High Teq
Tequila, Rum and Privilege in Penn Quarter

Long weekend. Unseasonably warm. No matter where you’re going, it’s going to get crowded.

You’ll need to mark your territory. Or at least your tequila.

Which is why you may want to head to the sparkling new Latin Lounge at Zengo, opening tonight as your first stop in a tequila-fueled three-day break.

Sure, you’ve been upstairs here for Wagyu beef cooked on hot rocks. But for now, you’ll want to stay downstairs, which has been taken over by leather stools, a concrete bar and walls that look like they were salvaged from the compound of a tequila magnate.

Speaking of which, if you sign up for their magnate-esque “Owners Club,” they’ll store bottles you buy from their extensive list of tequilas, rums and piscos. Then next time you find yourself needing to celebrate a Caps win with a couple of Russians in Ovechkin jerseys, you’ll take a seat and summon your bottles, along with shakers and clever mixers like orange-ginger and hibiscus-cranberry.

Of course, if commitment isn’t your thing, you can still grab a high-top table, take in the rotating Latin DJ talent and order up scallop ceviche, sushi rolls and Thai chicken empanadas, along with Latin cocktails and tasting flights of tropical spirits, like the Spiced Rum Tasting or the Tequila Agave Cultivation Tasting.

Somewhere, an agave farmer is smiling.