Let's Get It On, Ooo Baby, Let's Get It On

O Marvin Gaye, that sexy crooner. He inspired so many hot hot nights, and now he has also inspired the hot hot new spot on U St., aptly named Marvin. You can find it at 14th and U squeezed between the International Grille and some abandoned buildings and blocked from the street by what I swear is one of the city's grossest bus stops. (Ok so this is not the bus stop but this picture represents the level of ickiness and has a midget. How could I resist?) So trying to get to Marvin might take a few minutes of searching around, but once you have located the unassuming bar/restaurant, be ready to be transformed from U St. to Cool McCoolville. You walk in, and everything is lit by candles. For someone who thrives in dim bars (remember Bar Rouge?), the decor was +1. There is a bar immediately to your right as you walk in, but mostly that is for people waiting to eat. The real party is upstairs. There is an indoor lounge and then a deck bar. The lounge is like below but without dinner. The deck bar is really where it's at. They keep it open all year round and pumped with the most absurdly warm heat lamps ever built. In case the weather throws an even bigger curve ball than just the freezing cold, say a rain or snow storm, Marvin is prepared. They have a thick canopy that stretches out over the whole bar and comes down in very lush looking curtains. That's another +1. I love love loooove their outside bar.


A combination of Southern and Beligium (I know, interesting to say the least, right?), the food/booze at Marvin is pretty great too. Their bar is so well stocked that they even carry Campari, which always makes me happy! Not all bars carry my drink of choice because, really, I have to be one of only 5 people in the world who thinks is it delicious. Thank God Marvin caters to us. That's a +2. For those of you who stick to beer and wine, the wine by the glass selection is limited but nice. The beers selection is very nice, and they carry a lot of interesting looking ones on draft and in bottle. The food is not amazing, but it is definitely a solid meal. Everything I've tried was good to great. Nothing scrumptrilescent, but nothing bad either.

My one and only complaint is how fast everyone else found out about Marvin. (Gosh, didn't you know it was my place? I found it first! I don't want to share with all you people. *Pout*) The first time I went was on Halloween. There were about 15-20 people at the outside bar. We received a lot of personal attention, and the bartender was in a great mood. The next time I came it was similarly crowded upstairs, but we had actually come to eat dinner. After 45 minutes of being told "another 5 or 10 minutes," we left for somewhere else. (Which turned out to be a huuuuge mistake. I'll post on that later. It was so terrible that I'm going to put off rehashing the experience for a little bit longer. No really. It was that bad.) The last time I went (a Friday night), Erin and I had to shove ourselves into a little corner to get a seat. Then we had to wait in Disney-World-main-attraction-long lines to get a drink. Everyone, not just us, seemed a bit testy with how long it took the bartenders to make the rounds. By the time we got to the end of our drink, we were more than ready to find greener pastures (which turned out to be Simply Home that night and was FABulous). Definite -1. I'd still recommend stopping by during the week, but if suffocating crowds and absurd waiting times for a drink aren't your thing, you may want to stay away on the weekends.