Live Q&As

I'd try Northside Social, which straddles the coffeehouse/wine bar divide nicely. You can have a glass of wine, while buying your child's silence with a nice brownie or tart.

Our resident San Franciscan, Jess Righthand, heartily recommends Town Tavern, which saw big crowds for the S.F. Giants World Series run. Go there, or you risk being swallowed up by the inevitable blue horde of fans rooting for the other Giants. 

As I said in last week's cover story, if you're hoping to see a local hoops team that has the best chance of reaching the Final Four this year, the Lady Terps are your best bet. It was good to see them bounce back after the loss to Miami. Alyssa Thomas is playing some great ball this year.

Oh, yes, we're having a tiki moment, aren't we? While there aren't any pure tiki bars, both the Passenger and Tryst go all tiki on Tuesdays, perhaps for the alliteration alone. If you wanted the tiki vibe without the high-end classic cocktail service, there's Mango Mike's in Alexandria.  And this one is kind of funny, but if anyone knows the good old Chinese restaurant Meiwah, I stumbled upon the fact that they do tiki drinks, too. I had a flaming scorpion bowl (god knows what was in it!) there recently, and not only was I the envy of the entire restaurant, I was out about $12, for enough alcohol to fell a baby elephant.

Man, back in the day, the old Malt Shop (when it was above the Dancing Crab) used to have a terrific darts scene. Now, I like the boards at Atomic in Cleveland Park and Bedrock in Adams Morgan, but if those are too out of the way, you could start with Rocket Bar or Iron Horse in Penn Quarter. I could have sworn the Queen Vic had a board but it turns out they don't. Chatters, where do you play darts in this town? 

Sounds lovely. Check out Mas, a tapas place that draws a nice crowd of wine tourists and R&R'ers like yourself. 

If you didnt mind a short walk to dinner after drinks, I'd go with trying to meet folks over at Tabard Inn on N Street at 17th, I've done the walk to Nora before, and it's not bad at all (and maybe it'll get you ready for a multi-course meal). Two places closer to Nora are Circa on Connecticut, where they do cocktails, though they veer on the fruity side; and Black Fox Lounge. Circa gets a little hectic, but Black Fox is very very chill for a drink with several friends, if you actually wanted to catch up in a place you hear each other.

Just show up at the door and you'll be set. And there will absolutely, positively not be any beer or alcohol -- and don't even think about bringing your own!

H Street Country Club is probably your best bet for serious one-off skeeballing. 

Two thoughts. Okay, three. You're going to have better luck avoiding the 21-year-old set if you stay away from H Street and Adams Morgan (unless it's Jack Rose), and if you go out for a cocktail on a weeknight instead of a "let's get crazy" Friday night. The crowds skew a little older at El Centro upstairs on the roof, Marvin, and Bar Pilar (which hasn't re-opened yet), downstairs at Blackbyrd. Black Jack is another possibility. The Standard was full of cute dudes (though I suspect they were young), when it was open (it'll be open again in March). Readers? Any ideas? 

If they really wanted to do a high-end dinner, you can't beat the entirely raw Elizabeth's Gone Raw, which is amazing. Other places doing vegetarian tasting menus include Restaurant Nora and Cityzen. In less rarified air,  Rasika is a great option, too -- you should definitely do a reservation, then get there a little early to sip cocktails at the bar. In Logan Circle and Dupont, I'd add Estadio to the list (if they get there either early (like, before 6) or around 10, it's a much more relaxed vibe, and the cocktails are amazing.  Vinoteca is another option. And for the rest of the weekend, check out our Vegetarian Best Bets List. 

Ugh, should we all just give up on Wagamama? Some other perfectly good homegrown noodle bars are here; it's one of the microtrends we're seeing, in fact. Wagamama alternatives include Toki Underground, Mandu has started doing late-night Korean-style ramen (check their Facebook page for which nights they're serving it); and for Japanese ramen, there's the new People's Noodle Bar pop-up, which requires you to enter a Senor Chicken. Go figure.

One perfect place comes to mind: Busboys and Poets. I know, I know.

