Lists & Rankings
Best Neighborhoods For Young Singles
Night in Adams Morgan by miamabanta at flickr
The DC area has been lauded numerous times over the years (most recently by Kiplinger’s of all publications) as a destination for single men and women. However, making the list is the easy part. The tough part is figuring out which neighborhoods in DC are worthy of that label. Since neighborhoods that cater to singles are pretty much synonymous with those areas with good nightlife, that is the criteria that we focused on.
U Street CorridorIn the mid-1990s, U Street was not one of the city’s streets that you wanted to walk down alone late at night. Fast forward ten years and that same boulevard is now lined with bars and restaurants and teems with estrogen and testosterone from Thursday through Saturday night.
| Best Singles Bar | Saint Ex, 1847 14th Street NW |
|---|---|
| Best Late Night Food | Oohhs and Aahhs, 1005 U Street NW |
| Best Place to See and Be Seen | Marvin, Corner of 14th and U Streets |
Dupont Circle by Matt Herzog at flickr
Thought of as a neighborhood where college co-eds run rampant in search of their next conquest, Georgetown is a place of keg stands and penny pitchers not single malts and good conversation…right? Well, not necessarily. The ritzy zip code has some new additions (sustainable seafood restaurant Hook) and old favorites (waterfront spots Tony and Joe’s and Sequoia) that cater to both the liberal leaning thirty-something and the moneyed divorcee.
| Best Singles Bar | The Third Edition, 1218 Wisconsin Avenue NW |
|---|---|
| Best Late Night Food | Quick Pita, 1210 Potomac Street NW |
| Best Place to See and Be Seen | Sequoia, 3000 K Street NW |
The old standby finds it hard to shake their inclusion on this list (as if they want to). A favorite destination for DC natives when they return to the area on holidays, Adams Morgan has the perfect ingredients for singles looking to find a friend: a surplus of bars that require bodily contact to move once inside, pulsating bass lines and the requisite late night food options.
| Best Singles Bar | Bourbon, 2321 18th Street NW |
|---|---|
| Best Late Night Food | The Diner, 2453 18th Street NW |
| Best Place to See and Be Seen | Tryst, 2459 18TH Street NW |
Port City Java in Capitol Hill by Kate Mereand at flickr
The exception to the rule on this list. While not an area known for its bars and clubs, the influx of young adults to this zip code in recent years has made for a favorably “single-minded” demographic. It should be noted that many of the young residents are staffers on the Hill, but that should not be held against them. Most still know how to have a good time.
| Best Singles Bar | Capital Lounge, 231 Pennsylvania Avenue SE |
|---|---|
| Best Late Night Food | Jaleo, 480 7th Street NW |
| Best Place to See and Be Seen | Hawk n’ Dove, 329 Pennsylvania Avenue SE |
Primarily a zip code for the gay and lesbian set, Dupont still has some of the better places in the city to grab a drink and talk to your date in a normal voice or gyrate wildly on the dance floor and yell Madonna lyrics at the top of your lungs.
| Best Singles Bar | Play, 1219 Connecticut Avenue NW |
|---|---|
| Best Late Night Food | Bistrot Du Coin, 1738 Connecticut Avenue NW |
| Best Place to See and Be Seen | 18th Street Lounge, 1212 18th Street NW |
Georgetown at Night by paulaloe at flickr
A new player in this category, K Street is not only considered an area where the specifics of a last minute Capitol Hill deal can be ironed out, but now DC’s latest nightlife haven as well. More Manhattan than DC, the bottle service, celebrities and velvet ropes beckon those with deep pockets who are ready to spend.
| Best Singles Bar | Tattoo Bar, 1413 K Street NW |
|---|---|
| Best Late Night Food | Brasserie Beck, 1101 K Street NW (Open until 11:30pm) |
| Best Place to See and Be Seen | Josephine, 1008 Vermont Avenue NW |
Ladies and gentlemen, our Virginia entry. Just across the river, Clarendon is an area full of young people who opted for space and affordability as opposed to the smaller apartments in DC proper. So, while it does not have the cosmopolitan flare that DC offers, getting into the city is still an easy proposition.
| Best Singles Bar | Whitlow’s, 2854 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA. |
|---|---|
| Best Late Night Food | Mexicali Blues, 2933 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA |
| Best Place to See and Be Seen | Clarendon Ballroom, 3185 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA |
Where hipsters go to fall in love. Not quite on the map yet as a nightlife destination for the masses, the H Street Corridor is still slated as the next big thing in DC. Perfect date for the tapered jeans crew: Mussels and ironic beers at Dr. Granville Moore’s Brickyard followed by an equally ironic set by Devendra Banhart at the Rock and Roll Hotel.
| Best Singles Bar | H Street Martini Lounge, 1236 H Street NE |
|---|---|
| Best Late Night Food | Horace and Dickie's Seafood, 809 12th Street NE |
| Best Place to See and Be Seen | Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H Street NE |
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