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    Calico

    3.8 (222 reviews)
    Closed 5:00 pm - 11:30 PM
    Updated over 3 months ago

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    CALICO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Hipster
    Casual
    Trendy
    Moderate noise

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    Recommended Reviews - Calico

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    Cute bar!
    Kelly M.

    This is such a delightful bar stop in DC. It's not anything fancy and I haven't tried the food (I suspect it's normal bar fare) but they have a beautiful year round outdoor space in a quiet spot in the alley, and a great selection of drinks. I was on a med and needed to drink a mocktail on my last visit. I forget the name of it but it was actually pretty good! Now they have $10 spritzes on Sundays too!

    Caroline W.

    This is a great spot for sitting down and chatting with friends. We went on a perfect evening, so the open air seating was very nice. I personally liked that I could order from a QR code and not have to go up to the bar, but I know that isn't for everyone. I liked being able to close my tab from my phone and easily keep bills separate. Once we ordered, the drinks came quickly. The staff also brought water and would come by and clear the table when we were finished. My drink was delicious, but very strong. The French fries were also good if you need a snack. There's a lot of tables and nooks you can sit in, but I especially loved the greenhouse outside!

    Chicken sandwich
    Keilon L.

    Go for the drinks and ambiance during happy hour. The food tasted like middle school lunch. I skipped lunch before my happy hour visit and knew that I'd like a sandwich or the like when I arrived. The bartender, woman with a couple cool tats was nice enough and I asked her what was better or more popular between the burger and chicken sandwich. She said the burger so I ordered it. The service was pretty quick and the burger tasted like trash. I was embarra for the restaurant honestly as how can you serve this in an establishment that looks this charming. I took one bite and and put it aside. The bartender asked me how it was begrudgingly and I gave her my honest opinion, but I told her I'd work my way through it. She said please don't do that and let's just swap it out for the chicken sandwich. I said cool and get the chicken. The chicken was eatable, not memorable. It's what I'd get from a high school cafeteria when the good cook is there. I'll never suggest coming back here but again, it's a cute place to sit with friends. The happy hour offering was ok. It's the only thing that could maybe have a friend convince me to come back here for a drink. Good location, nice enough staff, nothing special.

    Jaylene C.

    We found this bar after grabbing a bite to eat nearby. This bar is kinda tucked away and a bit unassuming - we almost missed it! The inside is very spacious- they have a good amount of bar stools and tables available although the tables were all full when we got there so the bar it was. There is a roll-up door that circulates the air. Apparently, this can either cool the place down and get a bit chilly or warm the place up. If you get uncomfortable, just let the bar tender know, and they'll do what they can to help make it better. Speaking of the bar tenders, they are quick, friendly, and have a great personality, which made our visit even better. We didn't realize that they had a decent outside area until we were on our way, but this place definitely has something for everyone. The food looked good but we didn't eat so we will definitely have to come back to try everything that this place offers.

    Jasmine T.

    5 stars for the staff and the food! DC Fray hosted bingo and they didn't start until an hour later, so I won't knock it off for Calico but definitely was apart of my experience.

    Tomato Pie
    Samina M.

    Calico is a fun social space that reminds me of my favorite Southern VA college bar with the best DC twist! Came here for my friend's birthday dinner and loved the spacious ambiance and lively atmosphere. With part of the restaurant being outside, this is a great place to enjoy a warm evening with friends over delicious food and drinks. To eat, I got the Tomato Pie Pizza. Lots of flavorful sauce, garlic, and plenty of Parmesan on top. In the moment, the pizza seemed a bit underdone. However, after taking home my leftovers, the pie tasted a whole lot better once the ingredients could settle. To drink, I had an Aperol Spritz. Refreshing and citrusy! I would recommend that the staff provided straws to ensure one can mix the drink together. Overall, paired very well with my pizza. The service was fantastic on such a busy night. Appreciate all of the staff being so kind and getting our orders in as soon as we arrived! Really enjoyed my experience at Calico and would love come back out in the summer!

    Hiral D.

    Love this place! Please do yourself a favor and get an adult juice box and loaded tots. Absolutely love the tots. I got the lavender lemonade twice and it's delicious! It's a pretty chill vibe and I love that you can order and pay from your phone. Makes things super easy and fun for a group!

    Aperol Spritz
    Noel O.

    We were looking for a great place to sit outside and enjoy a spritz and Calico nailed it! This place has a great vibe, great drinks, and friendly staff. Prices were also reasonable for DC.

    Cocktail "juice" pouch. Can take to go
    Nisha B.

