So... you want to be a bar hopper?

Welcome to Washington, D.C. The city where your mother does not want you to go to its Gay Bars. Washington, D.C. has a wealth of variety within its community of clubs, bars, and other interesting places. This page is only meant as a resource that I personally compiled for your convenience and the following viewpoints are soley my own. The directory is to your right- and my reviews, below. Whever you go, please DANCE. Take friends and have fun!

Some places (with links) :
* = Worth checking out

Badlands 22nd & P St., NW *
Chaos 17th & Q St., NW
Cobalt 17th & R St., NW *
JR's 1519 17th St., NW
La Cage 18 O St., SE
Lizard Lounge 18th & N St., NW *
Omega 2122 P St., NW (rear) *
Remington's 639 Penn. Ave., SE
Velvet Nation S. Capitol & K St., SE *
Wet-The Edge 52 L St., SE
Ziegfelds-Secrets 1345 Half St., SE

A D.C. Club Scene

At a Glance Index :

The "Party" place : Velvet Nation (Saturday nights)
... "Come back" bar : Cobalt (any night, weekends- more crowd)
... "Cool place to meet for drinks" : Atlas/Lizard Lounge (Sundays)
... "Neighborhood bar" : JR's
... "Gay Karaoke" gig : Omega
... "Country western" : Remington's
... "Leather/bondage" pit : DC Eagle
... "Stripper" joint : WET or La Cage
... "Drag Queen" show : Ziegfelds-Secrets
... "Scary place turned clean" : Green Lantern
... "Spot the ex-gay member" bar : Mr. P's
... "Place to eat midnight brunch" : Annie's Steak House
... "Cheesecake & coffee" stop over : SoHo Tea & Coffee

Some other places (no links) :
* = Worth checking out

Annie's Steak House 1609 17th St., NW *
Eagle, D.C. 639 New York Ave., NW
Green Lantern 1335 Green Ct., NW
Fireplace 22nd & P St., NW
Mr. P's 2149 P St., NW
Sheridan's Steakhouse 713 8th St., SE
SoHo Tea & Coffee 22nd & P St., NW *
Titan-Hamburger Mary's 1337 14th St., NW

Velvet Nation : The current "in-scene" of Gay DC club partying, Nation opens the doors of the Captiol Ballroom every Saturday night on the corner of South Capitol & K St., S.E. Recent Star-studded events, go-go boys, and expensive DJ's have done well to rake in the attention of boys and men alike. $8 cover from 10pm - 11pm | $12 after 11pm Pro : Great layout and kute bois Con : "Stop stepping on my foot you A**"

Badlands-Annex : Located on 22nd & P St., N.W. is the most popular dance club within the Dupont Cirlce vicinity. Stacked with people, drinks, a medium sized dance floor, a video room, karoke, and after hours- this club is a must visit if you're in the area. Friday is usually the best night to hit sometime after 10:30 PM. $10 cover. Pro : Good variety and all ages/people Con : Crowded, Good luck parking

Chaos : The successor to Trumpets located on 17th and Q is the home of "Asians and Friends" of Washington every Tuesday night after 7:00. The club features a well rounded variety of events each night (including women's night) and is conveniently located next to Annie's Paramount Steak House (the place to go after the clubs) for breakfast and social engagements). Typically considered a stop over while hopping, no particular days are recommended. :-) Pro : Location & Food Con : Small space

Cobalt : The previously burned-down 17th St. gem has been reincarnated. Still at 17th & R St., NW, the bar is regaining much of the prior "groupies" and "yuppy" types in the Dupont neighborhood. Great place to hang out with a friend or lightly cruise the variety of people walking in. The ambience is fairly happy and patrons are usually having a good time. Pro : Fun, happy, good location, bingo? Con : Somewhat "clique-y" Not somewhere you would want to be alone.

JR's : THE gay bar before Cobalt a few years ago. This narrow but cozy bar has an over looking inside balcony with a pool table up stairs and a drop screen from the ceiling for music videos along with the other TV sets. Located on 17th street, you may want to visit if you are looking for a quiet bar hang out that doesn't seem to be raving with kids. Average age now is seemingly around 26 - 48 with occasional newbies here and there. Drinks can be incredibly cheap (for those over 21) on days they have specials or happy hour.. If you have no where to go at 1:30 A.M. on Saturday night and feel lonely.... why not step in and grab a stool? Pro : Non-aggresive and comfortable Con : Narrow bar space

Lizard Lounge : An upbeat bar with a very mixed crowd- wandered over from 14th street to 2 blocks south of Dupont Circle. Generally a nice place to meet a friend and maybe put on a lite groove-your-body-to-the music mood in their dance area. Has an "interesting" upstairs with couches and a view of Connecticut Ave. Pro : A bit more "modern" than some of the older bars Con : Previous location was a little more "quieter" for meeting people and had a better layout. Bar is slightly hard to find.

Omega : A re-named, re-sized, re-vamped bar formally known as the Frat-House on the rear of P St., this bar has come a long way from it's sleazy atmosphere to a classy Thursday night chat house for IRC channel #gaydc. It is owned and operated by the Badlands management and now even features dancing. Pro : Fairly relaxing, unassuming Con : Cruisy & obnoxious patrons

Tips for the "clueless" Gay D.C. bar hopper :

The streets of D.C. around Dupont Circle are usually one of the safer places to walk. Though parking can tend to be a headache on Friday/Saturday nights, once you find that space.. you wouldn't sell it for that hot studly athletic boy standing in sight of your rear view mirror. Out of town drivers quickly go wide in the eyes due to some heavy ticketing that could cost them $25 - $80 for illegal parking that they swore was okay and towing can charge up to as much as $160. ADVICE : Please check ALL signs around your parking space and make sure NONE of them say "no parking" at that time, EVEN if you see a hundred cars parked there. Politely greet or walk by pan handlers without having to lose all of your life savings before you get to the bar, club, or destination.

"Things NOT to say in a gay bar..." and more reviews to come...

A Bar Route :

P St. Route N.W. - Start at Soho Tea & Coffee located on the corner of P & 22nd St. Have a drink with friends or make new ones. You can cruise through the near by bars which include Fireplace, Mr P's, and Omega before you finally head over to Badlands to dance later at night. Consider munching a late night /early morning snack at the little 24 hour Greek/Sub shop hole-in-the-wall where you can't go wrong with the gyros and falafels. For exercise, walk a few blocks over to Connecticut Ave. to visit Lambda Rising Books or The Pleasure Place (not open at night).

17th St. Route N.W. - Start at Pop Stop Coffee shop located near the CVS on the corner of P and 17th St. Make your way heading north on the right side of 17th St. hitting all the bars on that side. Try Jr's, Chaos, and Cobalt before you drive your way over to either Velvet (Saturday) or other "themed" club destination. Slurpie's at the 7-11 on the corner of 17th & S are a must and so is breakfast or a midnight brunch at Annie's Paramount Steak house (an institution for gay persons). If it happens to be a Sunday, you might want to walk over to 14th St. and visit Lizard Lounge between 10 - 11 PM where the crowds start to pick up.