The District Cocktail Lounge

Once a no-frills hang catering to a distinctly rockabilly crowd with peg-leg pants, greasy pompadours and florid bicep tattoos, this oblong institution (it was built in 1914 beneath a hotel/brothel and named the Stag) recently received a face lift courtesy of a local restaurateur who claims to have restored it to its “original luster.” If the gauzy website photos of the bar in its 1930s hey day are any indication, it would seem that the new owner simply smoothed down its quirky edges, turning the place into just another dressed-up cocktail lounge with designs on being a classy throwback. However, the District still boasts its original 100-foot-long copper top and mahogany bar and pours a good, stiff drink.