Bar: Chief Ike’s Mambo Room

Where: 1725 Columbia Rd. NW, Adams Morgan

Crowd: Mostly twentysomethings

Getting in: They usually ID after 10 p.m. on weekends

Prices: $3 cover after 10 p.m. on weekends, average drink prices

Food: No one goes there to eat

Dancing: Lots!!

Pick-ups: None to speak of

Pluses: Good music, good groovin’

Minuses: Can be a trek to get there

Dying to get away from the tired GW scene for a night? Head for Adams Morgan and Chief Ike’s, where the lively wall art is as funky as the dancing. The key to a successful Chief Ike’s experience is going on the right night at the right time. Showing up on a Thursday night with no live music or deejay proved to be a night full of lots of drinking and very little dancing, but a Saturday night trip was a rousing success. The cozy dance floor was crowded with mostly easygoing twentysomethings getting their groove on, pounding and swaying to good song after good song. Everything from ’70s tunes like “I Will Survive” to favorite ’80s hits to the latest dance tracks belt from the speakers. A little FYI, however – if you want to avoid tinitus, do not work your mojo under the speakers; find your way into the middle of the dance floor.

Monday is mambo night and Chief Ike’s hosts lessons for dancers who want to learn new moves. A deejay cranks out hours of dance music Fridays and Saturdays. Outside is a comfortable patio with tables and chairs for exhausted partiers who want to escape the crowded, sweaty dance floor to enjoy a round of Chief Ike’s Mambo Ale – the beverage of choice at Chief Ike’s. The Bar Belle recommends having drinks before the crowds arrive, because you may not sit down the rest of the night. Hours of dancing, grooving and just generally getting down will leave you exhausted and sweaty but looking forward to next time. Beware – the return trip to campus is a 30-minute walk, or a $10+ cab ride. But The Bar Belle thinks you’ll agree the extra expense is well worth it.