Lou's City Bar Opening Today In Columbia Heights

Grid View

• The patio will be covered with a charcoal gray awning and have ample outdoor seating
• The bar is 45 feet long
• Open seating space
• Booth seating in the center and along the walls
• Booth seating lines the wall opposite the bar

Lou's City Bar officially opens in Columbia Heights today, just in time to celebrate two sacred drinking holidays: March Madness and St. Patrick's Day. Located across Irving Street from the DC USA complex, the sports bar has high hopes of becoming the go-to DC bar. Owner Terry Cullen, a DC native, explains that Lou's won't be making money grabs by hosting Steelers events — this is a Redskin/Nats/Caps bar through-and-through. And with Columbia Heights sharing the same Metro line as the Verizon Center, Cullen says he hopes Lou's will become the place for sports fans to congregate before and after the game, pointing out the ample underground parking at DC USA.

Lou's is fully loaded with flat-screen TVs, including two on wheels that will play on the patio. Though the charcoal gray canopy is still being installed in that outdoor space, it will eventually be semi-enclosed, heated and outfitted with an outdoor bar, with room for both smokers and non-smokers. A juke box is set up near the entrance and booths line the wall across from the 45-foot bar.

There's a lot of love for the Irish at this sports bar, too. The beer list of 24 bottles and 16 taps includes Smithwicks, Guinness, Harp, Killians and Sam Adams Irish Red, plus they'll have four different kinds of Irish whiskey. Chef Ted O'Donnell has a menu of American classics: burgers, wings and the whole nine yards. And Cullen says the portion sizes will be a "throwback" — meaning big. Desserts and dressings are all housemade, he says, and only the shrimp is frozen.

And, of course, what's a bar without happy hour specials? The Lou's Hat Trick offers three appetizers for $3 apiece from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, not to mention wine, beer and rail drinks for $3. Mimosas will come free with any brunch entree starting this weekend.

In the coming months, Cullen will open yet another bar in the old CommonWealth space. So there you go, Columbia Heights. Drinking options!

· Lou's City Bar [Official Site]
· All Lou's City Bar Coverage [-EDC-]