ORIGINALLY RAN JULY 1ST 2010

Being a handy DC guide by the collective BYT brain-drinking-power (consisting mainly of people who hate happy hours but love alcohol and food)

So, we've decided to do more guides. Because they're helpful, and everyone always learns something new and it gives us, here at BYT, a sense of doing something together. Anyway, DC is a city of young professionals (ask anyone) and as such, a city of happy hours. Problem is, when was the last time you went to a happy hour that, well, was actually a happy experience? These times are usually spent in overcrowded, overpriced, over-everything spaces with people you were hoping to escape for the sake of your own happiness.

So, we asked people (we know): WHERE DO YOU GO?

Categories included:

And of course, 90% of contributors did not stick to the format. Photos of them in their happy hour habitats are a bonus.

Here is what we came up with. Just for you:

Alex-Our Food Editor

(Suburbs) Morton's "Power Hour" is one of the most satisfying happy hours I've found at a high-end place. Beers are $4, wine is $5 and their "Mortinis" are $7. You can get their bar bites for just $5. I recommend the four Petit Filet sandwiches and an order of spinach/crab/artichoke dip. Runs from 5 to 6:30 pm, then from 9pm to close.

Breadsoda's happy hour runs from 4-7 pm everyday. You can get $4 wines, rails drinks and select beers. Add one of their well-priced, and yummy, sandwiches and you can eat/drink for a little more than $10.

(Gay) JR's has some crazy happy hour specials which include $11 all-you-can-drink from 4-8pm on Thursdays, Friday they offer $8 all-you-can-drink beer from 5-9pm, and on Mon-Wed you have get $1 vodka highballs and draft beer from 5-7. Ooof.

Bonus:Urbana is extending it's happy hour to 8 all summer. Get the $1 oysters and $5 small plates, beer, wine and sparkling wine.

Libby-Our Girl Friday

There is something you must know: I hate happy hours. I hate all of the annoying people in bad work clothes wearing retractable badges, toting laptop bags, shooting the shit gossiping about kickball. FUCK THAT NOISE- no drink special could make me want to go box out some psychotic UVA 09 grad wearing flip flops and a Lily Pulitzer dress in order to get a pitcher of beer or sangria. I'd much rather get drunk on my porch.

So here's are the two places with happy hours in this city that I believe are actually TOLERABLE.

1. Recessions.

Earth Wind & Fire on the Jukebox, Darts on the wall and huge mugs of beer on the table. Yes, there will be some annoying people, but if you get there early enough you'll be drunk by the time they all stroll in with their sleeves rolled up and ties in pocket. $4 gets you a beer bigger than your face and $3 gets you a good hard rail drink.

There are even secret back room alcoves in which you can make really good mistakes.

2. Townhouse Tavern.

Don't eat the food here, but drink the drinks- all of them. Townhouse Tavern in the best refuge off of the 17th St strip. There are always really awesome sketchy dudes there who turn out to be activists, progressive journalists or drug dealers. Highly recommended.

The bartender is definitely your friend and you're just as likely to hear Salt 'n Pepa's "Push It" as you are Classic Rock staples.

Places to avoid: The Front Page, Lucky Bar, Sign of The Whale, Rumors, The Big Hunt.

Alan-Our Movie Reviewer

Unfortunately I'm not the world's best happy hour expert. Here are the two I frequent:

Veranda - Cheap drinks until 7pm, and a a daily food/drink special. This bar is slightly off the mid-city drag, and even with outdoor seating, is never too crowded on a weekday. It's quickly become my go-to neighborhood spot.

Chadwicks - This unpretentious spot was once discussed in the DC edition of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, and rightly so. The staff is great, the drinks are cheap, and the food is delightfully greasy. Even with a Georgetown location, it's always easy to find a seat.

Danielle-Our Beverages Writer

Best Drink Deals: Ceiba: $5 dark and stormys ; Nooshi - half off bottles of Sake (essentially $10 for a whole bottle of excellent sake). beware the GW coeds.

