Part cabin-themed dive bar, part high-tech “media haus” with a huge stage and bitcoin think tank offices, there are layers to the 12,000-square-foot Pubkey Bar in the former Hill Country Barbecue space. The bitcoin bar debuted in New York’s Greenwich Village in 2022, but its new digs in Penn Quarter are six times larger, with enough space to throw events for 250 people. The new bar and event space opens on Friday, December 19.

“It’s the same thing we’re doing there, but on a much larger scale,” says Dan Kablaoui, the head of food and beverage. That includes facilitating larger discussions about bitcoin and tech policy with a huge stage behind the round bar. Kablaoui says that with the nonprofit constantly “stumping on the hill for bitcoin,” they hope the back space “feels a little bit more like an embassy than it does a restaurant.” He hopes that the laid-back atmosphere, replete with antique carpets and leather-clad couches, will welcome people from across the aisle who connect over a beer just a few blocks away from Capitol Hill.

There are meeting rooms that can double as private karaoke rooms, and, of course, a glass-encased podcast recording studio that can be broadcast live across the whole bar. Paying in bitcoin is encouraged, with an easy QR code for bar-goers and payment-platform Square accepting bitcoin without the three to four percent credit card processing fee.

But if you stick to the front of Pubkey, it seems like another dark, wood-paneled bar with hefty burgers, half-smokes, and chopped cheese sandwiches (an ode to the NY location) on the menu. On second glance, people might notice that the Spaghett, a Miller High Life cocktail, is called the Pleb ($8, a term for regular people interested in bitcoin), there’s an over-the-top tiki drink, the Orange Pill Whale ($100) that you can only pay for with bitcoin, and the fryers are full of Snake River Farms tallow.

Kablaoui says that the front space should feel like an approachable local bar, with late-night deals for industry folks and Capital One attendees, plus lunchtime fare that ranges from bone-in ribeyes and pork chops to crispy crab cakes and oysters from former Espita chef Alexis Samayoa. Daily hours start at 11 a.m., with doors staying open till 1 a.m. Sunday through Tuesday and till 2 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Manifest Bread rolls out simple pizzas and evening service

With a devoted DMV-wide following and reputation for supplying bread to plenty of high-end restaurants around town (The Dabney and Lutèce, to name a few), we’re keeping an eye on this Riverdale Park, Maryland bakery that just added dinner service last week. Husband-and-wife team Rick and Tyes Cook took a leap of faith this year, closing Manifest Bread for a few months to expand into a larger full-service restaurant. The evening menu is served from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with an anchovy-packed tomato pie ($25), a garlic and spinach-covered white pie ($24), and rabbit ragu lasagna ($27) on the opening nighttime menu. Manifest will also serve delicious desserts like a Basque-style cheesecake with apricot saffron preserves and an affogato with house-made vanilla ice cream.

A popular Palestinian restaurant out of NY is coming to D.C.

NYC’s hit Palestinian restaurant Ayat expands to D.C. next spring with a newly announced location right off of Washington Circle (2112 Pennsylvania Avenue NW). Expect all of the greatest hits — hummus, nutty muhammara, and chicken shawarma, to name a few — from co-owners Abdul Elenani and Ayat Masoud, who debuted the first Ayat in 2020. There are now multiple locations across New York, including the newest outpost in Astoria, plus outside of the city. Additional ones are en route to the Upper West Side, Philadelphia, and Dallas, per a press release. The 3,500-square-foot D.C. edition, situated at the foot of Foggy Bottom’s tony 2112 Penn office tower, plans to serve lunch and dinner daily. Should NYC’s Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani come down to D.C., he’ll likely pay a visit; he’s a huge fan of the place.

An award-winning Baltimore chef with D.C. ties is doing a new tapas bar

Spike Gjerde — the James Beard Award-winning chef of Woodberry Kitchen fame who ran critically acclaimed A Rake’s Progress in D.C.’s Line hotel until its 2020 closure — is back in the hotel game, but this time, in his home base of Baltimore. In collaboration with hotel brand Ash, Gjerde will unveil a subterranean tapas spot called Bar Dalí in early 2026 (909 Charles Street). Located in the hip Mount Vernon neighborhood, the new Hotel Ulysses dining venture is named for eccentric Spanish artist Salvador Dalí. Gjerde will also oversee the food and beverage program for Swann House, Ash’s event space situated above the restaurant. Gjerde’s newly formed hospitality company Ecco Project includes La Jetée, the French bistro he opened this fall in the old Cindy Lou’s Fish House at Harbor Point. Gjerde says his goal of Ecco Project is to showcase global cuisines using regenerative farms and local food systems.