Green Lantern

Not knowing the gay bars of Washington, I I visited two bars before finding this gem. In the other bars, nobody seemed that care that I was even there. By the time I left Green Lantern, they knew me by name. I will visit this bar again for the way they made me feel versus the other bars I went to. Karaōke Monday was a blast. Jason and Chris, the bartenders, were phenomenal. Thank you Green Lantern for not getting too caught up in image and actually caring for your patrons.

Great fun, no attitude gay bar. Sometimes caters to the bear crowd, but that can be fun. Sunday night karaōke is the best because the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington invades.

This was my 2^nd gay bar ever, and 2^nd gay bar of the night. I’m straight, but my friend isn’t so I wanted him to feel comfortable going out to drink. Thursday is shirtless night, where from 9−11PM men don’t wear shirts and get free drinks. They have a coat check upstairs for $ 2 which is super cheap. Upstairs was a DJ, downstairs was a video bar. Staff were awesome, people there were awesome.
The only thing is, this place is quite hidden and if my friend didn’t know where it was before we went, I would’ve gotten lost. It’s down an alley behind the alley.
Prices were eh, a little higher then the bar we went to before but it was still a nice place.

My husband and I were in DC for the ADA convention. We’d spend our days taking classes, buying supplies /​equipment from vendors on the convention floor, then spend our evenings enjoying drinks after a nice meal somewhere.
It’s a shame we didn’t get to The Green Lantern until Sunday night (the night before we left for home). If I knew then what I know now we’d have been there Friday and Saturday.
At first, the location put me off. It’s in an alley? Really? But once we got there I saw that it wasn’t the sketchy scene I’d imagined. It’s a brightly lit alley, clean and clearly visible from the street … no problem.
The interior is pretty nice. The first floor is dominated by a large circular bar ringed with barstools. There are small tables to your immediate left, a big cushy couch and seating in a nook next to the entrance on your left, and standing room only along a rail to your right.
There’s a DJ Booth (?), a couple of video game machines, a Get-​It-​Your-​Own-​Damn-​Self popcorn machine, and stairs to the dancefloor /​restrooms … all behind the bar. And, of course, there are the required big screen TVs everywhere playing music videos.
We grabbed a cheap (but potent) Happy Hour drink at the bar then settled in at one of the tall cocktail tables on the left and watched the crowd roll in.
It reminded me of «Cheers». Everybody seemed to know everybody else and they were all hugs and chatting until the door opened and someone else they all knew came in and there were more hugs and catching up, etc …
Then we learned that it was Karaōke night … and these guys were amped up! There were some amazing singers. We heard everything from Lady GaGa, to Garth Brooks, to show-​tunes from Miss Saigon and Le Miserables. And it really got good when everybody in the joint was singing!
Then we learned that the DC Gay Men’s Chorus had showed up. That explained all the fabulous singers!
Eventually I had to make a trip to the restroom upstairs and was pleased to see that a large dancefloor and bar were also up there. The bar /​dancefloor were not open at the time, but I can imagine that it’s a great scene on a Friday or Saturday night.
We had a wonderful evening. We met some great guys from the Chorus, heard some fabulous singing, enjoyed some potent /​inexpensive drinks, and generally felt comfortably at home.
This will be a Must on our next trip to DC.

It’s like the gay version of Cheers! I love this place. Every time I come to DC I make a point of stopping by because the place is so friendly. Drinks are strong and fairly priced. Bartenders are off the hook. Music is great and you can actually make friends here.

I went to this place for happy hour, and was very dissatisfied. The bartender informed me that all drinks were half off during Happy Hour, so I ordered a $ 10 Long Island Iced Tea and a $ 6 Beer. Since they were both half off, the bill should have totaled $ 8. However, when I received the check, I noticed that it said $ 12. I asked the bartender to explain to me how this worked.
Now, I have patronized many bars and restaurants during my life, and in the rare event that I have an issue with the bill, they are always very polite and make the necessary changes, even if it turns out later that I was incorrect. They would rather lose a few dollars than lose a customer and end up with a bad review (like this one). In fact, later that night, I was overcharged by $ 20 at another bar, and the bartender apologized profusely and gave me a free drink when I pointed out the mistake.
This bartender was clearly not trained in the same school of customer service. As soon as I questioned the bill amount, he became defensive, and said that he NEVER told me the drinks were half price (mind you, their website states that all drinks are half off during happy hour). He called me «baby,» which I found incredibly rude, and with a smile on his face said, «fight it with your credit card company.»
It astounds me that an employee would be this rude and abrasive over a measly $ 4. I’ll be gladly drinking elsewhere (except on Thursday nights, when shirtless men drink free, because well, they won’t be getting any money from me!).

