue/nightclub in a former funeral home. Regardless of whether anyone's playing downstairs indie rock or DJs, the upstairs is a pretty terrific place to hang out, shoot some pool, get some drinks, or play that piano if you can hear yourself over the blaring rock music. The atmosphere is a fun mix of metal and Western.
The Atlas District has been going strong for several years now, despite the fact that most Washingtonians remain afraid of the neighborhood, and offers D.C.'s most eclectic, most unique, most off-beat nightlife. This isn't simply a strip full of hipsters lounging in divesâthe different venues, bars, and lounges all have a very strong sense of individual character. Since they're pretty much all lined up on the 1200 and 1300 blocks, you can have a very fulfilling one-night crawl! Below is only a sampling, new places open regularly in the neighborhood, and most of the restaurants become bars later on in the night as well.
SOVA Espresso & Wine
SOVA fills two niches at once as the neighborhood's coffeeshop/WiFi hangout, and as the nightlife strip's wine bar in the evenings second floor. The coffee and tea are top notch Intelligentsia & loose leaf Rishi Teas. The wine bar/lounge, which also serves beer and cocktails, is beautiful, comfortable, and very romantic.
Takoma Station Tavern
W-Sa nights see nightly jazz/R&B/gogo performances this is the best bar period to see a gogo performance, and Mondays are stand-up comedy. Music usually starts around 11PM.
Domku Cafe & Bar
This is one of the most fun places to get a drink in the city. The atmosphere is laid back, fashionable, and Scandinavian. The food is quite good as well, which also ventures into Polish and Baltic cuisines. For drinks, you'll be spoiled for options that you won't find anywhere else: Georgian wines and chacha!, Baltic lagers, Armenian brandies, and Scandinavian aquavits. Flights of three of the latter are especially popular, with all sorts of surprising infusions like dill, chili pepper, cardamom, etc.