Fado Irish Pub

Not your typical Irish pub, Fado begins where most of the other Irish watering holes leave off. Actually four bars in one, Fado is modeled into different sections: a library room straight out of Trinity College, an old Irish cottage, a Victorian corner store, and a lounge decorated with Gaelic banners and slogans. Sound interesting? It should. At a cost of over $2 million, the proprietors went to painstaking lengths to bring Irish authenticity to the States.

Literally everything in the bar was brought over from Ireland, from the smallest of Victorian antiques, to the huge stones that make up the cottage walls. Irish artists made the trip to Washington just to paint the walls.

If you're still not smelling the clover, have a chat with Mark -- the bartender from Cork -- over an Imperial pint (20 oz.) of Guinness. A wonderful place to bring an appetite, Fado tries to cover the gamut of Irish dining. The menu varies from such classics as corned beef and cabbage to dishes more international like curry and chips or farmhouse brie. And, of course, all the Irish stouts, whiskies and lagers you care to sample.

The large screen TV comes in handy for catching the latest soccer or rugby match on weekends, most without a cover charge.

-- Dwight Thompson