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Miracle returns to Adams Morgan with a “Grandma Got Run Over by a T-Rex” cocktail that doubles as an ornament.
Melissa Hom

A Running Map of D.C.’s Most Festive Holiday Pop-Ups

‘Tis the season to gulp spiked eggnog while soaking up wintery decor

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Miracle returns to Adams Morgan with a “Grandma Got Run Over by a T-Rex” cocktail that doubles as an ornament.
| Melissa Hom

It’s that time of the year again where bars and restaurants across the D.C. area temporarily forgo or augment year-round offerings in favor of holiday cocktails, themed bites, and over-the-top decor like life-sized Santas and tinsel-strewn trees.

The list is still growing, but here are some already-announced activations in the form of pop-up bars, restaurants, and markets to stock up on gifts. And for Taylor Swift-centric holiday pop-ups, parties, and cocktails menus around town, go here.

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Rec Pier Chop House

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Up for a Baltimore trip? Count down to Christmas at the Sagamore Pendry Hotel’s Rec Pier Chophouse with a special off-menu cocktail to celebrate the 12 nights leading up to Noël. And starting this weekend, Inner Harbor’s West Shore Park comes with twinkling lights, themed weekends, rides, stalls for European and German sweet and savory treats, gooey Swiss raclette, and mulled wine.

The Christmas Village pop-up is back at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
Christmas Village

Death Punch

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Miracle at Death Punch, now in its third year in D.C., fully immerses guests with holiday cheer via floor-to-ceiling decorations (think: a big green Grinch) and drinks served in all sorts of Santa-shaped and Christmas mugs that are also for sale. Reservations are encouraged but walk-ins are welcome for standing room only. The bar is open from Friday, November 25 to Wednesday, December 30. Returning cocktails like the “Christmapolitan” and “Snowball Old Fashioned” join newcomers like the “Christmas Cricket” and “Holiday Spiked Chai.” An ugly Christmas sweater party is scheduled for December 1.

“Jingle Balls Nog” at Death Punch.
Melissa Hom

Archipelago

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Sippin’ Santa’s nationwide pop-up takes over the D.C. tiki bar with a sea of festive rum drinks and beachy decor starting Friday, November 25.

Side Door

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Pub and the People’s year-old cellar speakeasy Side Door shows off Santa’s naughty side with a Krampus cocktail pop-up starting Friday, December 2. The potent 18-count cocktail list includes a “Flipping Biscottis” (grappa, biscotti liquor, creme de cacao, cold brew coffee liquor, whole egg), “Elf Around and Find Out” (dark rums, spiced raspberry, absinthe), and “Krampus Baby” (Oaxacan hot chocolate with mezcal and cacao). Open Thursday to Saturday nights until as late as 1 a.m.

Side Door gets into the Krampus holiday spirit.
Side Door

El Cielo

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The team at Michelin-rated Elcielo brings a Caribbean-styled Christmas to La Cosecha from December 1 to 24 (no reservations required). The “El Caribeño by Elcielo” pop-up features five cocktails and one mocktail (horchata) alongside Colombian street foods. Options include an Elvis-themed “Hunka Hunka” (peanut butter whiskey sour) and San Andrés (rum, white Curacao, pineapple juice). Bites include perrito de camaron, carimañola, aborrajado, avocado tempura, and arepa de chocolo with cheese. Each cocktail with accompanying snacks is $20. Located at La Cosecha’s centrally located culinary studio.

Elcielo hosts a no-reservations Christmas cocktail pop-up at La Cosecha.
Elcielo

Bourbon Steak

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Head to Bourbon Steak’s stone patio and dine in one of the custom-made wooden chalet suites designed after an iconic Four Seasons ski resort. Plates inspired by each location are also on hand, like a hot miso-buttered shellfish platter at the Whistler suite or a dry-aged, bone-in New York steak weighing in at 18 ounces in the Jackson Hole suite. 

Ciel Social Club

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Starting Friday, December 2, the stylish rooftop bar in Mt. Vernon Triangle channels chic Aspen vibes all winter with pinecones, dried oranges, and a Veuve Clicquot-orange snowmobile. Along with lots of bubbly pours, the Ciel Chalet pop-up slings “Under the Mistletoe” (Mt. Gay Eclipse Rum, cranberry elderberry cordial, lime, cinnamon Cointreau, Angostura) and “Getting Figgy Wit’ It” (fig-infused Botanist Gin, homemade tonic, pine, peppermint, soda water). The pop-up runs through February 28.

Ciel Chalet runs through February.
Ciel Social Club

Estuary

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From November 16 to December 23, visitors can take in the Winter at Bay Experience at the Conrad Washington DC. The chic hotel’s South Terrace is turned into a welcoming urban escape, outfitted with fire pits, hot cocktails, and warm bites from the Chesapeake-inspired menu. Try “The Wood Stove” — mezcal, hot chocolate, and marshmallows — and roasted oysters for a seasonally appropriate duo.

