Meet you downstairs in
the bar and heard
Your rolled up sleeves
in your skull tee-shirt.
You say, “What did you
do with him today?”
And sniffed me out
like I was Tanqueray
First things first – blogging is
very new to me, so I apologize that I’ve had many distractions on my tab as of
late and have not posted as quickly as I had been hoping. It has been holiday season in the
DMV, meaning back-to-back Congressional receptions, K Street galas, and
personal holiday Kikis, on top of the usual cocktail hour in the Capital, and I
haven’t set enough time to formally write it all! But, my mama always told me, don’t make
excuses. Learn, live, and change the
course ahead, so I’mma make up for my absence from last week's postings. Hope you enjoy! xoxox
It’s (well, it WAS) Monday night
in the District, and a friend of a friend is throwing a birthday celebration
together over…you guessed it, happy hour. The celebration location: Rocket Bar in
Gallery Place/Chinatown, a location I frequent fairly often due to its
convenient location in the middle of Capitol Hill and “Downtown” (downtown as
the ubiquitous phrase for DC’s K Street – the lobbying world). Rocket bar is another car in the train of one
of the newer trends to hit the Capitol City – an adult Chuck E Cheese, meaning
saloons that will serve you the sauce alongside skeeball + shuffleboard (and
pool, darts, etc.). There was first the
cupcake craze, then fro-yo fever, and now it’s this - DC has undiagnosed
ADD. This fad appears in diverse forms
across the District as well – there was the Cereal Bowl in Cleveland Park, which has since closed
(I’ll give you 1 guess as to the heart of their business), and now we have Ted
Bulletin’s on Barrack’s Row, famous for their creative homemade poptarts. These bars are a forum for residents to break away from
their city’s habit of taking itself too serious, through a taste of nostalgia…
The night is early and while
it’s also early in the week, there’s a sizeable crowd on hand. This is not my first rodeo with Rocket Bar,
and though the throng is smaller than it is later in the week, you’re bound to
find a high percentage of the congregation populated by younger Administration
staff (the Dept of Justice, the FBI, and the Dept of Labor all have offices
nearby), young business and consulting staff (Living Social is doors down), DC City staff, and local and federal judicial staff. On the other hand, there are few heavy-duty lobbyists,
limited Hill staff, and even with a Georgetown basketball game playing that
evening across the street at the Verizon Center, the inundating sports crowds pre-gaming the area
are not packing the joint either.
The staff at Rocket Bar is accommodating-this
place is everyone’s basement, where you can avoid the formalities of DC life,
let your hair down, and kick back over games that remind you of your childhood
while simultaneously catching professional athletics alongside Sportscenter, all of
which are blasting on multiple big screen TVs.
This is a guy’s place-I’ve never had a girlfriend suggest Rocket Bar for
the evening, and the drinking menu is a clear reflection of that. The emphasis is placed on the brew, and while
there are other options for those who prefer a drink that other than beer, Rocket
Bar offers the basic minimums for wine and mixed drinks. What to eat with all this beer? Rocket Bar is also one in a chain of bars
which don’t serve food but welcome patrons to bring their own food-BYOF. With so many excellent bites to satisfy your
time frame, taste, and billfold budget around the GP/Chinatown, this is not a
loss for patrons. However, for my group
this evening, it’s an inconvenience to leave for nourishment and return, so we
decide to bounce the bar and the neighborhood entirely in search of a location where we can get eat, drink, and be in football merriment...
My last call on Rocket Bar: uber laid-back,
sausage-infested 20-somethings/young 30-somethings crowd, looking for an economical beer and cheap bar thrills. The
patrons are typically well-vetted and this is an escape from business, so their confidential business will stay in
the office or more formal, discrete locations; office fantasy football scenarios, however, will not.
MNF To Be Continued…
