Black’s Bar & Kitchen
From 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, you can choose from half a dozen discounted cocktails at this seafood-centric Woodmont Avenue gathering spot. If you find yourself torn between the sweet-tangy Lemon Drop and the White Cosmo ($6 each), treat yourself and order both. Ever-changing wines by the glass ($5) and four draft beers (prices vary)—including selections from nearby Flying Dog and Port City breweries—round out the sippable specials.
“A great happy hour has got to be more than knocking the top off a bottle of beer and pouring a shot of Jameson,” owner Jeff Black says. “It has to have sophistication.”
Straight-from-the-sea small plates, such as Chesapeake Bay oysters (two for $2.25) and mussels ($8), help tamp down appetites until dinner. Given those options, patrons are lucky this happy hour stretches for three hours. And those who decide to stay on for dinner will get to eat at the place voted “Best Overall Restaurant” by readers this year.
7750 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, 301-652-5525, blacksbarandkitchen.com