Nightlife

When it comes to drinks, dancing and even drag shows, DC’s GLBT-flavored nightlife scene is sure to please.

What’s New

Half Street SE is happening once again. Longtime fixtures on the DC nightlife scene Ziegfields and Secrets have found a new home in their old neighborhood, which is now also home to Nationals Park. You’ll find DC’s best drag shows and hottest go-go dancers (open Wednesdays through Sundays).

Let’s Dance

Managed by the same team that brought you Tracks in the 80s and Velvetnation in the 90s, Town, is a chic two-floor “danceboutique,” located at the east end of U Street. Town boasts one of the most beautiful and most spacious dance floors in the city where you can expect a young clientele on Fridays and shirtless professionals partying to celebrated DJs on Saturdays. Take a break from dancing and catch the drag and video shows downstairs.

You’ll find smaller crowds at mainstays near Dupont Circle like Apex, which has one main dance level, but also offers videos in the back and karaoke upstairs. Cobalt on 17th Street, open and gay every night, is known for its Tuesday night Flashback retro party and Thursday night Battle of the Bulge amateur underwear contest.

You can also get your groove on at the nearly two-year-old Be Bar, near the convention center on 9th Street. Courtesy of the owner’s love of alliteration, basically any night of the week you can expect Britney, boys and big bar tabs at the bedecked bar. If you’d rather two-step in a cowboy hat and tight, light blue jeans, then sally over to Remington’s near Capitol Hill. This country-pop venue draws a friendly crowd, whether you are there to dance play pool or sing karaoke upstairs.Nearby, Phase 1, reportedly the nation’s oldest lesbian bar, is still going strong.

 

Cool Cocktails & Low-Key Lounges

Named after its owner’s great grandmothers but also its predominant clientele, sports bar Nellie’s serves Latin-flavored pub grub and booze and packing ‘em in during any major game – or election, or awards show.

JR’s remains the city’s main neighborhood bar, open all week long, though choice times are Sundays ($2 Skyy specials) and Mondays (showtunes). Further west, on the way to Adams Morgan, the Duplex Diner is more of a restaurant than a bar – but Thursday nights after dinner the city’s most connected, politically or otherwise, power up at what Out magazine crowned one of the “50 Greatest Gay Bars in the World” in 2007. Another bar mainstay is Halo, in the bustling Logan Circle neighborhood, which offers an upscale feel and plays hip, high-energy music but seems to do better as a happy hour spot than a final destination for the night.

Those interested in drinking with shirtless men can make a selection between the Green Lantern (tucked away off Thomas Circle with its long-standing bear-friendly frisky Shirtless Men Drink Free Thursdays) or Omega off P Street on Wednesdays. Bears and like gather at DC’s Eagle on Saturdays, where vendors frequently come on property to sell the newest leather fashions and accessories.

The Fireplace, where a predominant African-American crowd gets cozy is located on the west side of Dupont, though the Bachelor’s Mill, in Southeast, still reigns as the leading African-American hotspot.

Play it Straight

Punctuate your nightlife calendar with weekly and monthly events at otherwise straight clubs. Once a month comes musicians Bob Mould and Rich Morel’s wildly popular monthly Blowoff party at the celebrated 9:30 Club attracting a mix of clientele from bears to guppies (gay-urban-professionals).