Stepping into Neptune Room, a bar opened on February 28 in Brightwood Park, is like walking into a bar whose theme is somehow vintage Hollywood, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and retro outer space all at the same time. It’s also the kind of place where, in all likelihood, you’ll run into your neighbors, former co-workers, and a few local musicians for good measure. Take that vibe and add a DJ, blacklight, and disco ball, and you’ve got Neptune Room on a Friday night.
The fact that the bar, like its sibling dive Showtime, is in a spot previously occupied by a barber shop is pure coincidence. “When we were signing the lease, I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is a former barber shop,’” says co-owner Paul Vivari.
About two and a half years ago, when he was thinking of neighborhoods to open a new spot, Vivari says the first one that came to mind was Brightwood Park. “I always loved Kennedy Street, and originally I was looking on there,” he says, “but there was so much on Georgia that was open.” The response from the neighborhood has been terrific, he adds, and Neptune Room already has regulars.
It took about 28 months from the lease signing until opening. “Once we put up this wallpaper, everything sort of built on that,” Vivari says. “I really wanted star map wallpaper, and this one turned out really cool, with the golds and the blues.”
New Orleans-based musician and artist Benjy Ferree, from Prince George’s County, created the mural you’ll first notice to left as you walk in. (It gets extra trippy once the blacklight goes on.) Ex Hex drummer Laura Harris, who also works at Neptune Room a few nights a week, made the retro diving scene above the three booths on the right. (The Diver Dan-like person, outfitted in standard diving dress, became the bar’s logo.)
The decor is rounded out with original movie lobby cards found online and reproductions of posters from Italian and Spanish versions of classic American horror films—plus a few marionette-like merpeople that the contractor just happened to purchase at an estate sale about 30 years ago. “We put up the art two days before we opened and were like, ‘Oh yeah this looks really cool,’” says Vivari.
Music is woven into the bar’s identity beyond the murals: Vivari is also a DJ, and co-owner Art Soodsamai installed the sound system specifically to complement vinyl. There will be DJs at least every Friday and Saturday night, to start, including Vivari himself about once a month, plus a few other regulars and room for new DJs, too. Eventually there could also be live music.
“We have about as much room for bands as we do at Showtime, so we’re not getting any six- or seven-piece funk bands in here or anything,” he says. (For those wondering, Granny and the Boys will likely not play here. “I like them as a Showtime institution,” explains Vivari. “And I don’t want to spread them too thin. She is 87 years old.”)
Like at Showtime, the jukebox here is free. At Neptune Room, though, it’s organized by country and world genres. Expect lots of cumbia, Afrobeat, Thai funk, and Bollywood soundtracks, plus go-go and other local music. “It’s all over the place but it works,” Vivari says. On a recent Friday, a track by the 1970s Peruvian cumbia group Juaneco Y Su Combo got nearly everyone in the bar moving, whether they were on the dance floor or posted up at the bar.
Drinks are inexpensive by D.C. standards: Beer and shot combos start at $5 and go up to $11. Wine, on tap from a box, is $6. Beer on tap and from cans ranges from $4-$9. White Claws are $6. Once they’re on the menu, basic cocktails such as a dark and stormy or Manhattan will be no more than $10. Micheladas and bloody Marys, available on weekends, go for $8.
When it comes to food, you can purchase individual bags of chips and other snacks for $1, or bring your own food from one of the many options nearby, including Crown Bakery (known especially for Sunday brunch), Sunrise Caribbean (with many vegan options), Hiwot (open late), Taqueria Distrito Federal, and Popeye’s. (Walk a little farther east on Kennedy St. for Tony’s Place or Andrene’s, or to get tamales or pupusas from Tropimart.)
What’s with the name? “I wanted something kind of planetary,” explains Vivari. After some searching to make sure it wasn’t already taken, his grandma told him that there used to be a restaurant in the basement of the Warner Theater (then called the Earle) called Neptune Room.
“She said the first drink she ever had was on her 18th birthday and her boss took her to the Neptune Room,” explains Vivari. “It was a creme de menthe parfait, and she said it was disgusting. I had already decided on that name without knowing that story. It was meant to be.”
Neptune Room is located at 5405 Georgia Ave. NW. Hours are Monday to Thursday, 5 p.m.-2 a.m., Friday 5 p.m.-3 a.m., Saturday 2 p.m.-3 a.m., Sunday 2 p.m.-2 a.m.
