Where: 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Getting in: carded at the door

Cover: $5

Specials: Tuesday night $1 beer is long gone; now bottles are $2

Dress: standard GW “welcome back” attire: mini-skirt, tank-top and flip-flops for girls; polo-shirt and denim for guys

Three simple words had been written in my planner for weeks now: “Dollar beer night.” Ahhh,, cheap beer – it’s all that could get me through the first session of my intense senior seminar class.

I’d never been to McFadden’s, the as-advertised “wildest pub on Earth,” which opened here in March. But this recent 21-year-old has always been intrigued about what happens inside those often-steamy windows on Pennsylvania Avenue.

With my roommates in tow, we set out to cross the street to McFadden’s. At 10 p.m. there was a line of about 15 people, but the bouncers checked our IDs and we were quickly let in. My excitement of $1 beer – real bottles too – quickly faded as I was faced with a $5 cover only to be told that bottles were $2 for the evening.

With $1 beer night a thing of the past, I decided to make the most out of my first visit to McFadden’s. I remember hearing tales about hot, female bartenders throwing shots down people’s throats and people dancing on bar tops. But as I ordered three Coronas, all I got from the nicely-dressed male bartender was, “That’ll be $6.”

My first impression of the bar was that the place was trying to be something more. It felt more like an old-fashioned saloon than your average college hangout. However, surveying the crowd, I would say a large majority of the GW senior class, plus a few grads, were present.

People-watching was the entertainment for the evening. Looking down onto the ground floor, a group of older men with receding hairlines were leaned up against the wall and probably wondering why no women weren’t talking to them.

While the night was pretty tame, it looks like McFadden’s has made a home for itself in Foggy Bottom.