BE CAREFUL!
I lost my iPhone when I was trying to charge at the main bar (I went to bathroom for couple minutes and it was gone!).
Bartender and management are helpless.

Great place for a DC newbie! Was in town for three nights met some really great guys. All the bartenders I encountered were charming, fun and talkative. Very much a ‘Cheers’ atmosphere. Met the GM, Jayson, besides ensuring I had an excellent time kept my phone charged and gave me great tips about visiting DC.. Oh yes and most importantly, awesome drinks!

I hate to say this but let’s be honest… you have a Friday night crowd and you have an old guy with white hair bartending… cmon get with the crowd and what a crowd wants

$ 25 credit card minimum and NO ITEMIZED RECEIPT ??? How low can a bar get in trying to squeeze every last cent from its customers? This is against their contract with the big four credit card companies and someone could probably make a pretty penny suing.
When you make the minimum that ridiculous you pressure groups to pay in one check. Well we have no idea what to charge each other because we have no idea what the price for our individual drinks were. Talk about obscured prices! WTF.

Went on shirtless Thursday… Not recommended lol. The drinks were made good, and they had a large crowd. There’s a dance floor upstairs which was packed until about 11:30 at which time everyone seemed to disappear into thin air. I assume people just go there on Thursdays to pregame with the free drinks for going shirtless? All in all it was an OK place to grab a few drinks. The people were nice.

Damn it google, when i typed in «bears» I wanted to see the ones that belonged in the national zoo.
Pretty cool alternative though. And apparently on Thursday nights between 10pm-​11pm they give free drinks if you come clothed a certain way.
So a friend tells me…

Probably the best gay bar I have ever been too. Honestly I have never been more welcome in a bar setting. The place has a hometown bar feel to it. (Because it is a hometown bar). The drinks are reasonably priced and the atmosphere is awesome. I did not feel like I was being judged and there weren’t any annoying little twinks running around. I will definitely be back!

The music isn’t that great and the dance floor upstairs was a bit of a design mess with the bar on one side and seatings on the other making for an awkward dance in the middle of the floor.
Thursdays, they have an hour where you get free drinks if you go shirtless. It’s interesting but clientele is mostly older so be ready for lewd looks and the more than occasional finger up your ass, copping a feel.

Sunday night, June 2^nd. My birthday. It was getting later in the evening, so I decided to pop into the Green Lantern. I have only been here a few times, and each time was just ok… until this time.
I entered the bar and sat down. The first thing I noticed was the cell phone chargers that the bar provides. Good thing. But that’s about where it ended this evening.
For a typical DC bar, the drink prices were a bit steeper than what I’ve experienced at other bars (more in a moment). This is not the type of bar that you can drink on the cheap. $ 7 for Bacardi? Uh… I’ve been to bars where I can get it for about $ 2 cheaper, if not more. Then, the bartender that was working that night had no personality, no smile, nothing. He had the «drink and shut up» look on his face. You can’t have that look or mentality as a bartender.
On this particular night, however, they were doing karaōke, and the host, as soon as he opened the show, looked at me and said «there’s a book right in front of you; you better look through it and pick a song». Really? Needless to say, I didn’t pick up the book, didn’t sing a song, and after paying $ 14 for a Bacardi and Coke and an extra shot of Bacardi, decided it was time to leave.
Oh, and when I mentioned that it was my birthday, what did the bartender do? Look at me after I had ordered my Bacardi and Coke and an extra shot of Bacardi, and say «$ 14». No happy birthday, no «thank you», nothing. Way to make someone feel comfortable.

This one was a bit hard to find, to say the least. I was surprised when I ended up here last Friday night since I’d thought I must’ve already frequented all the bars in my neighborhood. Except not. I came to meet a friend and had to call him while I looked for the place.
I finally found it with his instructions on the phone, showed the bouncer my ID and stepped in. Looked like a typical dive bar downstairs and I was glad/​relieved — I had wanted to just chill at a dive bar for a couple of drinks and have a somewhat laid-​back Friday night. Except not. We hung out downstairs by the bar for a short while and he told me «there’s dancing upstairs.» Alright, I guess we have to go then. So up I went. And entered an utterly different arena.
There were strobe lights flashing on everyone on the dance floor, which was not packed but pretty crowded. And of course I noticed the raunchy videos of gay sex taking place on the monitors behind the bar, but not until later. My straight guy friend was shocked/​terrified/​scared. Now unto the drag shows. Interesting. The performer lip-​synced to a few tunes while stripping off the costume layer by layer. There was also a big guy roaming around in a green wig (not sure if this is a regular appearance at the club) that added to our entertainment.
That was an experience, in sum. But by this point I’m pretty done with gay bars so I’m not sure if I’ll want to be back.