Stable DC

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Stable co-owner and beverage manager Silvan Kraemer whipped up a winter drink menu that features hot cocktails with origins connected to his native Switzerland. Sip on those and comforting winter fare inside a private ski chalet all season long. The Swiss staple will also do a fondue pop-up called Little Stable at Nationals Park’s Enchant DC starting November 25. 

LYDIA ON H

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H Street’s lively Afro-Caribbean restaurant rolls out a Motown-themed pop-up bar for the holidays from November 25 to December 29. A festive set of drinks come from Lydia’s Malawian owner Victor Chizinga.

The Watergate Hotel

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The iconic igloos inside The Watergate Hotel are back for the season, and this year’s activation draw inspiration from the Swiss Alps. Guests can enjoy a cozy, private get together on The Next Whisky Bar’s terrace while savoring specialty cocktails. Call for reservations.

Hole in the Wall, a holiday pop-up dessert bar, opens in Tonari on Friday, November 18. Diners can enjoy a multi-course feast of sweets (and spirit-free drink options) that replaces the normal savory dinner selection. Daikaya Group’s pastry chef Mary Mendoza is best known for inventing the doffle and for her decadent, chicken-fat chocolate cakes at Bantam King.

Urban Roast

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The all-day Penn Quarter cafe goes all out every holiday, and this Christmas marks its biggest pop-up yet. Neon “Kiss Me Under the Mistletoe” signage up front leads the way to a sea of garland, tinsel, faux snow, evergreen trees dotted with glittery ornaments, and life-sized Santas at every turn. Toast s’mores around its fire pits up front while sipping newly released winter cocktails.

Dirty Habit

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An Alpine-centric pop-up takes over the Dirty Habit courtyard for the holiday season. Located inside Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco, sip après ski cocktails and warm up in cozy blankets by outdoor fire pits. A snow cannon is also on hand for Instagram-worthy snaps. Offerings include the “Spiked Ponche,” a Mexican Christmas punch and elegant European dishes by chef Edgar Escalante like warm gougères (French cheese puffs) and smoked cassoulet with black winter truffles.

Hotel Washington

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Hotel Washington’s holiday suite is making its highly anticipated return this year. Decked out with festive decor, handmade cookies, family-friendly books and classics films on DVD, take in picturesque views while sipping hot cocoa and spiked eggnog upon request. The suite is available for guests to book during the duration of December.

Jingle Bell Rock, an over-the-top Christmas pop-up bar inside B Live, opens to the public on Tuesday, November 29. Clarendon’s new live music venue temporarily transforms into a holiday oasis adorned with oversized ornaments, colorful lights, swathes of shimmering garland, giant candy canes, and life-size nutcrackers. Warm up with festive cocktails served in holiday glassware and Christmas cookies. Timely events include an ugly sweater party, toy drive, a mistletoe photo booth, and karaoke (calling all “All I Want for Christmas Is You” fans).

Tiki TNT & Potomac Distilling Company

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The three-story rum emporium along the Southwest Waterfront kicks off “Once Upon a Tiki Christmas” on Monday, November 21. The Polynesian-themed tiki bar transforms into a wintery retreat, complete with a colorful bonanza of Christmas lights, snow machines, and Santas sporting beachwear. S’mores served on a vintage party platter can be toasted around a mini grill. Mixologist Todd Thrasher also debuts a pop-up gift shop upon entry selling limited batches of Thrasher’s Jamaican Rum and Chief Lapu Lapu cocktail mixes with a branded rum glass.   

Tiki TNT serves seasonal cocktails in Santa mugs.
Mack Ordaya

The self-pour tap house across from Nationals Park flips into a garland-filled holiday bar starting on Black Friday. Tap99 offers 99 taps of beer, cider, wine, seltzer, hard kombucha and kegged cocktails alongside new holiday cocktails and seasonal beers. Tap99 also decorates its streatery with an 18-foot Christmas tree for the season.

Tap99 hangs wrapped presents from the ceiling.
Tap99

Enchant Washington DC

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From Black Friday until New Year’s Day, Nationals Park gets a holiday makeover in the form of a 100-foot-tall Christmas tree and impressive lights display that depicts a story about Santa’s magic timepiece. Search for stars in the midst of lighted tunnels and a family-friendly maze. Snag last-minute gifts, ice skate, and finish the evening with samplings of sandwiches, s’mores, homemade doughnuts, and more. Tickets here.

National Landing Market

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Complete holiday shopping at National Landing while enjoying refreshments from local eateries. Over 13 merchants — from Beauty Champagne & Sugar Boutique to Commonwealth Joe — are confirmed, but expect that number to rise as it gets closer to the Saturday, December 3 event. Event details here.