Best Bar Menus: McCormick and Schmick's $1.95 bar menu; CoCo Sala: $9 gets you a glass of prosecco and a flight of three types of chocolate: white, milk and dark; Tonic: 1/2 off burgers and beer; Grill from Ipanema: $4 caipirhinas and $4 appetizers - deliciously fried brazilian food

Best Rooftops: Marvin, Local 16

Least Crowded Good Happy Hours: Playbill - $4 rail drinks and if you're cute this extends past happy hour. generally good only for the boys though (unless you're accompanied by a strapping young lad)

Neighborhood Joints: Mandu: $4 saketinis, $2 beers and $3 mandu

Suburbs: Chevy's. It's lame as shit and I feel bad for anyone working there but margaritas start at $3 and they have mammoth sized nacho platters for $4.

Honorable mention: Best Classy Happy Hours: 1905 ($3 stella and $3 home made salt and vinegar chips), Napoleon (half off champagne cocktails). best of all, odds of drunk interns are fairly low.

Jeff-Ideas Guy

Best place to drink: Buy a bottle of good scotch and sneak into the billiards room at the Cosmos Club.  Lock the door.  You can play billiards in the coolest room in Washington DC for free all night.  Just don't tell everybody about it.  The Cosmos Club is a private club for geniuses (founded by John Wesley Powell, Einstein and others were members).  Their security is surpisingly lax, and it's now sort of a hotel, so if you walk in and say you want to check the place out you should be fine.  Or just walk in like you own the place.  Billiards room is on the second floor.  I'm serious, this is the best spot in D.C.

Happy hour: Not sure why Hotel Helix isn't that popular anymore.  The bar is fantastic.

Suburbs: Lost Dog Cafe in Arlington.  Amazing pizza and sandwiches.  Beer and wine to go.  And they save animals.

Jason-Our Man Behind the Scenes

Mandu. Amazing iPod mix (although it's the same every time, it's great - XX, TVotR, etc.) Get the little sake bottles, they're cheap and great tasting, and just the right size. Share. Also: fried dumplings, not steamed. $3 before 7!

Becca-Our Charter Food Writer

For the business/business casual set with a vibe that doesn't make you want to rip out your eyelashes: Potenza. Nice selection of draft beers and lovely Italian cocktails and Italian-looking men tending bar, long oily hair-and-all.  And great food if you're willing to be a little spendy. Tends to get crowded on typical nights, but get there early enough and you can squeeze around a high table or snag a seat at the bar. The crowd certainly has its share of men in non-ironic pleated pinstripe pants and loosened ties, and women in sweater sets and pearls, but it's also infused with folks from nearby organizations where casual Friday comes every day; people-watching can involve both admiring and admonishing remarks.

Deb-Our Girl & Gay Editor

One of my favorite DC happy hours is Chix's Summer Special Reverse Happy Hour where you can get $10 bottles of completely decent Chilean and Argentinean wine to accompany your delicious hormone- and antibiotic-free, mouth-watering chicken and associated side dishes (did someone say noodles and cheese? yum). There's also a HH meal special: a quarter chicken, two sides AND a drink (soda or water) for just $7.99. Plus the location at 11th and U makes it ideal for a pre-show/pre-dancing dinner.

Then for the queer girls, of course, there is miss lesbanAnnie's monthly happy hour. Though it's been hopping around from bar to bar, of late its new home is upstairs at Policy. The couches are comfy, the rail drinks reasonably priced, the beer selection solid, and the jams are always fantastic. Plus there's an outdoor deck for the smokers and loungers. Lately, there have been some great guest DJ's as well, including DJ RAD of Pink Sock and Junebullet of She.Rex. Burgundy Crescent, the local LGBT volunteer group cohosts, so it's a great opportunity to pick up a special friend or a volunteer opportunity... maybe both.

Svetlana-Well, Me

For me, Happy Hours should serve only one purpose: to drink as much as I can, for as cheap as I can, for as long as I can. If I am looking for quality, I am the first person in line for The Columbia Room or shelling out 11 bucks for that Merlot Float Daiquri at Dickson's or having that nice man at The Mayflower pour me a 14 dollar martini that is worth every cent.

