Adams Morgan....?

So this is what intrigues me tonight. I'm wondering if it's my age or Adams Morgan these days that is the reason behind my general disinterest in staying out on the town in A.M.

I was out tonight at a birthday thing at Anzu; there's a bar upstairs (Anzu's in the space that used to be I Matti). Granted, the air conditioning was broken so it was about 90 degrees inside, but even if it were more comfortable, there was loud house dj-type music and a pretty blah crowd (there were some friends of friends who seemed really cool, but I couldn't hear a thing they were saying…). And outside, it was just packed with folks.

I used to spend much of my "out on the town" time in A.M., but that was ages ago 1990 - 2000, say. I still go to some places – I loved Reef for the first year it was open, I like Toledo Lounge. But that's about it.

I'm just wondering, I know regulars here live in A.M. or nearby. Is it just that I'm mid-thirties, or is it more crowded/cheesy these days? Do any of y'all hang out in A.M.?

Almost immediately I really wanted to head to either the Red Room, Velvet or DC9, but it wasn't in the cards, so I called it a night early (12:30 on a weekend is still early for me, but with all that goes on during the week, I'm willing to head home for some sleep if it's not looking like a great night…).

Just some thoughts 'cuz I was kind of surprised at how my night progressed….

I lived in AdMo for about 3 years (up until last October) and I rarely frequented the Columbia Rd. scene…Toledo Lounge, Pharmacy Bar and DCCD being the exceptions. Just wasn't my idea of a "night out on the town." I don't think it's an age thing…it depends on your expectations vs. what was going on, the people there, etc.

I'm 27 now, but have always leaned towards hanging out in a small-ish space with a beer and chatting with friends with decent music in the background.

i gave up on on hanging out in adams morgan a few years ago (i'm going on 29). it got to be too crowded with frat/military types (i'm not dissing them, its just not my scene). that said, i still enjoy rendevous and heaven (80's night only) sometimes. and chief ike's when they have the lobster boy shows (lobsterboy.net).

I think you need a man. Then, going home early is not defeat cuz you're going home for some sex or snuggling.

I rarely go to Adams Morgan anymore. I used to go quite often back in '98/'99. After that, my visits were 1 x year. I have friends who went often, and I went with them. I "gave it up" after the large crowds, hot environment in upstairs' bars, and the mess there is to find parking. Not to mention the lines to get in, and sometimes the people weren't always too nice to me (Just my experiences.) Although, there were moments of fun, sometimes the whole night, with my friends. Not neccesarily my "scene" even in my younger days.

Talk about "not necessasarily my scene"… I got dragged along with a big rowdy drunken group of co-workers this past Friday and ended up at (ack) Adams Mill around midnight. An utterly painful experience! I really like Adams Mill on, say, a Tuesday evening, and a lot of the other Adams Morgan bars, too, but on a weekend night it is like needles in my eyes!

Having lived in Georgetown, 34th and M, in the late 1980's I'm not all that surprised at how gross most clubs and bars get on the weekends. I wish there was a way to weed out all the amatuers every now and then, so I could really have a good time going to somewhere like the Black Cat on a Saturday night.

But when I get fussy or annoyed at the crowds, I remind myself that all the people who are annoying me are paying to be there and paying for all their drinks. Any club or bar or manager or bartender who chooses to "hook me up" with free anything couldn't do that if they weren't making money. So I guess the occasional free cocktails or guest list is payback for putting up with all the morons on a Friday night!

I do love Pharmacy Bar, forgot about that one. It fits that quieter, just cool place you go to hang and talk with friends. Reminds me of a NYC lower east side hangout…

I was just wondering if that A.M. scene has changed over the past 14 years, and I think it has. Because I've never been into big crowds, really loud places (unless I'm watching a band, of course), crazy drunken messes. And there was less of that there…

So, outside of the music venues, what are some favorite bars or hang-outs?

Originally posted by Bags:
what are some favorite bars or hang-outs?

felix, madams organ, blue room and 3 floors of craziness at adams mill (or is it grill, who knows, I just love going with my kick ball team, woo hoo)

I agree with bikerchick in that during the week most places are pretty chill and pleasant there. But I live a block off the strip and if I'm walking home on a weekend night I'll actively avoid 18th street even if it's out of my way. That said, Madams Organ, Reef, Asylum (the new space is a bit cheesy but it's still a nice place to meet someone for a drink), and even Common Share still have their moments. And it's still worth heading up to the Raven; even when it gets crowded it's still more pleasant than pretty much anything else in the area. Although watch the nails in the cushions.

Adams-Morgan (despite what Metro will tell you, its name is properly written with a hyphen) has definitely changed for the worse. The crowds have gotten bigger and more obnoxious, and overall it's gotten kind of a trashier feel. Not unlike Georgetown. But none of this is anything new – it really hasn't held much appeal since the mid-90s, when its trendiness grew beyond manageable proportions.

One must hope U Street isn't totally overrun by such problems, either. It's awfully crowded on weekends at that scene's locus, 14th and U, but down below 13th it's still OK. Even that is a far cry from the early 90s, where the only noise accompanying a 3 am walk down the alley to the back steps of XXXXXX after-hours was the sound of your shoes crunching on broken glass, echoing off the walls of abandoned tenement houses.

Then again, neighborhoods are always in flux, and it's always an effort to stay ahead of the trend-following, stampeding herd (some will say, for example, that the Fox and Hounds hasn't been the same since the 1970s, when it was principally the domain of cabdrivers and junkies). Staying ahead isn't merely a matter of élitism; as has been noted, it's also an effort to find comfy places where you don't have to fight to get to the bar and where you can actually hold conversations. The inherent problem is that these same appeals will eventually attract the herd, despite the best efforts of its denizens to remain circumspect, and so one must move on, again.

Anyway, as has been noted weekends really aren't the time to be out and about anyway. Chill at home with a DVD and a bottle, and venture out on the weeknights when the amateurs stay home. Of course, this is made more problematic by the reality that most of us are working stiffs and have to be at work the next day. That's why, in lieu of independent wealth, flextime and an understanding boss are essential assets for the modern drinker of the 21st century.


http://www.alex.to/doomlink

adams-morgan is only acceptable to go drinking in when you have friends in from out of town. because that's what it is for: tourists and suburbanites out for their "big night in the city". frankly, i'd rather go out in arlington if i want a bar scene night. even the fact that the city dwellers go out there makes me want to live in the city even less. for my money, strips of bars in pittsburgh (south side), cleveland (6th street) and even frickin' hoboken (washington st) are superior.

come on. . .$1 jello shots at millie and al's are the best. especially when the wall flower finally has more than 2 beers and loosens up and buys a tray.

i liked asylum better when they did the shiner countdown. . .

A-M (note the hyphen :roll: ) was our hangout until a couple of years ago…same reasons as everyone elses on this thread really. It seemed to evolve into Georgetown II almost overnight. Millie & Als, Toledo, Pharmacy were our regulars plus a couple of others depending on lines/mood.