Russia House Restaurant & Lounge Bar / Lounge / Restaurant

Dupont Circle, Washington, DC –

The Communist party may be dead, but the after-party marches on at The Russia House Restaurant and Lounge, an upscale tribute to the cuisine and culture of the motherland.

One of the few spots in the District where Royal Siberian caviar flows as readily as a mango martini, this elegant four-story venue is awash in red velvet walls, dark wooden trim, and sultry servers named Svetlana managing marble-topped bars.

Well-dressed couples cozy up in romantic booths on the first two floors, where the only thing more authentic than the Russian menu might be the traditional live music performed on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Nearly two hundred varieties of vodka are served here, so the trendy patrons who just stop in for dinner usually stick around for the hand-picked vodka flights.

On the two upper floors, dapper Dimitris enjoy their borscht and blinis to a soft soundtrack of Eastern European trance and folk music, though the volume gets kicked up on Friday and Saturday nights, when big crowds pack the upper lounge areas and former Cold War enemies come together for techno and toasts that often spill into the formal dining areas below.

For late-night lounging, fine Russian dining, and refined liquor drinking, The Russia House Restaurant and Lounge offers a one-of-a-kind experience that mixes a bit of old-world Soviet charm with an overwhelming dose of capitalist abundance.