/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62428206/Pie_Shop_Stage_bar.0.jpg)
After a low-key opening in July, the rock-n-roll bar perched atop Dangerously Delicious Pies on H Street NE amplified its drink selection this week with the release of a new seasonal cocktail menu.
Co-owner Sandra Basanti calls the no-fuss bar program “beer and whiskey centric.” The new list at the upstairs watering hole and music venue — dubbed Pie Shop — has hot toddys along with “Cold Sweat” cocktails that mix fresh apple cider with Fireball.
“We are not a cocktail bar with mixologists,” she says. “If you want a fancy cocktail experience go next door to Hill Prince.”
Read the rest of the cocktail menu below:
Cocktail Menu by Tierney Plumb on Scribd
The second-story bar has been in the cult pie shop’s plans since it opened its orginal location a decade ago. Basanti says constructing Pie Shop was very much a DIY affair. Her husband helped build the stage, drawing inspiration from his “old school rocker” days in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The couple found chandeliers by dumpster diving in New York. The lanterns hovering over the bar were bought on Amazon and painted black.
Beers start at $4 and tickets for punk shows — featuring mostly local acts — are in the $10 range. Date night deals, which include pairing beers with slices of pie from the bakery downstairs, run around $22.
“We get a lot of Tinder dates,” she says. “If it really sucks you can be in and out.”
The two-story operation is pretty much a 24-hour business now, Basanti says. The bar opens at 5 p.m. and is closed on Mondays if there’s not a show. But the pie shop opens at 9 a.m., and the bakers starts work at 4 a.m.
“We are masochists, but we are making it work,” Basanti says. “It’s been an interesting transition into bar venue life but people have been digging it.”
The lived-in vibe is real. The bar used to be Basanti and her husband’s actual apartment. They used to live there when the pie shop was getting started and money was tight.
Since opening the bar, she’s freed up some hours by employing a booker who works with Union Stage. A soon-to-be activated ticket website will streamline sales.
Pie Shop plans to offer hand-held savory pub fare like sausage rolls and baked pasties starting next year. Doing a play on biscuits and gravy is another idea Basanti has floated.
Downstairs, Dangerously Delicious plans to add more vegan options. A butter chicken pie — a temporary item that did well last year — will be on the permanent menu.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13587005/Bar_Seating_Area.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13587015/Bar_rain.jpg)