
Photo: Silver Lyan
Washington DC, United States
North America's 50 Best Bars ranked it No. 55 in 2026.
The first bar outside Europe from Ryan 'Mr Lyan' Chetiyawardana, Silver Lyan opened in 2020 in the former bank vault on the lower level of the Riggs Washington DC hotel. The team's eclectic drinks nod to the classics with playful serves and modern techniques, a menu built around past and present taboos, where every drink carries a story or a personal connection. Hideaways include The Champagne Booth and The Cabinet, a restored vault room for larger parties, while Sunday Lyan brings monthly industry guest collaborations. Ranked No.55 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
Hidden behind an unmarked door in the Eaton Hotel's Radical Library, Allegory marries political consciousness with serious drink-making in a room draped in a sprawling mural that tells the story of American dissent.
Perched on the second floor above Causa, Amazonia brings Peruvian-inflected cocktails to Blagden Alley with a rooftop hideaway that functions as one of DC's best warm-weather drinking spots.
A record bar meets cocktail lounge in a converted Dupont Circle townhouse, Press Club blends the aesthetics of a 1970s listening room with a 1990s record shop and a thoroughly modern drinks program.
Tucked beneath the Hay-Adams Hotel with direct sightlines to the White House, Off the Record is the power-drinking room of DC's political class, and it pours accordingly.
Your Only Friend is a sandwich bar, the unification of a cocktail bar and a sandwich shop, opened in January 2024 by Paul Taylor and Sherra Kurtz, both formerly of Columbia Room.