Photo by Whitney Pipkin
PX Cocktail
If you’re going to pay $15 for a cocktail, you might as well feel like you’re breaking the law.
That's the idea behind a pair of speakeasies in Alexandria, where Prohibition-era vibes add a certain je ne sais quoi to an evening’s libations. Add to Old Town’s offerings a new whiskey-devoted bar that opened late last year, and you’ve got three places to drink well — without the long lines of the District’s latest pop-up bar.
PX
At Alexandria’s Bar PX — an upscale hideaway managed by one of the region’s best bartenders, Todd Thrasher — a blue light above Eamonn’s A Dublin Chipper glows when the doors are open. Reservations are recommended to guarantee a seat amid the soft-seat cushions and dark-wood interior that harkens to the 1920s. Chase away the winter cold with a signature Hot Toddy or cocktails like the “Feel Better and Get Well,” a mix of Rhum Barbancourt, Irish whiskey, Thrasher’s own falernum and lime bitters.
BarPX.com; 728 King Street, second floor
Captain Gregory’s
Step inside the Sugar Shack Donuts on North Henry Street and pull the flag to the right to access this entirely hidden speakeasy, named after the man behind the donut hole. A wood-paneled wall slides open to reveal an intimate bar setting where our gown-and-bow-tie garb (we were headed to a holiday party) nearly blended in one evening last month.
We were “not the first or last to show up in that attire,” says Brandon McDermott, Captain Gregory’s executive chef, who recommends reservations to get in.
Alongside a rotation of some 300 original cocktails, such as the “Benedict Cucumberbatch” (Macchu Pisco, cucumber, lime, egg white), Captain Gregory’s offers a lineup of heavy hors d’oeuvres (from smoked pork belly in mustard-studded sauce to corn nuts). Patrons can also order fresh donuts from next-door from their seats. McDermott says Captain Gregory’s owners, who recently opened Nocturne in D.C., have plans to open another Northern Virginia speakeasy in 2019.
CaptainGregorys.com; 804 N. Henry Street
1986 — The Whiskey Bar
This backroom bar devoted to all things whiskey opened inside Union Street Public House at the end of 2017, rounding out the options in a walkable corridor of Old Town.
Cozy up to the long, copper-hued bar for a taste of more than three dozen whiskeys and bourbons on the menu, or opt for a signature cocktail. “The Irish Brigade” mixes cold-brewed chamomile tea and Luxardo with a vanilla-infused Jameson and, for a departure from the ordinary, the “Border War” adds sweet vermouth and ancho reyes to rye and tequila.
The 36-seat bar, named for the year that Union Street opened, is open Wednesday through Saturday.
UnionStreetPublicHouse.com; 121 S. Union Street
