Adams Morgan's Tom Tom was, in the late '90s, legendary among the local student/intern population for its $1 beer nights and $1-per-shot Thursdays. It was pretty disgusting inside, full of people looking for the cheapest ways to get drunk and maybe hook up. And then it closed in spring 2000 and sat vacant, with the giant, glowing Tom Tom sign still marking its territory.

I was at a bar one Friday night, talking to the bartender, when I mentioned that some friends and I were checking out the new and improved Tom Tom, which (I'd heard) had become more fancy than its previous incarnation. The bartender wrinkled her nose and asked, "How do you make upscale Jell-O shots?"

Waiting to get in, I noticed that even if Tom Tom was putting on new clothes, the customers weren't - no one in front of me had a D.C. drivers' license, but there were a few from Virginia and the Midwest (although you couldn't discern the state of origin from the uniform of black pants and sparkly shirts). But everyone who heard it was a good place for students, interns and the cost-conscious to hang out was in for a shock.

I'm going to get this out of the way early: A Budweiser is now $4. The draft beer selection starts there and moves up to $5.50 for Guinness and Bass (check the beer menu on your table). Mixed drinks will run you $4 or more. Then again, some prices seem variable -- we were quoted two different prices for the same cocktail by two different bartenders on the same floor. But it's nice to have another Adams Morgan bar with no dress code and no cover charge.

Downstairs, attempts have been made to smarten the place up: brick walls painted white, palm trees in planters, and a small lounge area with couches and coffee tables. The dance floor, now larger, has been moved to the back, past the bar. We didn't stay long, though, as the music is way too loud, even while sitting at the bar, and, for midnight on a Friday, not very good - we heard two Guns N' Roses songs within 15 minutes (not that there's anything wrong with Axl), and then suffered through the DJ's transition from "Paradise City" to Madonna's "Like A Virgin."

Upstairs, it's easy to see that Tom Tom wants to be a cut above its previous incarnation as a sticky, student-laden hole. The vibe they're attempting to get is somewhere between its close neighbors the Blue Room and Common Share, but it's a delicate balance. If they go too upscale, they'll scare people off. The bar seems most comfortable trying to be the place where the khaki-shorted and cross-trainer-clad masses will go after being turned away at the doors of the Blue Room. To that end, the furniture is shabby chic - it's nice, dark wood, somewhat worn but not trashy. Lots of seating is available: couches, loveseats, a table for six.

There are three distinct areas: The bar, at the top of the stairs, which has plenty of room for standing, its own stereo system (Jay-Z instead of GN'R) and - bonus points here - an old school 8-bit Nintendo console hooked up to a large TV. One guy was playing Super Mario Brothers the whole time we were there. Up a few stairs is a long, comfortable lounge-style room with seating lining the walls and a narrow walkway leading to the rear of the club, which now features tables under a retractable roof that lets in a nice breeze, so (thankfully) it isn't as stuffy as the front of the floor. Shockingly, it's not a bad place to hang out.

Who Tom Tom wants to attract is clear: the people who don't want to wade through grime in dive bars, but can't be bothered to dress up and pay $10-$20 to get in to cooler lounges like the Eighteenth Street Lounge or the Blue Room. Tom Tom's challenge will be to get those patrons to pay $4 for a draft beer while living down its past reputation. It won't be easy.

-- Fritz Hahn (July 2002)