Friday, April 11, 2008
It's time to break out of your happy hour rut. Lucky Bar's $2 Budweisers, Cafe Asia's $1-a-piece sushi deals and the Front Page's Thursday night taco bar are great at keeping interns well fed, but there is a world of specials out there that go above and beyond the usual. Here are four to get you started.
-- Fritz Hahn
Beyond1633 P St. NW (above Skewers);
202-387-7400
The deals:$2 beers, $3 pomegranate martinis and $4 Ketel One martinis until 8 (add $1 after that), $2 small plates.
When: Wednesdays from 6 to 11.
When exploring Washington's DJ scene, you can find mixmasters working turntables at clubs any night of the week, though it's hard to find them before 10 or 11.
Unless, that is, you hit Beyond, a party where DJs spin Wednesdays from 6 to 11.
Mukisa Williams has spun in the past, but the information-technology worker comes to Beyond regularly because he says he enjoys the diverse DJs. As someone who listens to a lot of different music, "it's a plus," he says. "It's kind of refreshing to go somewhere and say, 'I don't know what this is.' "
Williams estimates that the crowd is split into two groups: folks who come because they like the music and those who pop in for the fantastic happy hour deals, including $2 bottles of Sam Adams and Yuengling, $4 martinis and a $2 menu of tapas, including mini filet mignon or lamb shish kebabs.
Beyond is above Skewers, a Middle Eastern-themed restaurant in the Dupont Circle neighborhood with fabrics draped on the walls and elaborate tiered lamps hanging over tables.
It takes only about 40 people to fill Beyond. DJ Dan Amitai and other hosts graciously try to find seats for new arrivals, sometimes squeezing them into empty seats at occupied tables. (Be prepared to make new friends.)
Since four DJs spin every week, there's always something new to hear. Founder Amitai estimates that 80 DJs have taken a turn in the past year. (If you're interested, send an e-mail to djamitai@gmail.com and explain what you'd like to play.)
Jeffrey Prosser, a graphic designer, says Beyond is really a sneaky way to introduce people to music they wouldn't hear elsewhere. "A ton of people are downtown workers who just come here for a drink, and they get exposed to all this great music, from '60s to industrial-edge dubstep."
Everybody wins.
Cafe Mozart1331 H St. NW; 202-347-5732
The deals:$5.65 half-liters of beer (regularly $7.75); $9.95 liters of beer (regularly $13.75).
When: Tuesdays from 4 to 9.
Cafe Mozart's bar is a nondescript hideout tucked in the back of a German deli, a bar I enjoy because it's so unhip and because, although Oktoberfest is more than five months away, I can still order a beer as big as my head.
On Tuesdays, three German draft beers come in two sizes: half-liters, which are roughly 16.9 ounces, and liters, which check in at a whopping 33.8 ounces and are served in the weighty, dimpled glasses that are a familiar sight in Munich.
Bartender Greg Brooks, a fixture at Mozart for more than 12 years, serves beers and bowls of bar mix (cheese crackers, pretzels and various nuts). For something more solid, try the bar menu's sausage sampler, featuring several kinds of wurst, or a plate of potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce.
Completing the atmosphere is the one-named Sylvia, a strolling accordion player who works the restaurant as well as the bar. Have a few glasses of the delicious seasonal Hofbrau Maibock beer and you'll find yourself singing along.
Piola1550 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 703-528-1502
The deals: Free snacks, $3 beers, $4 house wine, $5 cocktails.
When: Monday-Friday from 4:30 to 8.
Piola's international flavor is no accident: The Italian-based pizzeria chain has branches scattered from Buenos Aires to Treviso, Italy. The lounge's funky industrial design includes colorful glass light shades overhead, an assortment of modern furniture and rotating exhibitions by local artists on the wall. Loud (almost too loud) house and trance music sets the party vibe.
"Would you like to try some pizza?" A server carrying a pie covered with a variety of mushrooms has stopped next to my barstool, offering small samples of the house pies. Another guy seems incredulous that they're free, but if there's one thing Piola does well, it's deals. Happy hour means $3 bottles of Stella Artois, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell and $4 red or white wines, while bartenders make strawberry and raspberry caipiroskas, or caipirinhas made with vodka ($5).
One of those raspberry drinks is destined for Jacki Silvan, a designer who frequently meets her friend Jim Branch at Piola for drinks. At first, they came because of the convenient location, but they've kept coming back for the excellent bartenders and the happy hour's timing.
As we talk, another server wanders by with a four-cheese pizza for nibbling. "I got here an hour ago," Branch says, "and they've been giving out free pizza since I've been here -- and we're still going to order two more [personal pizzas]. It's that good."
The deals don't stop with the workweek, either: From 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, match any pizza on the menu with any beer for $12.95.
Vinoteca1940 11th St. NW; 202-332-9463
The deals: About 20 wines by the glass for $5; sandwiches, soups and snacks $5-$7.
When: Sundays and Tuesday-Friday from 5 to 7. (The restaurant is closed Mondays.)
A flood of wine bars has opened in the Washington area in the past few years, but sunny Vinoteca has an advantage over all the places competing for your syrah-sipping budget: happy hour. Sunday through Friday, more than 20 wines by the glass are just $5, while the accompanying happy hour menu includes a quiche of the day, a filling panini-and-soup combo and a selection of upscale sliders (think venison topped with brie and roasted poblano chilies or lamb with feta and eggplant).
"This is the best happy hour in the U Street corridor," says Lance Marine, who works in commercial real estate and lives nearby.
The bar's ever-changing wine selection is interesting. On a recent visit, I found the 2005 Jean Luc Columbo La Violette Syrah, Loimer's 2006 Grüner Veltliner and the 2003 Chateau Greysac Medoc, a Bordeaux wine I've seen for much higher prices at other restaurants.
"The wine list is extensive, which I appreciate," says Lance's wife, Stephanie, a teacher at Georgetown Day School. "I've found that happy hour [at other bars] is mostly some house wine or beer. Here, I had a South African pinotage and a malbec."
The only problem can be finding a seat at the marble bar or the long island table down the center of the room. (I'd stake out the cozy group of window seats looking onto 11th Street.) Arrive early or at the tail end of happy hour for the best chance to score seats.
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