Originally Published 01/21/99
Where: 3412 Connecticut Ave.
Crowd: Mix of students and young professionals.
Getting in: Make sure you’ve got your ID, it will get checked at the door
Prices: Average
Food: Not much after the kitchen closes
Dancing: None
Pick-ups: A few
Pluses: Great atmosphere; a true Irish pub experience
Minuses: Can get crowded and you have to take a cab back
Four Provinces is an Irish pub transplanted in Cleveland Park. It’s authentic: An Irish flag hangs in the back of the dark, smoky room. The low hum of conversation is pierced by a live musician wailing Irish drinking songs. The Guinness comes cold and thick in a tall glass, served as it is in Ireland. You haven’t experienced Guinness until you’ve had it served like this. But Four Provinces also has a wide selection of tasty beers on tap; most of them cost around $4. Happy hour lasts until 8 p.m., when a 16 oz glass of Bud, Bud Light or the house ale are $1.50. Four Provinces is also a restaurant, but The Bar Belle just went for drinks. Food is hard to come by after the kitchen closes, at 11 p.m. on weekdays and 11:30 p.m. on weekends. If you’re going for dinner, be sure to make reservations – tables fill up quickly.
And be sure to stick around for the live music. Four Provinces has live music seven days a week, beginning at 8:30 on week nights and 9 p.m. on weekends. The bar is in a great location – The Bar Belle enjoyed taking in a movie at the Uptown theater and hopping next store to Four Provinces to discuss the film with friends over Guinness until last call (1 a.m. on week nights and 2 a.m. on weekends). Finding a table can be a problem, especially on weekends when the bar is packed. That means no room for dancing. Four Provinces also has several dart boards, but snagging a free board is difficult. And after the Metro closes, you’ll have to catch a cab back to Foggy Bottom. But Four Provinces’ atmosphere is worth the trip. It’s is not a singles bar, so don’t go there looking for pick-ups. It’s a place to enjoy a relaxing conversation with friends while drinking fabulous beer in a fun atmosphere.
