OBP: 5 DC Bars a Geek Will Love

Just off the beaten path in DC lies a bizarre bar scene.
As follow up to our 5 Cool Places for Geeks in DC, this article takes a look at area drinking establishments that have something cool about them. This will add to any outing you decide to take, whether with a special someone or a mob of your gamer buddies fresh off a Mountain Dew and Cheetos binge looking for a good time. D&D can inspire drinking, you gnome what I'm sayin'? Let's look at part 2 of Off the Beaten Path.

The beautiful interior (via PX)

PX

Next to Eamonn's, Blue light just off of King Street

This is one of those bars you've heard about. No advertising. Strictly word of mouth and crazy blogs like ours talking about it. This is a speakeasy that sticks to the theme rather more extremely than you'd expect. The staff are dressed in prohibition era clothing (garb), the motif is all hardwood with ornate decorations, and the entryway is only distinguishable from the door to a house by a bright blue light illuminating the immediate area around it. I'm telling you, this is at the top of this list because if you live around DC and you haven't been to PX, you aren't anyone. This place is very awesome. Their drinks are... expensive ($15 - $20 range) and you may have to get reservations a week out. Completely worth it. This is probably one of my favorite locations to take a date (spinning up about how it's a secret location that you can't tell them about until you "stumble" on to it).

I took a few friends of mine here for the first time not too long ago. If you're lucky, you can ask the person waiting behind the front door if you can pirate the sport of a canceled party or if there is room at the bar. They were full up and we didn't have reservations, but it was worth it for the build up of walking around the corner, talking about this cool bar I was going to take them too, then just walking up to an unassuming door, knocking, whispering to the person behind it, then casually walking away like nothing happened. Spy points for the win.

Recommended Costume: Dick Tracy

Before a Grindstone show at the Red Palace (via jsmjr)

Red Palace

1210 H Street Northeast, Washington D.C., District of Columbia

The Red Palace is the combination of two old, fantastic bars, The Red and Black and The Palace of Wonders. Both locations I used to love spending time at. I'm pretty happy to say, after seeing a few shows at the Red Palace, it seems to have the best of both worlds.The Red Palace is a sexy, freaky, relatively large bar that has a variety of music and dance performances. We can't forget the burlesque. The wonderful, funny, bootilicious (that's still used right?) burlesque dancing. Good rock music and burlesque. It's hard to think of the Red Palace without it.

I've seen a number of burlesque shows here. We used to have fun bringing our less daring friends out to see shows here. It's always fun seeing the look on their faces during their first burlesque show. HWHAHA.    Take that, friends! Fantastic location, my only complaint is parking: It's shit. No metro within walking distance, and finding parking can be horrible. Worth it though.

Recommended Costume: Dr. Frankenfurter?

Sonic Screwdriver? Yes please. (via irrezolout)

Science Club

1136 19th Street Northwest  Washington D.C., DC 20036-3602

This is a pseudo nerd bar as it is. Well, not really, but sort of. As you can see from one of their menus, at the very least they have a fantastic sense of humor / drink name selection. The main aspect of the Science Club, other than its awesome name, is the use of scientific instrumentation across the entirety of the bar. Especially microscopes. It gives the bar an interesting look. This adds an interesting backdrop to inebriated adventures through the District.

Of the random talks with people and hangouts I've had here, I'm most impressed with the other people there. A few times, I've sat at the first floor or outside with staff and regular patrons just shooting the breeze about random stuff. Pokemon, music, science, just about anything. I honestly run into a problem finding interesting people to talk to, especially at bars. Good solid people. Beyond the bar name and the decorations, from what I've seen that's probably the foundation of this location. I hope it's still the case, haven't been back in a bit. Better be though.

Recommended Costume: Dr. Horrible

Similar design, but not beaten up like this (via Sergi Balaguer)

Bilbo Baggins

208 Queen Street, Alexandria, VA

This, for a very long time, was my favorite bar on the planet. Obviously since it's still on the list, I still love this place. It's a bar with a partial hobbit theme. Especially where the main bar area is. They have an amazing round style mirror that looks very similar to the picture we have here. The menu and drink options are often hobbit themed as well. They keep trivia cards from different games at each table, so you and your friends can laugh and feel like idiots putting away a few. I've been half tempted to go dressed in Lord of the Rings style attire... but haven't. Let's get to why.

I love the look of this bar. I've had some absolutely amazing times at this bar with the random people that I would run into who were still drinking with me at 1 am. Fortunately and unfortunately, Bilbo Baggins became sorta crazy popular in the last year. I've been there two or three times in the last six months, and each time it's been hella busy. Good for the bar, but it makes it harder to enjoy the atmosphere. Check it out, especially during the week, should be a little less crowded. Still an interesting bar, worth seeing if you haven't been before.

Recommended Costume: Aragorn

Actually a pretty typical sight at Piratz Tavern (via  Rob Speed)

Piratz Tavern

8402 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD

Pirate themed bar. By that I mean the bar looks like the insides of a pirate ship, the staff are dressed as pirates, the drinks have a pirate theme, and the entertainment tends to be sexy pirate-ish themed. Drinks, other than grog, tend to be relatively normal for a bar (minus their pirate names). Really, the entertainment and environment are the reason to check it out. Oh, and occasional fire spinning. Man, I'm weak to a good fire spinning act.

Friday nights so far seem to be the best. They have belly dancing with Rosie (a sweetheart if I've ever met one, tip her for me will ya?) as well as a house pirate band (Pirates of the Drunken Ferret). Alright, this location has me using the word "pirate" way too often. Hmm, I wonder if going by the location theme, I should dress up as a music pirate or a Somali pirate.

Recommended Costume: Ren from the Pirates of Dark Water

UPDATE: It appears the Piratz Tavern has been restructured to have a corporate non piratey feel.  Sadness. Will let you know more when it becomes available.  I've met most of the staff, the people make for an awesome establishment, so it's still probably worth checking out.