Trummer's Restaurant

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Starting Thursday, December 8 at this polished Clifton, Virginia restaurant, a different holiday beverage flies on and off the menu for 12 days straight. The lineup hasn’t been revealed yet, but last year’s offerings included flights of eggnog, clarified cookie milk spiked with brandy and vanilla, and a “Christmas Morning” cocktail made with rum, gingerbread, coconut, and hot cocoa foam.

Rec Pier Chop House

Up for a Baltimore trip? Count down to Christmas at the Sagamore Pendry Hotel’s Rec Pier Chophouse with a special off-menu cocktail to celebrate the 12 nights leading up to Noël. And starting this weekend, Inner Harbor’s West Shore Park comes with twinkling lights, themed weekends, rides, stalls for European and German sweet and savory treats, gooey Swiss raclette, and mulled wine.

The Christmas Village pop-up is back at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
Christmas Village

Death Punch

Miracle at Death Punch, now in its third year in D.C., fully immerses guests with holiday cheer via floor-to-ceiling decorations (think: a big green Grinch) and drinks served in all sorts of Santa-shaped and Christmas mugs that are also for sale. Reservations are encouraged but walk-ins are welcome for standing room only. The bar is open from Friday, November 25 to Wednesday, December 30. Returning cocktails like the “Christmapolitan” and “Snowball Old Fashioned” join newcomers like the “Christmas Cricket” and “Holiday Spiked Chai.” An ugly Christmas sweater party is scheduled for December 1.

“Jingle Balls Nog” at Death Punch.
Melissa Hom

Archipelago

Sippin’ Santa’s nationwide pop-up takes over the D.C. tiki bar with a sea of festive rum drinks and beachy decor starting Friday, November 25.

Side Door

Pub and the People’s year-old cellar speakeasy Side Door shows off Santa’s naughty side with a Krampus cocktail pop-up starting Friday, December 2. The potent 18-count cocktail list includes a “Flipping Biscottis” (grappa, biscotti liquor, creme de cacao, cold brew coffee liquor, whole egg), “Elf Around and Find Out” (dark rums, spiced raspberry, absinthe), and “Krampus Baby” (Oaxacan hot chocolate with mezcal and cacao). Open Thursday to Saturday nights until as late as 1 a.m.

Side Door gets into the Krampus holiday spirit.
Side Door

El Cielo

The team at Michelin-rated Elcielo brings a Caribbean-styled Christmas to La Cosecha from December 1 to 24 (no reservations required). The “El Caribeño by Elcielo” pop-up features five cocktails and one mocktail (horchata) alongside Colombian street foods. Options include an Elvis-themed “Hunka Hunka” (peanut butter whiskey sour) and San Andrés (rum, white Curacao, pineapple juice). Bites include perrito de camaron, carimañola, aborrajado, avocado tempura, and arepa de chocolo with cheese. Each cocktail with accompanying snacks is $20. Located at La Cosecha’s centrally located culinary studio.

Elcielo hosts a no-reservations Christmas cocktail pop-up at La Cosecha.
Elcielo

Bourbon Steak

Head to Bourbon Steak’s stone patio and dine in one of the custom-made wooden chalet suites designed after an iconic Four Seasons ski resort. Plates inspired by each location are also on hand, like a hot miso-buttered shellfish platter at the Whistler suite or a dry-aged, bone-in New York steak weighing in at 18 ounces in the Jackson Hole suite. 

Ciel Social Club

Starting Friday, December 2, the stylish rooftop bar in Mt. Vernon Triangle channels chic Aspen vibes all winter with pinecones, dried oranges, and a Veuve Clicquot-orange snowmobile. Along with lots of bubbly pours, the Ciel Chalet pop-up slings “Under the Mistletoe” (Mt. Gay Eclipse Rum, cranberry elderberry cordial, lime, cinnamon Cointreau, Angostura) and “Getting Figgy Wit’ It” (fig-infused Botanist Gin, homemade tonic, pine, peppermint, soda water). The pop-up runs through February 28.

Ciel Chalet runs through February.
Ciel Social Club

Estuary

From November 16 to December 23, visitors can take in the Winter at Bay Experience at the Conrad Washington DC. The chic hotel’s South Terrace is turned into a welcoming urban escape, outfitted with fire pits, hot cocktails, and warm bites from the Chesapeake-inspired menu. Try “The Wood Stove” — mezcal, hot chocolate, and marshmallows — and roasted oysters for a seasonally appropriate duo.

Stable DC

Stable co-owner and beverage manager Silvan Kraemer whipped up a winter drink menu that features hot cocktails with origins connected to his native Switzerland. Sip on those and comforting winter fare inside a private ski chalet all season long. The Swiss staple will also do a fondue pop-up called Little Stable at Nationals Park’s Enchant DC starting November 25. 

