Reminder: R is for Rocket Bar

This week R is for Rocket Bar, the centrally located, subterranean entertainment hub, featuring pool tables, shuffleboard, darts, and boardgames. Your favorite space-themed bar features happy hour specials from 4-7 p.m., including $4 draft of the month, glasses of any wine, champagne, and rail cocktails, plus $3 PBRs and $4.50 "pounder cans" (huh?). Champagne and shuffleboard sounds good to me! Hope to see you there, and nominate your favorite 'S' bar for two weeks from now.

R is for Rocket Bar

714 Seventh Street NW

http://www.rocketbardc.com/

Wednesday, April 20, 6-8 p.m.

L was for Laughing Man Tavern

The Laughing Man Tavern is hidden behind an inconspicuous plate glass window in Metro Center. The facade doesn't tell much about the little downtown gem within.

Laughing Man features two floors of dark wood bars and trim, more than a dozen beers on tap, and fun little touches like built-in bookcases full of classic volumes.

The convenience of Laughing Man's location (G Street, between 13th and 14th) is hard to beat for the downtown after-work crowd. The generous happy hour (3-8 p.m., Monday-Friday) features $3.25 select domestic drafts, $3.75 rail drinks, $4 premium drafts and house wines, and $4 special appetizers. Try the calamari and jerk chicken wings. Plus, Wednesday is 35-cent wing night.

TVs abound in virtually every sight line, so it's not likely you'll miss a play. A small foosball/darts corner in the basement gives added entertainment options, and the nearby private room is popular with organized happy-hour groups.