The Brass Monkey Bar / Karaoke Bar / Restaurant

Adams Morgan, Washington, DC –

A collective of five separately-named venues under one owner, and all joined by connecting stairways, The Brass Monkey is a labyrinth of entertainment where the amount of alcohol consumed on each floor tends to blur the boundaries between each establishment.

The joint’s namesake space on the ground floor is actually an Italian restaurant called Spaghetti Garden until 10pm, after which the simple wooden tables are pushed aside and a DJ starts spinning Top 40, hip-hop, and techno to a rowdy pack of preppy interns who shake it on the dance floor until last call.

Downstairs isn’t any less frenetic, as The Peyote Café in the basement is a veritable slosh fest of recent college grads jostling for position at the bar and “singing” karaoke

Mellower groups of friends and young professionals looking to escape the frenzy can venture up to Roxanne to shoot some pool, hang at the bar, or take their cocktails to the frat-house hodgepodge of old sofas and chairs in the lounge area.

Yet another flight of stairs leads to On the Rox, which provides access to a rooftop patio where smokers and newly minted couples check out the view – either of 18th street or of the guy next to them vomiting from three flights up.

A multi-storied mishmash of bars, music, and dancing, Brass Monkey draws in a young crowd – whether they’ll ever get out is another story.