Washington bars and restaurants love any excuse for a drink special. So of course, it didn’t take long for someone to announce a happy hour marking Steve Bannon‘s departure from the White House. The Bird in Shaw will offer happy hour cocktails, beers, and wines for $4 today from 4 to 7 PM.
The deal is just the latest political promotion from the poultry-themed restaurant. Anytime Donald Trump fires a White House official, the Bird will offer discounted drinks at the bar or on one of its outdoor patios.
That didn’t take long/happen soon enough 👉Steve Bannon, YOU’RE FIRED! All happy hour drinks $4 today. https://t.co/Qw0kmb13NC #aCreativeDC pic.twitter.com/37pRjfxy1B
— Frenchy’s Naturel (@frenchysnaturel) August 18, 2017
The promotion began when Anthony Scaramucci was fired, and the Bird ran a cocktail special dubbed “the Mooch.” The restaurant’s general manager Stephan Antoniewicz remarked to his bar manager how the White House turnover was so frequent “it’s kind of like when it rains it pours.” The bar manager told him that when he worked at Mellow Mushroom in Charlottesville, the pizzeria offered discounted drinks during every rainstorm. Why not the same special for a political storm?
The Bird doesn’t have a themed cocktail for Bannon, but Antoniewicz might point patrons to one of the bar’s existing absinthe cocktails: “Dead Before Dawn.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
