DC’s Newest Restaurant and Bar Is a Beachy Ode to Great Vacations—and Patrick Swayze

At DC’s newest bar and restaurant, it’s vacation all year long.

Vagabond—from the team behind local haunts Shaw’s Tavern, 801 and Prost DC—opens Friday in the city’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. It’ll be serving up food and drinks inspired by some of the crew’s favorite travel destinations and surf spots around the world, with a heavy emphasis on tropical flavors and seafood.

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“Wherever you travel you connect with the cultures through dining out and meeting the people,” the restaurateur Eric Heidenberger told Eater DC.

Cocktails here stay true to that ethos, running the gamut from the Cerritos Beach (mezcal, grapefruit, lime and grapefruit soda all clarified with coconut milk) to the Las Dunas (a house-made pineapple-infused vodka martini with coconut lime foam). The beer list features a number of Mexican lagers, as well as Puerto Rican, Portuguese and Dominican cans.

The food menu, from executive chef Roberto Ascencio, draws heavily on the cuisines of Portugal, Hawaii and Mexico, among others. Snackables such as tuna ceviche and quesabirria will anchor the appetizer list. The entrees, meanwhile, will range from grilled octopus with polenta to grilled prawns with seafood rice and Portuguese fish stew.

“We are trying to source from purveyors that are able to get authentic supplies from these destinations,” Heidenberger said about the food.

The beachy main room will keep diners warm during winter months, and Vagabond will eventually expand to the rooftop next summer. If you’re an unapologetic ’80s nostalgist or just a Patrick Swayze fan, the team has opened a downstairs speakeasy called Swayze’s, in a nod to the late actor.

“We’ve all had an admiration for Patrick most of our lives,” Heidenberger said. “It started as a joke and snowballed.”

The themed bar—with drinks named after Swayze movie quotes—will notably serve the beer that the actor’s Dirty Dancing character drinks: Utica Club, which can actually be quite difficult to find. In the future, the space might even host theme nights inspired by Swayze’s movies, like a clay-spinning class à la Ghost.

To start, Vagabond will be open Thursday to Saturday, 4 pm to 3 am, with daily hours and weekend brunch coming soon. Swayze’s will open at 10 pm.

Click here to see all the photos of Vagabond.

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