Skip to content

Mug Shots: Happy Hour on the Hill

Bargains That Won’t Break Your Budget

January can be a tricky month. Money is thin after December’s rush of parties and gift giving. But there’s ample time and temptation to drink away the post-holiday boredom at happy hour.

[IMGCAP(1)]There’s good news for those staffers who give in to the desire to drown their bank balance blues: A number of happy hour specials on Capitol Hill are easy on the wallet.

Mug Shots has found a spot to grab a cocktail and mingle every night of the week without breaking the bank.

Monday

Capitol Lounge (229 Pennsylvania Ave. SE) is the perfect place to beat a case of the Mondays. The bar, which twice has fallen victim to fire, features $3 Budweiser and Bud Light bottles, Capitol Amber drafts and Yuenglings in addition to $4 well drinks from 4 to 7 p.m. (these specials run Monday through Friday). Visitors to the Lounge won’t leave hungry since the bar also offers half-price pizza and toppings during happy hour on Mondays.

Tuesday

Union Pub (201 Massachusetts Ave. NE), known affectionately as UP to many a staffer, offers an especially good deal for ladies at its Tuesday night happy hour. In addition to its daily special of $3.50 rail drinks from 4 to 9 p.m., the bar offers free rail drinks and house drafts for women from 4 to 5 p.m. These drinks are available for $1 from 5 to 7 p.m. So men, take note, if you’re looking to meet a new lady, this is the place to go. Plus, you won’t break the bank buying her drinks. The UP also offers half-priced Buffalo wings and $10 house pitchers.

Wednesday

Tapatinis (711 Eighth St. SE) on Barracks Row is inevitably filled with women sipping colorful cocktails out of martini glasses on Wednesday evenings. With $1 glasses of wine and $4 cosmos offered for women, who can blame them? While men must pay full price, the odds of getting a date are certainly in their favor. Patrons can munch on apple walnut salads and calamari frittas, both at a cost of $8, while catching up with friends and making new ones. Specials run till 9 p.m., making this a good deal even for those who have to stay at work a little late.

If fruity cocktails aren’t your style or you happen to be a man looking for a deal and not a new lady friend, try Finn macCool’s (713 Eighth St. SE) located a few doors down. The pub’s daily happy hour specials include $3 domestic pints and rail liquor, $4.50 premium pints and $5 selected appetizers. Wine lovers take note: from 7 to11 p.m. on Wednesdays, the bar offers half-priced bottles.

Thursday

An old favorite of Mug Shots’, the Pour House (319 Pennsylvania Ave. SE) offers cheap beer and a lively crowd every Thursday. In the basement bar, also known as Scheisse Haus, Budweisers and Bud Lights are practically given away at a price of $1 per bottle from 5 to 8 p.m. Bottle prices go up to $2 from 8 p.m. to midnight, and then to $3 for those still there from midnight till close.

The bar, a popular spot for interns and staffers who are on the lower end of the pay scale, features a pool table, comfy couches and several televisions tuned to the night’s various sporting events. As you may remember from your college days, cheap beer draws a crowd so it’s often better to wait until 8 p.m. when the crowd begins to thin and the cheapskates head home or pass out in the corner.

Friday

If you’re in the mood to venture more than a few blocks from the Dome, grab a cab and head over to The Red and the Black (1212 H St. NE). This New Orleans-style bar offers $2.25 Bud and Miller Lite and $3.25 rail drinks from 6 to 8 p.m. Visitors can munch on cajun-spiced nuts for a buck or red beans and rice for $5. Stick around after 8 and enjoy live music on the bar’s second floor. Upcoming acts include The Prisoner’s Dilemma on Jan. 18 and Lauris Vidal on Jan. 25.

Recent Stories

Cole considered early favorite to win House Appropriations gavel

Joseph Lieberman, an iconoclast who frustrated the Democratic Party, dies at 82

Officials: Baltimore bridge price tag could be at least $2 billion

Race to House majority runs through the 10 Toss-ups

Kuster will not seek reelection in New Hampshire

Appeals court extends hold on Texas deportation law