Anyah Dembling, an energy writer by day and gastronomic explorer by night, lives and eats on H St, NE.
I like a good dive bar as much as the next girl.
I like them for their playlists and for their smarmy bartenders, who I’ll charm all night just to steal a crack of a smile. I like dive bars for the variety of cheap, frosty cans of beer at my disposal, including the occasional microbrew still poured at bargain prices. And I like that it’s perfectly acceptable to barrel through a dive bar’s doors, maybe without even a proper bath, sporting a dirty t-shirt and cutoff jorts, perched idly until the wee hours of the morning—so long as your server is tipped accordingly (read: generously), of course.
That said, what I truly love—and consider even more of a soul-quenching rarity—is the establishment that values its exquisitely crafted cocktails, beer and wines in the bar equally as important as the chef’s perfectly executed creations in the kitchen. If a restaurant can manage to achieve this delicate balance, all the while cultivating the lighthearted and sometimes unruly atmosphere of a dive bar, that is—for me— the synergistic crux of a neighborhood gem.
Smith Commons (1245 H St, NE) is in no way a dive bar. But it absolutely attains that coveted equilibrium and has been a welcome addition to the Atlas District, raising the [neighborhood] bar with its original and well-prepared
food and drinks in a comfortable, fun and relaxed setting.
Continues after the jump. (more…)
