Bardo

The Bard

A Giant Open-Air Beer Garden in NE

None 3 Photos Bardo
Once upon a time, there was a divey bar in Arlington. It had totem poles and old cars. And it brewed more beer than anyone else around.

Then it closed. The end.

No, wait. Alternate ending: it’s back. In Northeast DC. And it brought barbed wire. And... not much else.

Yes, here’s Bardo, the strangest, airiest beer garden you’ll ever see, now open.

Picture a former vacant lot, ringed with chain-link fence and barbed wire, into which have been dropped a few fermentation tanks, shipping containers and a plywood bar. Good. You’re picturing this place.

Notice we didn’t say “doors” or “roofs,” because there aren’t any. So showing up during a blizzard is probably out.

But at night... that’s your time. Bring a huge group (they have enough real estate for 500), and make for the bar and its 20-odd drafts (Natty Boh, Old Rasputin). Take your beers over to the picnic tables. Or over on the grass, where there are corn-toss sets. Drink. Talk. Play. Repeat.

Still in the works: self-serve taps, movies on a big screen, fire pits and a license to brew their own beer and distill their own booze on site.

Don’t worry, there’s a Denny’s next door.

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