The Big Hunt

The Big Hunt may be the only bar in the world in which the walls of one room are molded like safari tents. But the real big game in this Dupont Circle bar are eligible men and women in their early twenties. The Big Hunt offers them a variety of settings for mutual pursuit.

The first-floor restaurant is split between two rooms, both with booths. More than two dozen drafts are available at the slightly divey bar. The menu includes some nicely prepared surprises: an exceptional $7 grilled tuna salad and a focaccia veggie burger with fries among them. At $3.25 a pint, premium drafts are a few cents cheaper than at other nearby places, and the price plunges to $1.75 on weekdays from 4:40 to 7:30 p.m. When seating in the main room gets tight, an upstairs drinking balcony and a spacious basement bar provide alternatives. The latter sports long tables surrounded by what is best described as Halloween house-party decor, including a plastic net on the ceiling and Christmas lights that are delicately draped over exposed utility meters.

– Dan Pacheco