Washington, D.C.
When Meridian Pint opened last summer in a quiet pocket of D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood, the casual, eco-friendly bar—not only does it compost, but offers up its empty bottles to homebrewers—quickly became a sought-after haven for the Capital’s low-key beer set. Beer director Sam Fitz’s ever-changing lineup of 25 American drafts is alluring, but the food—homespun specialties including deviled eggs and grilled trout accompanied by pan-fried polenta—is worth the trip alone. The menu, says owner John Andrade, who also runs local rock ’n’ roll hangout Asylum with his brother, “is very American and very Southern.” Wash down that turkey hash with offbeat pours like Founders Red’s Rye PA, Great Lakes Eliot Ness or the bar’s own malty The Revelator, a collaboration with Baltimore’s Oliver Breweries.