Dan's Cafe

Rite of passage to do a squirt bottle shot. It's cash only but there's an atm on the main road up near Pitchers. Bathrooms are gnarly - I'd hold it if I were you. They play killer throwback tunes think Titanic & then Country Roads so everyone sings along. The crowd is random & younger but don't let that stop you from coming - it's an experience to have.

Wow-- what a cool spot. I will definitely be coming back here. This little popular dive bar in the heart of Adams Morgan has so much energy and a college like feel. It's the place to be on a Friday night. The line was a little longer than the other bars and the place was packed. The bouncer was very inviting and charismatic so waiting in line passed by very quickly.

Best dive bar is back. Dan's Cafe has reopened after a remodel. Not to worry. It still looks very divey. The smell is still around too.

Everyone comes here for the squirt bottles. It's like a ketchup bottle filled with liquor. This is about $30 to get a few rounds of shots. If you want cheaper stuff you can get some well drinks. They pour drinks into regular glasses too. Avoid the bathrooms. It's just horrible. This is the place to take that one friend who wants to find the diviest bar possible.

The bar has a few things going on around it. One cool thing is the pool table. This feels like a basement in a crackhouse but in a kind way.

Best bar in DC - can't wait to return once it is safe to do so!! Cheap liquor and fun memories. Normally pretty crowded so be prepared for that. Cash only!

In the right situation, "Dirty Dan's" is the right bar, but the place is freaking weird.

First, while a middle school child can get a card reader for a lemonade stand these days, Dan's is cash only. And while most cash-only businesses are in it for their cut of the atm fees, there's no atm on site. So, get cash before you come.

There are no beers on tap, and there are no liquors on the shelf or in the well. They have beer in bottles, but the concept is based around customers buying pocket sized bottles of liquor and putting them into ketchup squirt bottles and then getting soda by the can (mix them for yourself). So, it's kind of like a liquor store that lets you drink on site.

You pay $20 for a flask's worth of liquor, but bizarrely, there's a $5 deposit for the squirt bottle (returned when you give the bottle back)... Because normal people would totally steal plastic condiment bottles for home use if they didn't have a Lincoln on the line.

The tables and seats are rickety. The area around the pool table is too crowded for a comfortable game of pool. But when you're in the neighborhood and want to hang out with people who are slumming it at a super divey bar but have $5 for a ketchup bottle deposit, there's a social scene to experience at Dan's.

Dan's Cafe is one of the weirdest places to go drink in DC and also one of my favorite.

This place is the definition of divey. You walk in one semi-small and always packed room with tables, chairs, and booths clustered together way too close. There's the bar on the left side with tons of bottles of liquor ready to be poured into a ketchup bottle.

Cash only, bring a $20 bill to get a your liquor, mixer, and get $5 back when you return the ketchup bottle back to the bar. This place is what it is and there isn't anything else like it. Great spot to pregame before heading out in AdMo.

Dan's Cafe is your destination if you're either trying to bond with co-workers or get secrets out of old friends. Do not meet a new tinder date at this establishment: judging the facade, he might think that you're trying to kill him or make him bet on a cock fight. Once you are inside, however, the atmosphere is the dive bar of all dive bars - no sign except for chicken scratch in the top lefthand corner of the door, red light only, and wet tables. Behind the bar are rows and rows of mini bottles for their famous vessel: the ketchup bottle. The bartender puts ice and a mini bottle of the alcohol of your choice in the ketchup bottle with a splash of your chosen mixer. Then, he gives you the number of shot glasses you would like. It's $25 total - $20 for the alcohol and $5 for the bottle, which you can get back upon returning it.

I would definitely come back to Dan's Cafe, just with more questions to ask my friends after we finish two ketchup bottles.

This place is awful, like really really awful, but you're still going to come anyway. The bar is rundown, there's a bad smell, and the bartenders are about as grumpy as they come. Beers are reasonable at $3.50 and the bottles of liquor are ~$24. It's an interesting concept for sure but I imagine there are better bars elsewhere in DC with similar prices. This isn't one of those cool hip dives, it's essentially a truck stop bathroom turned into a bar.

My girlfriends and I definitely did not expect our night to end here, but it was a pleasant way to wrap things up. we loved that it has a signature go-to that it's known for - the ketchup squirt bottles filled with alcohol of your choice (20$). We opted for pineapple cranbeerry and tequila.. and ended up befriending people at our table to share.

Be sure to carry cash on you because they did not take card!

Though the space is very limited, you can tell the spot was hot since almost every seat was taken. Would definitely come back when in AdMo. 5 stars for the experience and the people.

I was brought here by one of my friends who wanted to make sure I got to experience one of the more offbeat drinking establishments that DC has to offer. As you enter what appears to be a bomb shelter, you see a bar lined with mini liquor bottles on your left, and a pool table and chairs on your right.

Besides normal beers, all of which are reasonably priced, the signature drink is mixing a canned fruit juice with a type of liquor of your choice and having it served to you in a squeeze bottle. This is a very efficient way of getting yourself (and your friends who open their mouths and allow you to squeeze the bottle into) drunk, as the ratio is usually a slightly less than 1:1 of juice and alcohol. This is the best novelty experience, as it's totally a gimmick, but not one thought of by a multinational dining group but rather a local small business owner, so we should all continue to support the business for their ingenious patented drink delivery machine.

Bathroom is in the far back right corner. Don't use the bathroom.