Come On, Get Happy . . . on a Budget

Welcome back, college students. I hope you had an enjoyable summer vacation. (No need to write an essay about it -- yet.) The subject of today's lesson is Happy Hour 101: finding food and drink deals amenable to a 21-year-old's budget. Pay attention and take notes. You will be tested out there.

-- Fritz Hahn

Asylum

2471 18th St. NW, 202-319-9353

Saturday happy hour at Asylum is the stuff of legends. The famed Miller High Life Countdown starts with 50-cent pints of beer at 5 p.m., and prices rise 50 cents every hour until 11. The dungeonlike basement bar is filled with bikers, heavy metal fans, hipsters, kickball teams -- anyone smart enough to appreciate a bargain (and the punk tunes on the jukebox). Just remember to tip your bartenders more than a quarter. During the rest of the week, Asylum isn't a bad place to start an Adams Morgan bar crawl: From 5 to 8, all beers are a buck or two off, tacos go for $1.50 each and wings are 50 cents.

Cafe Asia

1720 I St. NW, 202-659-0756; 1550 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, 703-469-1953

Famous for its bargain-basement sushi happy hour ($1.25-a-piece nigiri, $2.50 Kirin drafts, discounted sake), Cafe Asia's bar area quickly becomes packed. Its saving grace is that it runs from 4 until 7:30, so stragglers can often find a seat. If you're meeting a date for happy hour, this is one of the better options around, though the Rosslyn branch often has more room than the D.C. location.

Chef Geoff's

3201 New Mexico Ave. NW, 202-237-7800; 1301 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 202-464-4461

It's easy to see why students tend to flock to the American University location of this local restaurant and office workers fill the bar in its sister location downtown. Happy hour brings $5 burgers, $8 personal pizzas and $7.95 draft beers -- but that's not just any beer, it's a 34-ounce supermug. Also, the deals are offered all day on Monday and Tuesday and from 3 to 7 the rest of the week. (As great as happy hour is, don't overlook the prix fixe "Sunset Special": a three-course dinner for less than $20, offered between 4 and 6:30.)

The Front Page

1333 New Hampshire Ave. NW, 202-296-6500

The Front Page's Thursday taco happy hour has been a staple of the young-and-hungry scene for years and should remain that way for some time to come: The lure of $2 Coronas and a $1-per-plate taco bar is just too much to resist. The drink specials begin at 5 and run all night; tacos are available from 5 to 7. The rest of the week is nothing to sneeze at either: $2.75 draft beers, rail drinks and wine from 4 to 7 weekdays, and $2.75 Bud and Bud Light from 7 to close on Wednesday.

Hawk and Dove

329 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, 202-543-3300

Washington's youngest and thirstiest workforce can be found on Capitol Hill, and it seems like every other bar has a special designed to lure them in. Although English majors may not want to spend the evening debating an appropriations bill with enthusiastic would-be wonks, you can certainly share a beer. Start at the Hawk and Dove, where free food (everything from grilled cheese to popcorn shrimp) is laid out between 4 and 7 to complement the $2 beer specials.

Lucky Bar

1221 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-331-3733

Anywhere else, a weekday happy hour that runs from 3 to 8 would be extraordinary, with drafts starting at $2.50 and rail drinks for a buck more. At Lucky Bar, though, it's overshadowed by the legendary "Do the Deuce" Thursday night, where Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Select and basic rail drinks like vodka-and-tonic are $2 from 3 until close. Bike messengers rub shoulders with interns, while young professionals in office attire get down with hipsters on the dance floor. On Tuesday and Wednesday, there are food specials (half-price burgers and 25-cent wings) paired with $3 pints of Yuengling.

My Brother's Place

237 Second St. NW, 202-347-1350

Long a hangout for Catholic University students, My Brother's Place offers deals that appeal to anyone studying microeconomics. The daily happy hour ($2.50 domestic brews from 4 to 8) is solid enough, as are the nightly deals, including $1 drinks for ladies from 9 to 11 on Mondays, $8 pitchers of Yuengling on Wednesdays, or $2.50 domestic beers from 9 to close on Thursday's "College Night." But weekends are when the bar really shines. On Fridays, the Beat the Clock special has 75-cent draft beers from 4 to 5, and the price rises a quarter every hour until 9. DJs spin all night. Saturday, the party starts early with $2 drafts from 4 to 9, followed by an all-you-can-drink happy hour from 9 to 1. The $15 charge covers four hours of unlimited domestic beers and rail drinks from 9 to 10. DJs play pop tunes to pull people onto the dance floor.

McFadden's

2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 202-223-2338

There's always something going on at McFadden's, a crowded, two-level pub with a dance floor, and it usually involves getting liquored up on the cheap. For those with college IDs, Tuesday specials are $1 Miller Lite cans and $1 drinks from 8 to 10, and $5 Jagermeister bombs until close. Thursday specials feature $3 Coronas and $2 Coors Lights all night long. Friday specials are $2 Bud and Bud Light bottles. During football games (college or NFL), the bar offers 60-ounce pitchers of beer for $10, $2 bottles of Miller Lite and $5 wing baskets. From 4 to 7 weekdays, everything in the joint is half-price. Monthly mechanical bull riding contests and late-night DJs bring in plenty of students from nearby George Washington and Georgetown universities, but you'll find student IDs from all over the area.

Polly's

1342 U St. NW, 202-265-8385

Looking to grab a drink before a show at the 9:30 club or Black Cat? One of the coziest, friendliest spots on U Street is Polly's Cafe, a tiny cash-only restaurant and bar. Happy hour, weekdays from 4 to 7, is kinder to your wallet than most of its neighbors: Your four choices, all priced at $2, are Budweiser drafts, Miller Lite bottles, PBR cans or any rail drink. With the money you save on booze, you can afford to slip another buck into the jukebox.

Thirsty Turtle

7416 Baltimore Ave., College Park, 301-277-2003

For well over a decade, the College Park bar scene has been dominated by the Cornerstone, the Santa Fe Cafe and R.J. Bentley's. But now a newcomer is shaking things up. The Thirsty Turtle, which replaced Lupo's Italian Chophouse on Route 1, offers DJs, beer pong tournaments and so many happy hour specials it will make your head spin. The usual Monday-Thursday deals in the two-level space are pretty good: $2 rails and domestic drafts, 50-cent wings and $3 jumbo slices of pizza. Then you look at what's offered from 10 to close: Monday has $1 drafts, $2 bottles and $2 Long Island iced teas, Tuesday brings $3 pitchers of domestic beer, $1 bottles, $1.50 Coronas, $2 rail drinks, $2 shots. Friday's happy hour kicks off with $2 drafts and rails from 2 to 8, followed by $1 drafts from 8 to 10. Even on Saturday, there are $1 beer and $2 mixed drink specials. No wonder the line goes down Route 1.

Tonic at Quigley Pharmacy

2036 G St. NW, 202-296-0211

George Washington may be the most expensive four-year university in the country, but it has one perk other area schools don't: a decent bar, right in the middle of campus, that's patronized by students and local office workers. From 4 to 7 on weekdays, the ground-floor bar at Tonic offers 50-cent wings (the best in the neighborhood) and half-price draft beers, so you'll pay $2.25 for a pint of Yuengling or Red Hook or $3 for Guinness or Hoegaarden. (Glasses of wine are $5, which doesn't seem like as much of a steal.) Upstairs, sprawl on one of the leather couches while enjoying similar deals; the only trade-off is half-price bottled beers instead of drafts.