We’re deeply honored to be named the #57 Best Bar in North America!
Thank you to @50bestbars , our peers, and the incredible industry professionals who continue to support us and help give our bar a platform.
We wouldn’t be here without our amazing team and their hard work and dedication, or without our wonderful guests who support us every day. This recognition is for all of you!
Come celebrate with us all week - we can’t wait to see your beautiful faces.
ICE OUT DAY
The suffering and terror that ICE, CBP, and DHS have wrought upon our country and communities is beyond comprehension. We were all raised on American exceptionalism and the tenet that being a melting pot of immigrants and cultures is what makes our country great. It is crystal clear that this administration and their band of masked thugs have every intention of destroying that ethos through inhumane and illegal violence.
We must stand up for our most vulnerable and threatened community members. Being an immigrant shouldn’t be punishable, but venerated. Being detained shouldn’t mean being strangled to death in an internment camp. Being a protester exercising your First Amendment right shouldn’t be a death sentence.
We want ICE not only out of our communities, but abolished and replaced with a system that actually works for Americans.
A portion of today’s proceeds will be donated to @ayuda_dmv , a local organization that provides critical support for our region’s immigrants, including assistance with medicine and rent, as well as food and legal services. Our government is viciously and inhumanly attacking some of our most vulnerable community members, and it’s up to all of us to help keep them safe and supported.
Strength in numbers. Stay strong and stay safe. #TheyCantKillUsAll
@graeson_cully , who hails from San Diego, came to DC via New York, where he worked in many prestigious kitchens.
After a long stint in the City that Never Sleeps, Graeson journeyed to DC, where he became a part of the legendary but now defunct Espita Mezcaleria. While at Espita, he worked his way up from barback to bar manager, becoming one of the foremost DC experts on all things agave.
Sadly, Espita closed right after the pandemic. We were lucky enough to scoop Graeson up shortly after. While at Allegory, he has developed into a creative juggernaut, pushing the team’s limits into new technical and flavor realms.
Allegory team by the numbers.
Deke Dunne - 7.75 years. Joined the project in Spring, 2018, 6 months before Allegory’s opening.
Julio Zavala - 7.25 years. One of Allegory’s first hires and joined the team in July, 2018, 2 months before opening.
Kapri Robinson - 5.5 years. Joined the team two days before the Pandemic. Was the first to agree to come back after opening and was the catalyst for much to come.
Princess Johnson - 4.25 years. First new hire after the Pandemic for our reopening in August, 2021, and helped set the tone for the new Allegory.
Greg Long - 3.5 years. First new team member outside of our core reopening squad as we started to embrace our new bar identity.
Graeson Cully - 3.25 years. New hire that allowed the transition of the bar program into what we are today.
Greg LaMotte - 2.5 years. Our first cross-trained Prep God and bartender. The drummer of the bar. Keeps us on tempo.
We often describe our team as lightening in a bottle. We couldn’t replicate it, even if we tried.
BANNED IN DC // Chapter 11: Leaving Babylon
Ruby enters the Cathedral. The rabbit reappears, summoning her to a HIDDEN room.
Her anger subsides as she follows with cautious curiosity.
Rabbit: THIS IS WHERE WE HIDE THEM ALL.
Ruby: Hide all of the what?
Rabbit: ALL OF THE BOOKS.
Ruby: Why would you hide books?
Rabbit: THEY BANNED THEM. ALL OF THEM.
STARTING WITH YOURS...
Leaving Babylon // Caravedo Pisco, Peruvian Groundcherry Vermouth, Uruapan
Dreamed by @graeson_cully .
Best Bar Team in the U.S.
Last night, on one of the biggest stages in our industry, Allegory brought another plate home for D.C.!
We’re humbled. We’re honored. And above all, we’re grateful. Grateful for this team, this city, and everyone who has believed in us from day one.
Being recognized as the Best U.S. Bar Team by the @tales_of_the_cocktail Spirited Awards is surreal. It’s the result of collective effort, trust, and a deep commitment to the culture we’re building here at Allegory. We’re thankful that our peers and voters see that in us.
Our message is more important than ever, so thank you for giving us a platform to express it and spread it. Evil only wins if we’re complicit.
Massive love to all of our friends who took home awards, with a special shoutout to @yummiwasabi at @servicebardc for winning Best U.S. Bartender!
Come by, pull up a chair, and celebrate with us.
This Team.
We could talk about the long hours, the endless prep, the late nights and early mornings. But what really makes this group special is the heart behind it all.
Allegory isn’t just a bar, it’s a collection of artists, storytellers, advocates, and hospitality professionals who show up every day for each other, for our guests, and for something bigger than any single service. We’re proud of the cocktails, the creativity, and the culture we’ve built, but we’re most proud of the team behind it.
Tomorrow, we’ll stand shoulder to shoulder as finalists for Best U.S. Bar Team at the @tales_of_the_cocktail Spirited Awards. To be recognized among the top four teams in the country is an honor, and a reflection of what we’ve poured into this space over the years.
Whichever way the wind blows, we are so proud to have one of the best bar teams in the world.
BANNED IN DC // Chapter 9: Beware the Jabberwocky
“You… I… I—” Ruby stuttered.
“Vanquished me? One hundred years ago, to this day,” snarled the Jabberwocky.
Memories. Flashes. BLUD and GORE…
PORTMANTEAU?
Ruby is in her six-year-old body, standing over the severed head of the Jabberwocky. A steely vorpal blade in her hand, drenched in blood.
Her friend, the RABBIT, is sitting next to her.
Safe. Saved.
Ruby snaps back to reality and balls her fists, ready for battle.
“I saved them. I saved them all… from you!”
Beware the Jabberwocky // Siete Misterios Doba-Yej, Nocheluna Sotol, Rich Strawberry Guava, Aperitif
Dreamed by Graeson Cully
Thank you @forbes and @ginapace for writing such a wonderful article on our new menu Banned in DC! Thank you for giving us such a big platform to share our message and we hope that we can reach and impact as many people as possible!
⚡️Banned in DC⚡️ out now!
“The story picks up with a now 26-year-old Bridges, but set 100 years in the future, in a dystopic Washington D.C., where there are riots in the streets and tanks on the National Mall. An evil political regime has been banning books, including Bridges’ own, Through My Eyes. In real life, Bridges has fought bans against her own books.
The menus do pack a punch. When I experienced the first menu last year, I teared up looking at the portrayal of the bravery of 6-year-old Ruby, experiencing that much hate. This week, taking a look at the new menu, the emotion came as I was at Chapter 11, when the Rabbit shows Ruby they have hidden books in the National Cathedral.
The menu ends on an uplifting note as well. Through a teaching manual by the non-profit Teaching for Change, Ruby and friends work to rebuild futuristic Washington, D.C., through knowledge and education.”