LYDIA ON H

H Street’s lively Afro-Caribbean restaurant rolls out a Motown-themed pop-up bar for the holidays from November 25 to December 29. A festive set of drinks come from Lydia’s Malawian owner Victor Chizinga.

The Watergate Hotel

The iconic igloos inside The Watergate Hotel are back for the season, and this year’s activation draw inspiration from the Swiss Alps. Guests can enjoy a cozy, private get together on The Next Whisky Bar’s terrace while savoring specialty cocktails. Call for reservations.

Tonari

Hole in the Wall, a holiday pop-up dessert bar, opens in Tonari on Friday, November 18. Diners can enjoy a multi-course feast of sweets (and spirit-free drink options) that replaces the normal savory dinner selection. Daikaya Group’s pastry chef Mary Mendoza is best known for inventing the doffle and for her decadent, chicken-fat chocolate cakes at Bantam King.

Urban Roast

The all-day Penn Quarter cafe goes all out every holiday, and this Christmas marks its biggest pop-up yet. Neon “Kiss Me Under the Mistletoe” signage up front leads the way to a sea of garland, tinsel, faux snow, evergreen trees dotted with glittery ornaments, and life-sized Santas at every turn. Toast s’mores around its fire pits up front while sipping newly released winter cocktails.

Dirty Habit

An Alpine-centric pop-up takes over the Dirty Habit courtyard for the holiday season. Located inside Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco, sip après ski cocktails and warm up in cozy blankets by outdoor fire pits. A snow cannon is also on hand for Instagram-worthy snaps. Offerings include the “Spiked Ponche,” a Mexican Christmas punch and elegant European dishes by chef Edgar Escalante like warm gougères (French cheese puffs) and smoked cassoulet with black winter truffles.

Hotel Washington

Hotel Washington’s holiday suite is making its highly anticipated return this year. Decked out with festive decor, handmade cookies, family-friendly books and classics films on DVD, take in picturesque views while sipping hot cocoa and spiked eggnog upon request. The suite is available for guests to book during the duration of December.

Related Maps

B Live

Jingle Bell Rock, an over-the-top Christmas pop-up bar inside B Live, opens to the public on Tuesday, November 29. Clarendon’s new live music venue temporarily transforms into a holiday oasis adorned with oversized ornaments, colorful lights, swathes of shimmering garland, giant candy canes, and life-size nutcrackers. Warm up with festive cocktails served in holiday glassware and Christmas cookies. Timely events include an ugly sweater party, toy drive, a mistletoe photo booth, and karaoke (calling all “All I Want for Christmas Is You” fans).

Tiki TNT & Potomac Distilling Company

The three-story rum emporium along the Southwest Waterfront kicks off “Once Upon a Tiki Christmas” on Monday, November 21. The Polynesian-themed tiki bar transforms into a wintery retreat, complete with a colorful bonanza of Christmas lights, snow machines, and Santas sporting beachwear. S’mores served on a vintage party platter can be toasted around a mini grill. Mixologist Todd Thrasher also debuts a pop-up gift shop upon entry selling limited batches of Thrasher’s Jamaican Rum and Chief Lapu Lapu cocktail mixes with a branded rum glass.   

Tiki TNT serves seasonal cocktails in Santa mugs.
Mack Ordaya

Tap99

The self-pour tap house across from Nationals Park flips into a garland-filled holiday bar starting on Black Friday. Tap99 offers 99 taps of beer, cider, wine, seltzer, hard kombucha and kegged cocktails alongside new holiday cocktails and seasonal beers. Tap99 also decorates its streatery with an 18-foot Christmas tree for the season.

Tap99 hangs wrapped presents from the ceiling.
Tap99

Enchant Washington DC

From Black Friday until New Year’s Day, Nationals Park gets a holiday makeover in the form of a 100-foot-tall Christmas tree and impressive lights display that depicts a story about Santa’s magic timepiece. Search for stars in the midst of lighted tunnels and a family-friendly maze. Snag last-minute gifts, ice skate, and finish the evening with samplings of sandwiches, s’mores, homemade doughnuts, and more. Tickets here.

National Landing Market

Complete holiday shopping at National Landing while enjoying refreshments from local eateries. Over 13 merchants — from Beauty Champagne & Sugar Boutique to Commonwealth Joe — are confirmed, but expect that number to rise as it gets closer to the Saturday, December 3 event. Event details here.

Trummer's Restaurant

Starting Thursday, December 8 at this polished Clifton, Virginia restaurant, a different holiday beverage flies on and off the menu for 12 days straight. The lineup hasn’t been revealed yet, but last year’s offerings included flights of eggnog, clarified cookie milk spiked with brandy and vanilla, and a “Christmas Morning” cocktail made with rum, gingerbread, coconut, and hot cocoa foam.

Related Maps