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  1. Service Bar

    Cocktail Bar

    Drink 94
    Save to a list Write a review On the Way Around

    The fried chicken sandwich at a cocktail bar is either a cry for help or a statement of intent, and at Service Bar it's the latter. This relaxed U Street neighborhood bar keeps the classics balanced and the housemade drinks genuinely inventive, pulling from ingredients most menus wouldn't dare touch. The Spirited Awards named it U.S. Bartender of the Year in 2025, and North America's 50 Best Bars has it at number 39.

    The awards strongest first

    One number, weighted & current 94

    How we score

    The dishes from the writeups

    • Fried chicken

      “Fried chicken remains a fan favorite, as do the $9 happy hour specials that include Old Fashioneds and classic daiquiris.”

      Eater

    • Fried chicken sandwich

      “Roll up any day but Monday (when the bar is closed) to find the tight-knit staff dishing up reliably balanced classic cocktails during happy hour, plus a fried chicken sandwich that exceeds expectations.”

      The 50
    Save to a list Write a review On the Way What's Around
    Address
    926 U St NW, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until 2 AM

    • Monday Not listed
    • Tuesday Today 5 PM to 2 AM next day
    • Wednesday 5 PM to 2 AM next day
    • Thursday 5 PM to 2 AM next day
    • Friday 5 PM to 3 AM next day
    • Saturday 2 PM to 3 AM next day
    • Sunday 4 PM to 2 AM next day

    Kitchen open until 12am Tuesday-Saturday, 11:30pm Sunday

    Phone
    +12024627232
    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

    How we score →

    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.