Hogo, the tropically themed retreat that rum drinkers flocked to before it shuttered in 2014, is resurfacing May 31 on the second floor of the similarly relocated Passenger complete with decorative totem poles, bartenders sporting floral shirts, and fiery cocktails.
After a three-year hiatus in D.C., Tom Brown’s pop-up bar is springing back to life in Shaw with even more high-octane concoctions and island bites this time around.
The team did a total tiki transformation of the space, introducing a grass skirt-lined bar, dangling formerly living starfish and blow fish from the ceiling, planting leopard print high chairs and six-foot wooden totem poles personally carved by Brown all about, as well as incorporating a huge rotating disco ball.
“We are adding more lights to bounce off the ball to make it look like the ceiling is the sea,” said Tom’s brother and Hogo collaborator, Nick Brown. He most recently ran a version of Hogo in Peru, but recently returned from South America to consult on the look and feel of the renovated space.
There’s also a DJ booth on a stage, with a deep-sea creature as the backdrop, that’ll keep the party going on weekends up to its 3 a.m. closing time.
Food runs from $4 for pimento macaroni salad to $18 for a poke bowl with yellowtail, seaweed salad, and macadamia nuts. There’s also a pork bun ($10), and Hawaiian burger with pineapple ($13).
Mick Perrigo, partner with Brown at Logan Circle bar Left Door, is slinging the drinks. One super-sized addition is the 400 Rabbits ($28; designed to serve up to four guests), a tiki bowl sporting a flickering flame, floating tropical flowers, and a shark-shaped orange slice, and filled with Azul tequila, Drambuie, Falernum, orange, lime, ginger syrup, vanilla, and soda. The No Regrets ($13) features Edinburgh Seaside gin and tequila, while the Salud! Mule ($14) arrives spike with Mezcal. Draft cocktails ($9) are heavy on local distiller Cotton & Reed’s white rum.
Bringing the party home is how an option: Some of the drinks are served in colorful parrot-shaped glassware, which can be purchased post-consumption. For $5 extra, any cocktail can arrive in a pineapple.
Status: Certified open tonight at 5 p.m. Expected to operate until 2 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and until 3 a.m. Friday through Saturday. 1539 Seventh Street NW; website.