But brunch might be the best thing they do, and their vegan tempeh sandwich is enough to change the minds of non-vegans. Another option is Meridian Pint, but I didn't see anything as sweet as waffles on their brunch menu.

Two places that are pretty popular around here: Bang on U Street, and PR at Partners (the Metro Center location is a favorite around here); I've had a surprising amount of luck at both, and both are pretty affordable. 

I haven't been there, but perhaps I should. It's like I can now go a week, and not have a single drink that's not in a pineapple....

Go see Maryland when they host North Carolina and Duke is the sad-but-true answer. Local squads are light on pro prospects this year, although some Hoyas could get drafted in the next year or two. But the ACC and Big East games are your best bets.

Opening this Friday at the American Art Museum is the big Annie Leibovitz show, which Stephanie just got a peek at and heartily recommends, so that's one of the best options. The nice thing about that neighborhood, is that if it's all going well, you can kill time in the Kogod, or walk over to Zaytinya for a drink, or Chinatown Coffee for a coffee. Another option: Ice-skating at the National Gallery. Afterward, I'd zip up to Pitango on Seventh Street for hot cocoa.

Nothing official, but my powers of observation from having walked past the place over the weekend says "soon to very soon." This month doesn't seem like a stretch. 

There are a lot of options these days; off the top of our heads, Hill Country on Seventh St., and Kostume Karaoke on H Street and at Solly's on U Street. And Sticky Rice's karaoke is a legend. You'll know every song, which is really useful when trying to sing along, in front of people. Check out our whole karaoke bets list here.

Dan had problems logging into the chat, we apologize for his absence. But we got him to answer a couple of questions...

Dan Steinberg: I'd say 3. I used to get more excited about bobblhead giveaways, but people always take the bobbleheads from my desk, so it's kind of pointless. And no offense to Jeff, but I'm not sure he has any hugely comedic distinguishing characteristics. A Gary Williams bobblehead with a squirty sweat button would be way better.

Dan Steinberg:  Every time the home fans boo would be one suggestion, but I'm assuming you want a game that also works on the road. Maybe every time the team gets an assist? They average 16 a game, which is 2nd to last in the league, by a sizable margin. I'm not saying you'd want to do a shot for every assist, but maybe a drink for every assist? Or you could do a drink for every time the announcers say something about the draft.

I'lll add one that I think will reliably get you buzzed but not sloppy drunk each and every game -- a shot for every goaltend. With Jan Vesley getting more run and JaVale McGee being JaVale McGee, the Wiz are good for a few each game.

Great, thanks for the suggestions. I often shy away from recommending Founding Farmers because it's frequently way too busy for comfort. But the new Founding Farmers in Potomac might mean it's a little more airy these days. I've got to try the stout waffles, though.

Speaking of which, I use this opportunity to spill that next week's guest is Erica Meier of Compassion Over Killing; she's a huge vegan advocate, and will be joining us to talk veggie dining in D.C.

It seems that tickets are unavailable for the first dozen or so rows for every game ... maybe that's the season ticket base? Mason hosts Towson on Saturday at the Patriot Center; Towson has lost an NCAA record 38 straight games...

You can always split the difference and do a nice bar...at happy hour. I like Brasserie Beck for this (not far from Metro Center), Oyamel is a scene at which you can also do small plates if you get hungry, and Ceiba's is great, too. Another bargain, Proof, from 5:30-7 p.m.; Poste does a nice one, too - I'd wait till its a little warmer so you can sip outside. (These are CLOSER to Chinatown, but easily a 5 minute walk from Metro Center Metro, so no excuses).  Since online dating can mean more than one first date a week, you're probably going to need options, huh? Here's a handy list you can refer to.

I don't know about this one. Readers? Anyone ever karaoke'd here?

Haha, yes, I'm pretty sure they are all at the gym when the shlubs are at happy hour. But I see plenty of single men in their 30s around at night. Single men in your 30s - where are you going?

Thanks for your feedback. We try really hard to answer all of the questions we get, so if the chat veers toward a particular subject sometimes, I think it's just the way the questions are rolling in. Message me at ramanathanl@washpost.com after the chat - Are we still answering nightlife questions?  How are our responses different? I'd love to hear some specific concerns. Thanks.