By Fritz Hahn
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, December 19, 2008
Have you started pinching pennies since the economy has tightened? So have downtown club owners. Free-flowing open bars and lavish buffets, once trumpeted by promoters as a way to lure in early crowds, have essentially dried up.
Perhaps that explains the thick crowds last week at Lux (649 New York Ave. NW; 202-347-8100 or http://www.luxloungedc.com), a three-story lounge that just replaced the Avenue nightclub off Mount Vernon Square. To drum up business on Fridays, promoters are offering free admission and, more important, free Absolut vodka drinks and Miller Lites from 9 to 11 p.m.
"You can't beat a free drink," Oscar Natera, a 22-year-old student from Fairfax County, says as he sips cocktails with friends at the front bar. "Drinks are expensive, and I don't make that much, so I'll take what I can get." Natera was so eager to take advantage of the deal that he wanted to get to Lux at 9, "but the girls took too long" and they arrived after 10, he says with a laugh.
Women have an easier time going out for free than men do. At the happening Kstreet Lounge (1301 K St. NW; 202-962-3933 or http://www.kstreetdc.com), groups of six women receive a free bottle of champagne to share on Friday nights, and groups of 10 get champagne, a round of shooters and a reserved table if they RSVP. Men get . . . free admission before midnight. On Saturday nights, women can RSVP for free admission and an open bar from 10 to midnight. (Guys are out of luck.)
During salsa night every Monday at Lima Lounge (1401 K St. NW; 202-789-2800 or http://www.limarestaurant.com) women get free admission and drinks from 9 to 11 p.m. (Men get free admission and salsa lessons.) On Tuesdays, the scene shifts to Tattoo (1413 K St. NW; 202-408-9444 or http://www.tattoobardc.com), where ladies can partake of a free open bar from midnight on.
Guys, take heart: Ultrabar (911 F St. NW; 202-638-4663 or http://www.ultrabardc.com) offers free drinks to everyone from 9 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
(To take advantage of these deals, visit the clubs' Web sites to put your name on a list or print out a pass.)
Here are few other options for discounted drinks that I have been using recently to keep my wallet feeling a little fuller on a night out.
Ceiba701 14th St. NW; 202-393-3983 or http://www.ceibarestaurant.com
The saddest time of day in Washington is 7 p.m., when most happy hour specials end and prices shoot back to normal levels, where cocktails hover around $10. And don't even think about getting discounted cocktails and complimentary snacks after 9 p.m. -- unless you're going to Ceiba. The sunny restaurant and lounge has a new happy hour special that steers clear of rail drinks and puts such tropical drinks in your hand for a mere Lincoln.
Every day, a selected cocktail is $5 from 2:30 to 9:30 p.m.: mojitos on Monday, caipirinhas on Tuesday, pisco sours on Wednesday, sangria on Thursday and margaritas on Friday. Then comes the kicker: From 9:30 to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, any one of those drinks is $5. Throw in $5 appetizers and free "bocaditos" (small bar snacks) and you have the makings of a classy-yet-budget-friendly night out.
Gin & Tonic2408 Wisconsin Ave. NW; 202-337-1313 or http://www.ginandtonictavern.com
Gin & Tonic has made quite a name for itself since taking over Grog & Tankard in Glover Park a few months ago, with Georgetown's young-and-preppy waiting in long lines outside the back-to-basics tavern on weekends. The draw: DJs spinning '80s classics and current hits, tables folded out of the way to turn the room into a huge dance floor and heavy-handed bartenders.
But, says owner Fritz Brogan, there was a problem: The crowds weren't showing up until after 10 p.m. So he's trying to lure them in the old-fashioned way: drink specials. The four-hour progressive happy hour on Thursday, Friday and Saturday means that, beginning at 5 p.m., selected domestic drafts are $1 and mixed drinks $2. Prices rise a dollar an hour until 9 p.m. Is the idea new? Hardly. But finding $1 drinks on Friday and Saturday nights is a steal, even if it means having to leave the house a little early.
DC91940 Ninth St. NW; 202-483-5000 or http://www.dcnine.com
Free booze is generally the province of large, swanky nightspots rather than come-as-you-are rock clubs. Not so at DC9, a cool, two-story venue near Ninth and U streets, which uses drink specials as a way to lure patrons into its DJ nights. A 90-minute open bar is included in the $6 cover charge at Friday night's Liberation Dance Party, where DJs spin indie, Britpop and electro from such groups as the Rifles and TV on the Radio. The special extends only to no-name rail drinks, but the T-shirt-and-sneakers crowd pours out plenty of vodka sodas and gin-and-tonics between 9 and 10:30 p.m.
Also at DC9: Nouveau Riche, an excellent night of underground electro and hip-hop, offers free admission and free Sparks, the caffeine-infused alcoholic energy drink, from 9 to 10 p.m. at its monthly throw-down (the next one is Saturday). Kids, a new monthly hip-hop party (the next one is Jan. 3), gives out free Olde English malt liquor along with free admission until 10 p.m., and Feedback, a monthly exploration of Britpop, club bangers and everything in between (the next one is Jan. 10), offers free admission and vodka cocktails until 10 p.m.
Jay's Saloon and Grille3114 N. 10th St., Arlington; 703-527-3093
Jay's is an odd, wonderful place and one of the only bars in Arlington where, when you pony up for the "Attitude Adjustment" happy hour after work, you might find a plumber on one side of you and a guy in a suit on the other, both sipping from longneck bottles. The decor includes Christmas lights, old Redskins signs, inflatable beer bottles and a license plate that says "My best friends are Charlie and Jack Daniels." On weekends, there's a DJ spinning oldies and a crowd around the pool table.
From 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays, an ice-cold mug of domestic beer is $2, and a bottle is $2.50. Pitchers are $8. A glass of the house wine is $3.50, and the service is pleasant and prompt.
Hank Dietle's Tavern11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville; 301-881-8711
You won't find any attitude at Hank Dietle's, an old-fashioned, rough-and-tumble roadhouse where the beer is cold and the menu consists of bags of chips hanging on the wall behind the bar. (Go for the Utz crab chips, dusted with something resembling Old Bay.)
Country music plays from the jukebox, and competition is fierce at the coin-operated pool table. The prices are just as much of a throwback: From 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays, a mug of Bud or Bud Light or any domestic beer is $1.50. Trade up to a pint for $1.75, or split a pitcher for $6.25. (At 7:01, prices climb to $2.25, $2.75 and $8.75, respectively, which is still a deal in my book.)
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