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?
Owners of several D.C. LGBTQ bars and nightclubs say the federal takeover of the city’s police force -- and the surge of federal agents stationed on 14th Street NW and along the U Street corridor -- cost them thousands of dollars in lost business this past weekend.
Mark Rutstein, co-owner of Crush Dance Bar at 14th and U Streets NW, told CBS affiliate WUSA that August 15 was the worst Friday the bar has seen since opening last year. He estimated losses to be approximately $15,000 for the night.
Rutstein told The Advocate that Crush sat near a multi-agency checkpoint, including agents from the Department of Homeland Security, set up on Wednesday evening. Authorities reportedly made 45 arrests, 29 of them immigration-related.
Precinct DTLA, one of L.A.’s most prominent queer bars, says it’s in danger of closing due to slow business and a lawsuit from a former employee.
In an Instagram post, Precinct DTLA warned it is "in crisis."
"We're a couple of slow weekends away from having to close our doors," the statement read. "Like many small businesses, we've taken hit after hit -- from COVID shutdowns and ICE raids to citywide curfews and the ongoing decline of nightlife. But what we're facing now is even more devastating."
Back in May, just after our 31st anniversary, I asked readers which of four classic cover interviews from our early years they'd like to see in print again: Greg Louganis (March 9, 1995), Sir Ian McKellen (Jan. 25, 1996), Camille Paglia (Feb. 1, 1996), or Eartha Kitt (Nov. 14, 1996). None of these conversations exist online, and they haven't been seen since their original print dates.
Out of more than 200 responses, 8% chose Paglia, 27% picked Louganis, 29% went for McKellen, and an impressive 36% cast their vote for Kitt.
Kitt, who passed away in December 2008, seemed a fitting choice to revisit. A pop culture icon for her turn as the second Catwoman (following Julie Newmar) on the late-1960s, camp-classic TV series Batman, she was slated to appear at Washington's legendary jazz nightclub Blues Alley when we spoke.
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