Many in the DC area wedding industry know Deb Lindsey as a talented, experienced wedding photographer, but she also photographs food for The Washington Post and Washington Post Magazine. We reached out to her to get her expert opinion on some of her recent bar visits and to share some great spots for cocktails in DC. Her contribution here is invaluable. We'll be visiting some of these spots soon! 

Colada Shop at 14th & U Sts., NW. I’ve been back once already and can’t wait to return. These drinks are tasty and tropical like the classic Pina Colada and my favorite, the Hotel Nacional (white rum, dark rum, apricot liqueur, pineapple juice, lime and apricot puree) are only $8 a piece—a bargain in DC—and the sweet and savory food choices are delicious too. Pastillos, empanadas and Cubano sandwiches are filling and a great compliment to the cocktails. They also have a Sterling, VA location. One caveat for the DC shop…it’s tiny. Go on a sunny day and take advantage of their colorful outdoor patio and relax and people watch.

One place I want to return to is Punch Garden at The Columbia Room. Tucked away in Blagden Alley, the outdoor garden is a cool oudoor city setting with a wide and interesting drink menu (alcoholic and non). Names like Hillbilly in a Hawaiian Shirt and Shorty Found a Punk give you an idea of the creativity behind the bar menu. 

If you’re craving something that isn’t beer, wine or fancy cocktails, there is Anxo Cidery and Pintxos Bar in the Truxton Circle neighborhood. With indoor and outdoor seating, the restaurant offers bite-sized snacks called pintxos (PEEN-CHOs) to go with their extensive cider offerings at DC’s first licensed winery since prohibition. I highly recommend a flight of ciders to get a quick sample of all the bar has to offer. 

The Petworth neighborhood is exploding right now with great new restaurants and bars to hang out. My favorite is place there is Ruta Del Vino, a Latin American wine and beer restaurant with 18 wines by the glass and roughly 10 wines by the bottle, all from Latin America. The food is generous (no small plates!), reasonably priced and is influenced from across Latin America. And they serve a mean margarita!

If you’re up for something a little further off the beaten path, head to Ivy City and check out the The Tavern at Ivy City Smokehouse, the area’s first neighborhood restaurant. Seafood is their specialty and they’ve just opened their rooftop patio for the season with lots of live music special events on the calendar. Their cocktail menu is full of local Ivy City distilleries products, keeping true to their mission of keeping things as local as possible.

BEAUTY SPOTLIGHT:

EVENTS IN THE DMV AREA AND BEYOND:

• June 4th: Say I Do! LGBT Wedding Expo (AIA National Headquarters in Washington, DC)
• June 4th: Bridal Day Party (Metropolitan Banquets in Towson, MD)
• June 5th - 8th: Engage!17 Wedding Summit (Cayman Islands)
• June 6th: Charm City Brides & Grooms Expo (Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MD)
• June 10th: #SlayDate Bridal Workshop (The Lemon Collective in Washington, DC)
• June 11th: Bridal Interactive Workshop (Richmond, VA)

TRUNK SHOWS:

• Betsy Robinson June 9th - 11th Thomas Knoell Jewelry Designs Trunk Show
• Hitched Salon June 2nd - 3rd Amsale Trunk Show
• Soliloquy Bridal Couture June 16th - 17th Idan Cohen Trunk Show
• Lovely Bride June 15th - 18th Limor Rosen Trunk Show
• Carine’s Bridal June 15th - 17th Berta Trunk Show
• The Bridal Room: June 9th - 11th Blush by Haley Page Trunk Show

Want to keep updated on the latest? Sign up for our monthly roundups on events and happenings in the DMV wedding industry by clicking HERE!