Last Saturday afternoon found a friend and I waiting in Dupont Circle for our buddy to show up so we could go together to an early evening party. As such summer appointments go, our friend was running rather late. Luckily, we were seated at the sleek-if-too-small bar at Dupont Grille, which is one of the few establishments in town in which the parched and parsimonious can hold a 5 O’Clock Meeting on a Saturday: happy hour runs 7 days a week at Dupont Grille.

Located in the Jury’s Hotel right on the Circle, Dupont Grille runs its happy hour from 5:00 to 6:45 p.m. The menu changes regularly and the website sometimes fails to report what actually is offered on a given day, but there are always four or five hearty dishes, each offered at five dollars. The mainstays of the menu are pillars of D.C. happy hour dining: calamari and sliders. Served with an aioli, the calamari are fresh and flash-fried so quickly that their deep sea squid flavor remains triumphant.

Photo of Dupont Grille from tirinstar used with permission.