Town Tavern DC — Restaurant in Washington

Went for the "Harry Potter" night. Was sorely disappointed.

Here is how it went down: Myself, girlfriend, and two friends arrived about 11:15 pm. The line was incredibly long, like halfway up the block, but we had tickets, so yay.

As soon as we stepped in side, we were assaulted by overplayed rap music blasting at full volume (so loud some speakers were clipping on certain notes). The "decorations" were some cheap HP themed signs tacked up here and there, some Christmas lights stapled to the roof, and a few fake bats and spiders dangling here and there. It did not feel like Harry Potter at all. They massively failed with the decorations and music on this one.

After fighting our way to the bar, the friends and I waited a good twenty minutes to be served. I got passed over by the bartender several times so I handed my card to my girlfriend and she snagged the drinks right away.

We all gathered around a table, already littered with empty cups and bottles, avoiding half the stools covered in a mystery liquid. The music blared out of a nearby speaker, but the speakers were all over the place, so no hope of a quieter corner. We had to yell at the top of our lungs to hear each other just 2 feet away. We sipped our drinks, which really weren't all that special, mostly just normal cocktails with changed names. We discovered that two of the Butter Beer drinks (cream soda with liqueur) were essentially 80% ice. That's right, we just paid $10+ for a cup of ice and a dash of cream soda. It was tasty, I will admit that much, all 3 gulps of it.

Went for round two, which took about as long to get. Drinks were better that time, actually felt like the Muggle Mule (Moscow Mule, so original) was decent, and the other drink was OK too.

We exited about an hour and a half after entering, our ears ringing and our wallets a lot lighter, feeling like we had been to a poorly themed budget college party DJ'd by a deaf angsty teen.

Final scores: Service: 1/10 Food/Drink: 3/10 Atmosphere: 0/10 Price: 2/10

I personally won't be returning. I value my hearing and can get a better drink for 2/3 the price at much better places.

You would not think it would be hard to absolutely fail at a Harry Potter theme, just get good decorations, put the staff in costumes, and set the mood with appropriate music. And for the love of Zod, don't have half the TVs playing Lord of the Rings and the other half playing a sports game NOBODY was there to watch.

So...

This bar is a must visit for anyone wishing to find a genuine DC experience!!

Myself and a pal took some leave from our deployment to visit DC and stumbled across this bar on our first night! We were greeted by the friendly Desmond downstairs who introduced us to some locals who all recommend the Capital Laughs event upstairs!! I couldnt recommend the Comedy enough, we didn't stop laughing all night!! Being from England we were hosted fantastically by Carl who even came over to explain an US "in" jokes that we looked confused at!! Which resulted in us laughing even louder!

We enjoyed the comedy and service so much on our second night we googled DC comedy and found Big Hunt online near our hotel. Unfortunately having experienced such a laugh and great service the night previous, although a big turn out we found this to be earthly quiet and the service was on a scale far lower than Town Tavern so we up'ed and left mid show to dash across town to the Tavern again where we were greeted with the biggest smiles and handshakes by host Jack Coleman and barman Carl (who even remembered our drink orders!!!!)

This is a must stop for anyone visiting DC who wants an intimate and...

I went to this bar with friends during homecoming weekend on a whim, we were actually at a bar next door. One friend in the group went in so the rest of us did too and it proved to be the best decision of the night. The DJ started playing R&B hits and Gracie (who is so kind, loving and fun) started passing out microphones so it turned into an impromptu karaoke session. The vibe was so great it closed the gap of unfamiliarity between a bar of strangers and it instantly felt like the Cheers theme song, “where everybody knows your name”. We all had the best time. Strangers became backup dancers for singers who were living out their American Idol dreams. I was hungry towards the end of the night and Gracie sent her son to walk with me to get pizza so I’d be safe. She is truly a gem. Definitely go to this bar if you’re in town! I’ll be stopping by again the next...