Time: Saturday 10:20 – 11:20
Clientèle: once a hipster upper-20′s mature locals
cost:
$5 Bud light
$6-12 decent beers

At this point in the night things were still going rather slowly. We had been to three places and were still trying to work up a good buzz.

As we approached Social we were delighted by the sight of available outdoor seating. We stepped into this oasis of aluminum and concrete and waited for our server to arrive. She promptly took our orders and quickly returned with our drinks. As I sat there sipping my smoke monster a feeling washed over me – taking me back to another time. That’s when I realized that there was a steady stream of great music. This was fantastic. It was all tunes that I grew up listening to (Isaac Hayes, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, you get the idea). At this point I’m starting to settle into a good place. I have a tasty drink in my hand, there is great soul music playing and I’m getting to enjoy the beautiful weather. As is my way while drinking I lit up. We were immediately told that we couldn’t smoke on the patio. We have to step to the curb. Excuse me? What does that mean? We are out-fucking-doors and we’re the only people on this side of the patio. Turns out that to allow smoking on an outdoor patio you need a special permit from the nannystate. They are in the process of getting one but since they have to deal with the DC govt I suspect that we all might be dead and gone by the time that happens.

After smoking, we made the five-step journey back to our table and continued to check out the scene. There was a small crowd on the other side of the patio but I really wasn’t sure what to make of them. They looked like a group in their late twenties or early to mid thirties. They seemed to be people who are gainfully employed and live in the neighborhood. Their style reminded me of hipsters but I didn’t feel that familiar sense of irritation. Is there such a thing as older hipsters? Who knows? Anyway, that not-quite-hipster group included several girls with partial-sleeve tats, and it reminded me of how much I love a woman with tattoos like those. Instantly increases the hotness factor by ten percent.

At this point we decided to kick things up a notch with shots of tequila. I thought that we ordered Cuervo, but were bought some smokey tasting mid-range tequila. We tossed those back and requested our tab. Looking at it I couldn’t help but to feel like I’d just been worked over by Fagin’s gang of pickpockets. Thirteen dollars for shots of mid-range tequila? Seems a little pricey to me. We cashed out and as we walked off to our next destination I can’t say that Social Bar left any kind of impression on me. It was like eating a bland meal. Not good, not bad, just there. In all fairness we didn’t spend much time at Social and Cupcakes was the only one of us who ventured inside. I do believe that another visit is in order before we can pass judgment on Social.