Maybe you liked tequila before tequila was cool, but in recent years the Mexican spirit has become decidedly hot. Its popularity soared during the pandemic as a spirit of choice while drinking at home, but National Tequila Day, this Saturday, July 24, offers as good of an excuse as any to get out of the house and let someone else shake and pour for you.
A handful of local establishments have announced tequila-related specials to mark the occasion. At dLeña, the newest venture from Mexican-born international restaurateur Richard Sandoval (El Centro D.F.), the special of the day is a half-priced signature margarita called the Mercado, which kicks things up a notch with serrano-infused blanco tequila shaken with passion fruit juice, plus agave and lime, topped with a hibiscus-rosemary foam.
While drinking margaritas is an acceptable way to honor the holiday, the classic cocktail already has its own special day in February. True tequila aficionados or aspirants might consider drinking the spirit neat instead — perhaps as part of a tasting flight. The restaurant, located at 476 K Street NW, offers several flights that work to help increase awareness and appreciation of the spirit, its types, and brands.
A Horizontal Flight at dLeña helps guests better discern distinctions between brands by offering three different tequilas in the same aging category, whether Blanco ($21), Reposado ($24), or Anejo ($27). Meanwhile, a Vertical Flight helps showcase the effects of aging and the differences between aging categories produced by a single distiller, whether of Milagro products ($22), Corralejo ($24), or Patron ($27).
Tequila Tasting Flights are also a feature of the daily menu at TTT, which has locations in Clarendon and Silver Spring. Guests have an extensive list from which to choose to compare Horizontal taste differences between brands per aging category, either Blanco ($20), Reposado ($25), or Anejo ($30), or they can go for a “Vertical Expression” ($23) to compare how aging techniques change the flavor of product from a single distiller, choosing among Cabo Wabo, Casa Noble, Don Julio, Milagro, or Herradura.
There’s also “TTT’s Selection” ($60), which allows guests to compare three high-end tequilas from a set list, including Patron Roca Silver, Avion Reserva, or Milagro Select Reserve. Specifically for the holiday, both locations of TTT will be offering $6 tequila blanco shots all day from either of their house brands, Espolon and Milagro.
Morris American Bar
Morris American Bar, the bright, artisan cocktail-focused venture at 1020 7th Street NW, is putting its own twist on a tequila tasting flight — this one nodding to the rush of American celebrities cashing in on tequila’s surging global popularity by launching their own brands. But are they good?
Morris is putting that question to the test in a weeklong “celebrity tequila smackdown,” in which guests will blindly rank their favorites among Kendall Jenner’s 818, George Clooney’s Casamigos, The Rock’s Teremana, The Chainsmokers/Elliot “@fuckjerry” Tebele’s JAJA, and Diddy’s DeLeón. Voting is open through July 31, when the winner will be announced along with the launch of a specialty cocktail added to the bar’s menu for the next month.
Alcoholic Reposado Tequila Shots with Lime and Salt – Photo: Brandon Bayton/Wunder Garten
Finally, the most festive — and no doubt gayest — of the bunch is the 12-hour celebration that Wunder Garten in NoMa (1101 First Street NE) will throw beginning at noon. There will be multiple chances to win free shots and prizes all day long. They will also serve a mix of specialty drinks with amusingly silly names like “Tequila, Tequila, and Grapefruit!,” “Miss Peach” margarita, and “La Niña.” Feeling tipsy yet?
December 8 will be a big day for Cheyenne Jackson. That's when he'll take to the fabled stage at Carnegie Hall -- with his mother.
"This is a little scoop," he confides during a recent Zoom call. "My mom and my sister are going to join me on stage, and we're going to sing a trio. We haven't sung together in years. My mom, who's a retired widow living in Southern California, is going to get a gown on, get her hair done. It's going to be a family affair, and I'm so honored they're doing it. It's going to be so emotional."
The show, which Jackson says will feature "an incredible set list -- it's daunting, it's challenging," is deeply personal, reflecting "a lot of themes that come from my life."
My first protest, as my mother tells it, was as a toddler. In our Pacific Beach neighborhood of San Diego, circa 1970, she was moved to join a small group in opposition to some new construction. As she was moved, so was I, on four stroller wheels. My birth may have coincided with the weekend of the Stonewall Riots, but I didn't learn about that till much later.
And, of course, I have no memory of this inaugural outing with Mom to fight the power. Today, my mother looks at current events, disgusted by the White House, and wonders aloud whether protests such as the Oct. 18 No Kings Day actions across the country and beyond do much. At her age, she's certainly entitled to be winding down. Not that she was ever big on protests to begin with -- my first was her last, possibly her only.
Capital Pride Alliance Board President Ashley Smith has stepped down, effective October 18.
Smith was elected board president in 2018, succeeding longtime leader Bernie Delia, who passed away in 2024.
In a brief emailed statement to Metro Weekly, Capital Pride Alliance confirmed Smith’s resignation, saying the organization was recently "made aware of a claim" regarding Smith but offered no details about the nature of the claim or the circumstances surrounding his departure.
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