    Chill spot, about a strong 6 minute walk from the Convention Center Metro. Front door entrance is right o Blageden Alley. Came on a rainy Saturday afternoon, so everyone was inside. But there are outdoor seats. Bar seating, booth like seating and cafeteria style tables/benches. Harry Potter was also playing with chill music playing in the background. Order everything from the QR menu and pay online as well. There is a 20% service charge added to every order now. I had a tasty IPA, cheese quesadilla were hella cheesy (duh lol) but I almost choked on the cheese lol. I got a "juice pouch" that was a cocktail, that I took to go. That was good. Spent like $40 on a beer, quesa and pouch drink The bartendars and waiter of water/bringer of food were super nice! Would like to check this place out on a dry, warm day

    Daiquiri
    Kai M.

    Lean in, I have a secret to share on a hidden gem! Here's my discovery report lol I didn't post any pictures of my food but know that I had the tatchos (tater tots) and my boyfriend had the chicken sandwich. Both were absolutely delicious and filling. His chicken sandwich came with a bag of plain potato chips and for my tatchos, I added diced grilled chicken, sour cream, few jalapeños (wish they provided more) and no guacamole (I would have loved that) For the price, they offered a good serving size which left us full and satisfied. Drinks: now, I do not recall the name of my drink but know that it was a frozen daiquiri. The liquor was generously poured and the drink was the perfect summer refresher!!!! My boyfriend decided to go with the pina colada because most of the beers were out of stock-bummer! Also, note that there was very few items to choose from *drinkers cry* However, his drink was amazing! And yes! I can confirm this because I had a few sips. It was absolutely delicious and again, they were generous with the liquor. Aside from them having a very limited menu, I actually enjoyed this place and would indeed recommend it. It was so nostalgic because it gave me space to enjoy someone's company, laugh and play a card game...yes! Did I mentioned that they have tons of games along with arts & crafts you can select from and play?! And although I got beat in Uno *cries* It made our date, perfect! Bill: the bill was under $100 ($93 to be exact) which isn't bad provided that we did order 1 more drink. However, there is a 20% service charge added to the bill so be prepared for that. Shout out to the staff! The woman who handled our food was super friendly and service was fast. The greeter in the front was the best! We chatted with him after our meal and learned some cool facts about the restaurant. Wish I got his name to include in the review. I highly recommend this place for a date or time with friends-you'll love it.

    Adult juice box

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    2 months ago

    10/10 love it would definitely go back. Juice boxes were so cute and had a great time celebrating my friend's birthday

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    10 months ago

    Beautiful place, excellent service and wonderful food! If you go in the summertime sit outside on the deck!

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    Free State - Hazy IPA

    Free State

    4.3(150 reviews)
    0.6 mi
    $$

    Not to be confused with Free State Distillery in Upper Marlboro (though many also call it Arthur…read moreWheeler Spirits haha), this place is located just off of the main street in chinatown, and it's surprisingly lowkey. It's a basement bar with a bit of a dive vibe, but it's hard to ignore the nautical, blue crab theme throughout. Turns out that one of the owners is a Marylander, which is cool to see reflected in the decor in a place in dc, even though it is next door. They have a happy hour and they have a great variety of drinks in general. It's bring-your-own-food (BYOF) and there are a bunch of delicious looking Asian spots nearby, including upstairs. It didn't start getting crowded until closer to 10, which, as I said, is surprising for this part of town to me. Everywhere in Chinatown is not going to be packed and busy, and this place is here to remind you of that. Stop by if you're looking for a more chill vibe. Staff are pretty cool.

    Free State is perfect for a chill bar in the Downtown area. It's exactly the kind of place you want…read moreto share a few drinks and be able to hear the person in front of you. I had a delicious orange crush drink and my friend had a sangria. The bartenders are extremely chill and nice; they only come up when you need it which is nice for good conversation. I'll easily be back when I want to catch up with friends without a speaker blaring in our ears. Great place to introduce to more people!

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    Free State - Spiked chocolate

    Spiked chocolate

    Free State - Bar

    Bar

    Free State - Small glasses

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    Small glasses

    ChurchKey - Tots, fries, mushroom flatbread and a glimpse of chicken sando

    ChurchKey

    3.9(1.5k reviews)
    0.4 miLogan Circle, Downtown
    $$

    Great local bar with large rotating craft beer selection. Highly recommend for any beer…read moreenthusiast. They have wine and cocktails as well. They are happy to recommend beer for your taste, and let you sample. It can be very busy and difficult to get a seat at the bar or get a table on a Friday or Saturday evening. We ordered food, and were expecting elevated bar food. The tater tots were a huge disappointment- they were very large squares , bland, and not crispy. The wings were okay. The cheeseburgers were the best- from the restaurant downstairs- mallard. Huge burger, done perfectly medium.