But, if I am (actually, and rarely) out to spend my hours after work as happily as I possibly could, here are my top (and only) picks:

-Haydee's - because THE HAPPY HOUR LASTS TILL MIDNIGHT Monday to Thursday (till 8 on the weekend). And sure the Margaritas taste soapy but they're 3 bucks or something like that, and the beers are 2.50. TILL MIDNIGHT

-Bourbon-because beers are half off and bourbon is only 4 bucks (I recommend getting it with the homemade ginger-ale) and the craft cocktails are 6 bucks (as opposed to 11) and if you get there AT 6, neither the bar nor the outside patio are crowded, at all.

-HEIGHTS-so it sort of sucks that you have to get there EARLY (it starts at 5) and sit either at the bar or the communal outdoor table BUT the food specials are cheap and awesome (I swear by the ginger calamari), the 4 dollar infused vodkas will have you singing by 7pm and the sangrias (white especially) are the most perfect summer happy hour drinks around

-Asylum - every day the deal is different but always worth it both on food and drinks. I spent most of my early 20s drinking 2 dollar high life and eating 75 cent tacos there with new and old friends.

Ellen-Our Food Writer

-Best Drink Deals (liquor and beer) - Recessions (19th and L NW) is an amazing find with specials on both bar foods and drinks. The drinks are always strong and beers are 22 oz all for really cheap. You can easily leave without spending $20 but still quite tipsy with a full stomach.

-Best Bar Menus - They may not have specials on drinks but it's definitely worth the trip anyway to Old Ebbit (15th and G NW) which holds two half-priced raw bar happy hours from 3-6pm and 11pm-1am during the week. The Orca platter which includes raw clams and oysters, crab legs, cocktail shrimp, and lobster tail can't be beat for half-off. Although I guess you would be inclined to disagree if you weren't a lover of seafood.

Ceiba (14th and G NW) also has an amazing happy hour menu with half-priced appetizers and $5 signature cocktails from 3-6pm and 9:30pm-close Monday - Friday and the same except 10- close on Friday and Saturday. Their appetizer menu is loaded with delicious small dishes.

-Best Rooftop - Local 16 (16th and U NW) is a favorite of mine for its central location to just about any job within the city. 5-8pm and cocktails, beer, and wine are all decently priced.

-Least crowded good happy hours - For some reason everytime I go to Ironhorse (7th and E NW) in Chinatown it makes me feel like no one else knows about it. They have tons of fun bar games (skeeball anyone?) and offer $2 off all drafts and $5 rail drinks from 4-8pm.

-Neighborhood joints - Red Rocks (11th and Park NW) has an early happy hour (5pm-7pm) and a late one (10pm-12am), both with a neighborhood vibe since it's within stumbling distance for just about anyone in Columbia Heights. Their cheese pizza is half off and delicious with a great selection of drink specials to match.

-Suburbs - Dogfish Head Alehouses in Gaithersburg, Falls Church, and Fairfax all offer a happy hour Sunday - Friday from 4-7pm with $1.50 off their amazing pints and $2 off selected apps. You really can't beat their beers and with these discounts it's definitely worth the trek out to the burbs.

-Extended hours - Science Club (19th and M NW) extends their happy hour all night until close Mon-Thurs and till 8pm on Friday with cheap wine, rail drinks, and beer. All night is pretty much as extended as you can get and their patio out front is a great place to hang out with music playing throughout the night.

Peter-Music Writer-in-Charge

LET US KNOW YOUR FAVORITES IN THE COMMENTS.

Previously in BYT Guides:

• 2/9: Valentine's Day is Made For Chocolates-A Handy DC/MD/VA Guide To Make The Most of It!
• 2/7: Pro Tips: Valentine's Day in DC
• 2/3: Eating Your Way Through Superbowl XLVI: A Round-Up
• 1/10: Fashion FWD: 12 Trends To LOVEEEE & EMBRACE For 2012
• 1/9: DC Restaurant Week Starts Today: PRO TIPS
• 1/4: What to Expect: 12 Months Til The Apocalypse
• 12/30: New Year's Day Brunch in DC: A Handy Guide
• 12/30: Countdown to NYE: The Ultimate Movie Marathon
• 12/29: Affordable Quality Bubbly? DC Sommeliers Weigh In...
• 12/16: STYLE GUIDE 2012: THE NEW YEARS EDITION