Whether you need to get into the holiday spirit or just avoid studying for finals, check out some of the District’s holiday-themed pop-up bars this month.
Miracle on Seventh Street is D.C.’s classic holiday pop-up bar and is running its fourth season this year. You can always visit the classic, but two new winter pop-ups have cropped up this year with added concepts, unique layouts and new chances for end-of-semester mistakes.
Miracle on Seventh Street
If you’re in the mood for an extravagant Christmas experience, Miracle on Seventh Street may be the bar for you. The bar is run by the Drink Company, which was behind last year’s “Game of Thrones” and cherry blossoms pop-up bars, and features five rooms in its space at 1843 Seventh St. NW.
The walls are adorned with extravagant wreaths and murals of Frosty the Snowman, the Abominable Snowman – and even Beyonce. While at the bar, you can participate in fun activities with your friends, like ringing the jingle-bell canopy, taking photos in the mistletoe photo booth or venturing inside the bar’s giant New Year’s Eve ball.
The bar doesn’t only celebrate Christmas, as one room is entirely dedicated to Hanukkah, with murals of pandas eating sufganiyot, a traditional Jewish donut filled with jelly, in a room covered with Manischewitz wallpaper.
Of course, you can sip on holiday classics with a twist like the Festivus for the Rest of Us ($9), a mulled cider with spiced rum and lemon cordial, or enjoy something more refreshing like the Santa Bei Bei ($13), a drink mixed with tequila, lime and vanilla agave soda. Drinks are served in panda and Santa Claus ceramic mugs with bamboo straws.
Be sure to bundle up while you stand in line for the bar, as during peak weekend times, there can be wait times as long as an hour.
Sippin’ Santa’s Surf Shack
If you find big crowds and a plethora of holiday decorations a little bit overwhelming, you may want to head over to U Street’s Sippin’ Santa’s Surf Shack, where you can dance along to surf versions of holiday songs while sipping a drink in a tiki glass.
[gwh_image id=”1074778″ credit=”Margot Dynes | Senior Staff Photographer” align=”none” size=”embedded-img”]At Archipelago’s pop-up, which is open through Dec. 23, you can enjoy holiday versions of tiki drinks, like the Kris Kringle Colada ($15), a spicy take on the traditional pina colada, or the Sippin’ Santa ($15), a rum-based drink combined with gingerbread mix.[/gwh_image]
The pop-up takes over Archipelago, a tiki bar at 1201 U St. NW, and provides a tropical holiday that contrasts your typical winter ambiance, serving tiki drinks with a holiday twist.
This tropical newcomer’s decorations are less ostentatious than some other holiday bars, with more muted decorative paper balls hanging from the ceiling and colored lights adorning the thatched panel walls. Holiday houses and loads of tinsel are found within the bar’s two floors, and on the patio under a palm tree sits an inflatable Santa Claus wearing a tank top and flip-flops, along with a penguin sporting a hula skirt.
At the bar, which is open through Dec. 23, you can enjoy holiday versions of tiki drinks, like the Kris Kringle Colada ($15), a spicy take on the traditional pina colada, or the Sippin’ Santa ($15), a rum-based drink combined with gingerbread mix. All of its drinks are served in a festive cup, like a fake coconut, or a mug with Santa Claus decked out in sunglasses.
Hot Coco’s
If an alpine rooftop bar with shotskis sounds like your idea of a winter wonderland, check out the winter pop-up inside Little Coco’s at 3907 14th St. NW. The seasonal bar atop the Italian restaurant will stay open through March, to keep the wintry spirit going for weeks to come. While it’s a farther distance from campus than the other holiday bars, you can make up for the distance with the added cuisine options of pizza alongside your winter drinks.
Decked out with faux bearskin rugs and wooden stumps for chairs, the ski lodge atmosphere of Hot Coco’s is a smaller-scale affair than your typical holiday bar as it seats about 30. It makes up for its quaintness with the charm of its fur-trimmed decorations, which accentuate the holiday vibes in an otherwise sleek and modern bar.
Hot Coco’s has plenty of holiday libations ($9 to $13) in hot and cold flavors to keep you coming despite tempestuous weather patterns. Its hot buttered rum or Irish coffee will spice up your night, or you can try the chilled diamondback cocktail made of rye, applejack and yellow chartreuse. But if you’re celebrating the holidays with friends, your best bet is Hot Coco’s shotskis ($20), shot glasses that are attached to a ski, and come in flavors like Jagermeister or a Fireball, bourbon and apple cider mix.