    Here's a review written as part of a visit to both Churchkey and Birch & Barley (the downstairs…read morerestaurant -- together they form the "2 Enjoy Everything" concept by Neighborhood Restaurant Group): A DC Gem That Delivers on Every Level If you haven't made it to Churchkey on 14th Street yet, move it to the top of your list. I visited as part of the full experience -- dinner downstairs at Birch & Barley, then up to Churchkey for drinks -- and honestly, it's one of the best evenings I've had in DC. Churchkey itself is everything a great bar should be. The beer selection is absolutely unreal -- hundreds of carefully curated labels spanning every style, region, and flavor profile you can imagine. What sets it apart is that the staff actually knows the menu. Our server walked us through a few options based on what we liked and landed us on perfect picks both times. That kind of genuine expertise is rare. The tavern pizzas from the wood-fired oven were a wonderful surprise -- thin, crispy, and the perfect companion to a cold draft. The smash burger also deserves a mention: simple, well-executed, and hits the spot. The vibe is warm and lively without being overwhelming. Great for a date, a group, or even just sitting at the bar solo with a good beer and good conversation with the bartender. This place has earned its reputation as one of the best beer bars on the East Coast -- and then some. Highly recommend making a full night of it with both floors. You won't regret it. Feel free to adjust the tone or add any personal details from your actual visit!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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    ChurchKey
    ChurchKey
    ChurchKey - Stairs

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    Stairs

    City Tap House Penn Quarter - Pulled Pork Nachos

    City Tap House Penn Quarter

    3.9(1.9k reviews)
    0.4 mi
    $$

    Great beer selection and a nice environment. Our servers were very friendly and I like when there…read moreis a QR code AND you can place orders as you go. Pretzel: These were amazing! The pimento cheese dip was great. Pulled pork nachos: Huge portion! These were also exceptional. BLT w/ tomato soup: "This hit the spot". Nashville Fried chicken sandwhich: I was quite disappointed in this, considering how good everything else was. The chicken was very dry and overly salty IMO. Not at all spicy either. Thyme fries: Loved these! Really cool flavor profile. I would happily come back and try a different entree.

    I won't be back unfortunately and you should probably keep walking and find something else. Didn't…read morerealize what kind of restaurant this was until I was told to order off an app and then my food would be ran out to me...and that's all you get for customer service. Runners just do that. Run around the restaurant throwing food down on tables and run back to the kitchen. Never checking on anyone to see if they need anything and how the food is. I ordered the SW Salad ($16.50) with a steak add on ($9.00) at medium temp. I also ordered a cup of Clam Chowder ($5.95) as an appetizer. Chowder came out pretty much right on top of my salad, but no big deal. Chowder was decent taste, but only found one clam. Ok whatever. Salad came out looking like a side salad on a large plate with five slices of rare, tough steak. It was so rare, that it was extremely hard to cut through, but again, who was I going to talk to about it. No wait staff would even look my way. I couldn't even get a refill on my water and there is no place in the app to order a glass of water...so that's that. Unfortunately it was just an extremely bad experience for $40. I'll be looking for dinner somewhere else tomorrow night.

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    City Tap House Penn Quarter - Bar

    Bar

    City Tap House Penn Quarter - Pretzel  appetizer

    Pretzel appetizer

    City Tap House Penn Quarter - Port City ALX IPA 20oz

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    Port City ALX IPA 20oz

    The Sovereign - Mariniere Mussels | Instagram: GaoGirlsGrubbin

    The Sovereign

    4.0(610 reviews)
    2.0 miGeorgetown
    $$

    Got recommended this place and was really excited to check it out. We ordered the mussels and a…read morechicken salad, and honestly, it was an excellent choice. The lettuce was super fresh, the dressing was the best I've ever had in DC, and the chicken was perfectly cooked. The mussels were absolutely exquisite. I'd definitely come back to The Sovereign!My only note for improvement is the service. It took the waiters a while to get to our table, and attentiveness was pretty low overall. Granted, the restaurant was packed, but if it's going to be that busy, they should definitely schedule more staff. It would make the whole experience complete. Other than that, everything was excellent!

