The Raven Grill

one jukebox can't save a place.

I don't consider rude bartenders to be part of the "dive bar experience."  I just consider them to be rude.  It's perfectly legal to combine a quaintly run-down bar with pleasant, respectful service.

cheap beer is cheap because it's not very good.  I'm not going to praise the Raven simply because they price their beer correctly; it's just that other places price it too high.

the bathroom graffiti was uninspired, even by bathroom graffiti standards.

Raven is a true piece of DC history, before pretension and Nixon and the war the Raven ruled, politics not important just serious imbibing with no bs.  There were hundreds of bars like this in DC 40 years ago and only about 5 or 6 are left.  Pay your respects at this palace of shadows and kitsch, before its gone.

I am a firm believer that everyone needs a local bar in which he or she can get bombed on cheap beer during an afternoon.  When in Mount Pleasant, I prefer the Raven for this purpose.  The Miller High Life (bottled) is a particularly good deal.