After Omega closed, there wasn’t too many other bars I was interested in going to. I had been to GL several times in the past, for a few events upstairs, but I never really gave it the chance it deserved. I was an Omega regular for a little while, even right up until it’s last night. Which if you missed it, was awesome!
Green Lantern is a great bar. A lot of Omega regulars go there now and those that have already been going there are all very nice people. The drinks are cheap and on any given night it’s always a blast! Jayson, Mike and Howard are the best bartenders and it’s always great to see them.
Two major things about this bar that makes it completely different than any other bar I’ve been to elsewhere.
One, they actually have chargers for your Android/​iPhone devices. And two, you can bring your own food into the establishment and eat it right there at the bar. How any bars allow you to bring your own food in and eat it too?
For these two reasons alone, if Unilocal gave you the ability to rate it 10 stars, I would.
Good times and noodle salad…

I consider myself an aficionado of seedy, alley-​way bars. And as one seems to be shuttering every other month, it’s best to appreciate what our great city has, while we have it.
It’s no secret that gay bars have changed over the years, and Green Lantern is in part, a blast from the past. As one of the original gay bars in DC, the alley location alone tells you of it’s early secretive life.
But unlike some of the other similar places that have existed across the city, GL has successfully been able to adapt and spread it’s wings to become a bar that people still flock to.
On just about any night, the crowd is diverse. You have some of the older guys who have probably been coming for decades, groups of young guys in for the cheap drinks and chill vibe, and just about anyone else in between.
During the week, they have happy hour which is always great and cheap, and they run specials throughout the week.
Thursday is one of the busiest nights where shirtless men drink for free after 10. Monthly parties also take place that bring in huge mix of people.
For gay bars in DC, Green Lantern is hands down one of the best. It’s not as flashy as Town, or as expensive for that matter. And not nearly as pretentious. It’s a come as you are bar, where people are friendly, the drinks are strong and the environment is comfortable.
Each time I go, I am afraid that it could be one of my last, as the trend of historic gays bars closing across the city, but it just makes me want to keep going, in hopes that we can buck the unfortunate trend.

What’s there not to like?
Great service, great prices, extremely friendly cliental.
Thursday Shirtless Free Drinks are unbelievable! Make sure to check that out.
Only possible criticisms: the crowd is late 20s, early 30s on a Friday night. I personally like this age group, but I know for a lot of «babies» like myself (21 year olds), they think older people are creepy. (They are wrong).
It’s hard to find because it’s down an ally, but I think it makes it that much cooler.

WARNING: Located in an alley. Happy hunting!
WARNING: Thursdays is Shirtless Thursdays!
Why is that a warning? Oh, read on.
If you take off your shirt and keep it off, you get a free drink. If not, time to say goodbye to your money. My drink was almost 10 bucks.
Soon after I arrived, that’s what happened to (almost) everyone in this place.
I took my Long Island Ice Tea (which my friend in California refers to as a REAL drink) and looked around.
The upstairs dance floor was a madhouse, packed with wall-​to-​wall gay men with the Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-​Masoch leading the pack. Just kidding, you think a writhing mass of flesh, alcohol drinks and sweat can have a leader? Also, no one was dancing. How odd.
I joked with a kid who barely spoke English about where were all the women at? I also joked with a shirtless hairy guy smoking outside how this place is a madhouse, and it wasn’t even a weekend yet. They both laughed. What can I say, I’m funny when I’m buzzed.
All in all, good crowd. Seemingly nice people, both the bar patrons and the bartenders.
Note: Gay porn played in monitors upstairs. That was surreal. Also, my drink was served in a fruit preserve jar. Now, that’s awesome!
Note 2: You might wonder whether I took off my shirt or not. Well, it’s a city I was visiting and no one knows me. The rest of your clues are in the review. Happy hunting!
PS. If this place is your thing, go give it a visit!