    More of a 3.5, rounding up because I would have probably liked it a lot more if I ate meat…read more Which probably makes it clear that if you are vegetarian this is not the friendliest menu. The beer selection is incredible, vibes are solid - it is pretty old world and upscale for a beer joint - but if you are looking for a full meal vegetarians should go elsewhere. They *have* vegetarian options but it's one of those things where they do the bare minimum because they have to and your choices are like...the one thing. Which leads me to the one vegetarian entree, the risotto. It was fine. Not mindblowing. Small portion for the price - small portions all around, frankly. See my pic. Our server, who was impressively attentive/efficient given that he was the only person making the rounds to all of the tables in the upstairs room, which were packed because of the World Cup, recommended getting.the brussels sprouts small plate without bacon, so I did. I did not like it. It came with pomegranate seeds and a sauce that were sweet but then had parmesan and savory flavors that did not go. I suspect the salty, fatty bacon was important to balancing out these flavors. People I was with got house pickles, fries and meatballs which all appeared solid. The portions for the fries and meatballs were pretty teeny for the price IMO. Like I said, beer selection is out of this world. Not mad at the prices or portions there, especially given that it's largely imported. Is this personally a place I would make a go to? No. Only if I am taking out a friend who is super into beer tasting. But if I were super into French and Belgian beer and or really liked that kind of food (eg mussels and very meaty Northern European dishes) ? Maybe. So my personal recommendation is to come, have beer, enjoy the ambiance, and treat food as an afterthought for if you need something to eat.

    Photos
    The Sovereign - Bottle room

    Bottle room

    The Sovereign - Steak frites & eggs, saffron mussels (ig @fanaticdiner)

    Steak frites & eggs, saffron mussels (ig @fanaticdiner)

    The Sovereign - The bar

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    The bar

    Dacha Beer Garden - Grilled Chicken Sandwich with purple kraut, Havarti cheese, pickles, LTO and famous sea salt fries at Dacha Beer Garden (Shaw), DC

    Dacha Beer Garden

    4.1(507 reviews)
    0.4 miShaw
    $$

    My boyfriend and I went to Dacha Beer Garden (Shaw) for an afternoon date and it was such a vibe…read more The patio was full but still felt cozy and fun lots of energy without feeling chaotic. The sunlight coming through the big windows and umbrellas made everything feel warm and relaxed. It's definitely one of those spots that feels very DC weekend.We ordered the giant pretzel with cheese and mustard and it was SO good soft, warm, perfectly salted, and ideal for sharing. The fries were crispy and seasoned just right. We also tried a couple of beers (the grapefruit one was especially good and refreshing), and everything paired perfectly with the food. It's casual but still cute enough to make it a real date. You can sit, talk, enjoy your drinks, and not feel rushed. I'd absolutely come back, especially on a sunny day. Perfect for daytime dates, meeting friends, or just enjoying good vibes in Shaw.

    Stopped in before the recent Nats series against the Phillies to "pre-game" (excuse the pun)…read more Directly across the street from the stadium, good luck finding ANY street parking, so unless you live in the area, do yourself a favor and take the Metro to the Navy Yards neighborhood. Dacha Beer Garden is an interesting set-up. Walk up to the host stand and get your hand stamped before gaining entry to the dining area; more on the hand stamp later. The interior is ginormous and the "walls" are heavy duty plastic with the center of the room having an open ceiling for natural lighting. This being summer, it was a thousand degrees, but all of the fans on the highest setting, did a good job of circulating the air. Dacha does have one of the better Happy Hour deals for DC (see picture for current specials). I came with a large group of 10+, so we all ordered a bunch of items to share. I sampled the blood orange hefeweizen, which was slightly citrusy and added brightness to the smooth wheat beer. The fried shrimp was surprisingly delicous and tasted quite fresh. I was expecting reheated previously frozen and heavily battered shrimp; but this was not the case. Each piece had a nice snappy bite and lightly battered with good seasoning. I would've liked more of the dipping sauce, but a squeeze of the roasted lemon gave some needed acidity. Also snacked on some of the curry wurst, which tbh was waaay too sweet. Fries were good though and not soggy. Service was a bit slow, but to be expected since I only observed three servers for the entire dining space. The runners did an admirable job of delivering food/beverages after we placed our orders. Regarding the hand stamp, the restrooms are located directly across the courtyard at Jackie (https://www.yelp.com/biz/jackie-washington-4?osq=jackie%27s). So you'll need to show the host at Jackie the hand stamp to use the facilites and then again to return to Dacha. Even if I wasn't in Navy Yards for a Nats game, I would return to the Dacha Beer Garden. We all had an enjoyable experience, but the only slight detraction is the non-Happy Hour prices are on the higher side. But this is only a minor gripe since that's any place in 2025 when dining out. Of course, Dacha is expected to be loud, service somewhat slow, and usually crowded. All the things a good beer garden should be.

    Photos
    Dacha Beer Garden - Brunch at Dacha Beer Garden is iconic.

    Brunch at Dacha Beer Garden is iconic.

    Dacha Beer Garden - Guinness is served in a pint glass and Das Boot at Dacha Beer Garden.

    Guinness is served in a pint glass and Das Boot at Dacha Beer Garden.

    Dacha Beer Garden - Cocktails are crafted to order at Dacha Beer Garden. Refreshing.

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    Cocktails are crafted to order at Dacha Beer Garden. Refreshing.

    Calico - cocktailbars - Updated August 2026

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