Take the Red Line to the upscale Dupont Circle neighborhood and you’ll find a plethora of restaurants and bars surrounding a fountain and park. As a spoke in the wheel that is this neighborhood, you can fan out from the park in just about any direction and find good beer.
While Dupont has been known for its nightlife for a while, in the past few years it has become a craft beer hotspot. Many of the city’s best beer bars can be found in or around Dupont Circle or Logan Circle, which we include here because of its close proximity. This area also is home to a number of great retail options for craft beer.
Below you will find a compilation of the Dupont Circle area’s best beer bets. Scroll down the page, or click on the map below to go straight to the destination you are interested in.
View DCBEER.COM – Dupont Circle Beer Guide in a full screen map
Bars and Restaurants
Pizzeria Paradiso
The Dupont Circle branch of Pizzeria Paradiso is just a block or two from the circle. It is mostly restaurant, and the actual bar space gets a little tight once everyone starts crowding into it for some of the 180 bottles, 12 taps, and cask that you can find here. Although it doesn’t have a dedicated beer basement like Birreria Paradiso, the beer selection here gives the Georgetown location a run for its money.
Located at 2029 P St NW
www.eatyourpizza.com
Beer List
The Big Hunt
A long time beer staple of the Dupont Circle area, the Big Hunt boasts a rather nice beer list and an explorer themed decor. They’ve got an outside patio, a basement bar, an upstairs with pool tables and just a whole mess of space to cram people. They have 27 taps to choose from which includes mostly domestic craft beers from a variety of styles. Combine those with the 15 cent wing night on Tuesdays, and you can’t lose.
Located at 1345 Connecticut Ave NW
www.thebighunt.net
Beer List
Scion Restaurant
Scion in recent months has made itself into a real contender on the craft beer scene. With a respectable bottle list and a modest (in quantity) but very well-appointed (in quality) draft list, you can find some great beers here at a beer bar that flies under the radar as such. Happy hour is really where Scion shines because of their great deals on tasty appetizers like fried pickles and $4 craft beers. Looking for something a little fancier in the food department? Scion has your back with their Asian-fusion themed menu. They’ve recently added table taps out on their patio, which are a great addition to this already awesome beer bar that’s right off Dupont Circle.
Located at 2100 P Street NW
www.scionrestaurant.com
Beer Menu
The Mighty Pint
Perhaps best known for their happy hours featuring macro beers and large cocktails, the Mighty Pint also has a solid craft beer selection that will bail you out when your co-workers decide they’d like a huge gin and tonic for happy hour. Offerings from Dogfish Head, Victory, Flying Dog, Heavy Seas, and New Belgium all make fine pairings with the Pint’s tasty cheese steaks.
Located at 1831 M Street NW
www.themightypint.com
Beer Menu
Bier Baron
The Brickskeller was the old standby of DC’s beer culture. It was sold by long-time owners the Alexanders, and under new management it has become the Bier Baron. This new establishment took the formerly unhelpful beer list and organized it by style instead of alphabetically. The beer list is still very large and features a wide variety of domestic and foreign beers. Also, the aesthetic is still much the same inside (read: kind of divey, although the bathrooms have been updated and are now quite nice), and so if you have a hankering to get back to “The Brick,” what’s there doesn’t look all that different. While there used to be draft lines only upstairs, you can now find drafts upstairs and downstairs. They still haven’t hit their stride with beer events yet, but we’re confident that in due time this will be corrected. We’ll keep this updated as the situation develops.
Located at 1523 22nd St NW
www.bierbarondc.com
Beer List
Kramerbooks and Afterwords
In the back of this bookstore is a restaurant/bar/cafe that has pretty good food and a serious beer list. Although not super long, there is always something for the discerning beer drinker. Drafts have included a number of great domestic and foreign offerings. Kramerbooks also does a nice job during the craft beer weeks and can be counted on for at least one really good tasting that shouldn’t be missed.
Located at 1517 Connecticut Ave NW
www.kramers.com
Beer List
Bread and Brew
Bread and Brew
Bread and Brew is an eco-friendly themed cafe and sandwich shop with a nice secret in the basement. Go down their stairs and you will find a beer bar! They’ve also got artisanal pizzas and upscale foods to pair with your beer. In addition to these great beer pairings, they also have hosted vegan beer dinners during the DC beer weeks, which is something you can’t find in too many places in DC.
Located at 1247 20th St NW
www.breadandbrew.com
Beer List
Hank’s Oyster Bar
Beer and Lobster Rolls? Sounds like heaven right? The secret about Hank’s is that its run by the same guys who were behind CommonWealth Gastropub up in Columbia Heights. That means they’ve got good beer, too! Stop in for a half dozen oysters and a dry stout. A perfect pairing!
Located at 1624 Q St NW
www.hanksdc.com
Beer List
Stores
Connecticut Ave Wine and Liquor
For such a small store with a big focus on wine and spirits, these guys have crammed in a ton of variety. Al, the beer director here, is well-known in DC for bringing in out of market beers like Ballast Point, Surly, and 3 Floyds. He’s also got a wide selection of rarer offerings from in-market breweries. Definitely one of the top three craft beer shops in the District; if you need something specific, make this one of your first stops. If Al doesn’t have it, he knows where to get it, for sure.
Located at 1529 Connecticut Ave NW
1 West Dupont
Right near Scion and Pizzeria Paradiso is this gem of a bottle shop right off Dupont Circle’s south exit. All kinds of bombers and 6-packs greet you as soon as you walk in the door, and the owners here are often willing to order beers in for you if they don’t happen to have your favorite on-hand.
Located at 2012 P Street NW
Cairo Wine and Liquor
A really small store near Safeway at 17th and Q Streets, this place has a pretty intense collection of single bottles. Lots of 750mLs from breweries like Unibroue and Rogue. They also have a bunch of Dogfish Head offerings here. The Belgian selection is also healthy and includes a variety of the Christmas beers that generally hold up pretty well. Cairo is generally a pretty good source for new domestic beers as well.
Located at 1618 17th St NW
