Bethesda’s First and Only High-Rise Rooftop Bar Opens Tonight

As of today, diners can see Bethesda from a whole new perspective with the arrival of Hip Flask, a hotel rooftop bar perched atop the new 12-story Marriott Bethesda Downtown at Marriott HQ. Located next to Bethesda’s Metro station, Marriott plants a new kind of flag with Hip Flask (7707 Woodmont Avenue), declaring the watering hole as Bethesda’s “first and only high-rise rooftop bar.”

Naturally, views are paramount: floor-to-ceiling windows look out across the Bethesda skyline, and there’s a large terrace for outdoor drinking and dining in the sky. Inside, the spacious interiors are drenched in a deep blue meant to evoke the Potomac River (that blue hue appears in cocktails too, like a French 75). Non-hotel guests can zip right up to Hip Flask in a separate elevator in the lobby.

Marriott Bethesda Downtown

Its name, Hip Flask, comes to life across its speakeasy-styled cocktail list. For the “Tiger Vogue” cocktail, bartenders shake up Makers 46, Tiger Nut, Chicory, and Orange 20, and then stir the drink into a flask and hide it inside of a book.

Other cocktails include “Daisy’s Dilemma,” made with Aviation gin, Lillet, chamomile, and vegan foam, or a “Marmalade Skies” with Haku vodka, white peach juice, yuzu, and rosé.

Marriott Bethesda Downtown

Marriott Bethesda Downtown

The draft list prioritizes Maryland beers from breweries like Calvert Brewing, Waredaca Brewing Company, Manor Hill Brewing, Cushwa Brewing Co., Hysteria Brewing Company, and Peabody Heights. Non-alcoholic cocktail options include a drink whipped up with espresso, vanilla, cinnamon, and Fever Tree tonic.

Hip Flask’s food menu is meant to be shared, like hummus tapenade, crab dip, pimento cheese deviled eggs, and a meat and cheese board that pulls products from Georgetown’s Stachowski Market.

Hip Flask opens Tuesday, May 3, at 5 p.m. Hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, and 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. The 21-and-up bar is first come, first served.

Marriott Bethesda Downtown

Marriott Bethesda Downtown at Marriott HQ opened in March, with executive chef Dupree Braswell behind three different restaurants within the hotel. In addition to Hip Flask and the Greatroom lobby bar, the ground floor flagship restaurant Seventh State is built around a custom bronze wood-fired oven (one of two found in Marriott hotels in North America).

The oven is put to work to build Italian panuozzo, a folded sandwich made with pizza dough. The menu prioritizes Maryland produce and ingredients, and floor-to-ceiling retractable glass walls will open to outdoor seating on nice days.