●10.0 · $50.00 · Closed
Reviews for you
AliyahApr 14
Downtown, Washington●10.0
This is the best speakeasy/cocktail lounge I've ever been to. The first time I went was 3 years ago for my birthday. Each menus of theirs has narrative concept, and the first menu I experienced was the one inspired by the concept of the speakeasy's murals, "Down the Rabbit Hole", a re-imagined spin on the classic "Alice in Wonderland" (my favorite fairy tale 😭), where the protaganist is a young Ruby Bridges and "Wonderland" is a Carribbean-inspired fantasy (another part that hit me in the heart in the best way, because I'm Indo-Guyanese). The cocktail menu included the most creative uses I've ever seen of traditionally Carribbean flavors/ingredients- one of the standout drinks of the night being "The Crow from Tobago", included gin, mango, and curry powder, and is served with a shot in a lime rind that its set on fire in front of you, that you take immediately after you blow out the flame. The entire experience that night felt like a big love letter addressed to me personally, combining all elements of my Carribbean heritage, a taste for the unconventional, and an affinty for a fairy tale that captures exactly that.
The second time I went was the end of August, 2025. They had debuted a new menu, and I was moving out of the city that week and was on my bucket list before my abrupt move back home. "Banned in DC" follows the same protagonist, a now older, still fictionalized version Ruby Bridges navigate a post-apocolyptic DC where historic stories like her's (being the first black child to intergrate a school in the Jim Crow south) face being censored and erased from classrooms in America. The menu's visual concept is inspired by a local all-black band, "Bad Brains", that fuses punk with reggae. While the menu this time around did not have the brownies points from me earned by way of (expectionally-executed) cultural bias, the creativity and innovation still went beyond my expectations. My favorite drink of the night was "Saturday Morning Cartoons", which uses liquified cornflakes and red bean to play into the sweeter notes of bourbon and cognac to perfectly recreate the taste of sweet cereal milk without being too on-the-nose. The floral nuances of saffron helped to keep things interesting and complex, while still keeping the light and nostalgic spirit of the drink.
Remembering all two visits to Allegory is enough to make me a little (re: pretty) emotional, and forever grateful for the coworker who reccommended it to me in my first year living in the district. DC is a place where you have dig to find your niche if you are not a 30-something white professional in consulting or politics, but when you do find it you will find incredible creatives, scenes, and places that keep the culture of the district alive.