Photo by jim_darling.

Here’s what my dictionary tells me when I look up the word “ambiance”: it’s “a feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person, or thing.” So, hardly a quantifable thing — as a “feeling or mood,” any individual’s determination of “ambiance” is not necessarily transferable to others. “Hipster,” as we all know, is pretty much undefinable and is, frankly, one of the lazier terms anyone can employ. Given these facts, I’m somewhat struggling to figure out why Yelp is now giving its reviewers the option to categorize the “ambiance” of establishments around the District and the world as “hipster.”

Eater first brought the option to our attention:

You can’t search using the hipster category on Yelp, which is terribly disappointing. But hopefully that will change and you’ll be able to sort by hipster, either as places to avoid or places you’ll want to go to.

A quick Google search reveals that places like Central in Portland, OR; Roberta’s in Brooklyn, NY; 611 Supreme in Seattle, WA; Zeitgeist in San Francisco; and El Chilito in Austin, TX are all categorized as “hipster.” (As evidence of its hipsterness, the Austin taco shop has a moustache see-saw out front).

Okay, so where in the District can you experience this mysterious “hipster ambiance”? As Eater noted, you can’t search for it — but by utilizing some Google search operators, one can find a smattering of restaurants which have the label: Comet Ping Pong, Open City, The Passenger and Busboys and Poets have all been deemed by Yelp reviewers to have…whatever qualities it takes to appeal to people looking for a “hipster” vibe. That said, there aren’t a whole lot of examples — which makes sense, considering that it’s impossible to identify what the hell “hipster ambiance” is.

Based on a cursory spin around the site’s message boards, Yelp’s users aren’t even sure how to utilize the setting, which kind of defeats the purpose. The website’s other ambiance options are Romantic, Trendy, Intimate, Dive-y, Casual, Classy, and Touristy — two or three of which appear to overlap rather heavily with “hipster.” — and that’s if you’re familiar with the overarching stereotype. One Yelp user asked, “what does [hipster] even mean? Is it fundamentally different from ‘divey’?”

The world will never know, my friend, the world will never know.