Ivy & Coney

This place is a fantastic find! Had something to do in the neighborhood and wanted to grab dinner close by, but wanted good food at a reasonable price, this was the place to get it. The staff was funny, the other clientele was nice and low-​key, the beer selection was solid, but most importantly, that Chicago Italian Beef was amazing. Anyone that’s lived in Chicago and left knows it’s hard to find good Chicago food elsewhere and I’m happy to report, I finally found some. Thank you for existing in DC.

As the daughter of two Chicagoans, I learned from a young age that ketchup is not a condiment used with hot dogs. This was not what the other kids at school in Minnesota taught me so I didn’t know who to believe. I have since come to appreciate that a good hot dog has real tomatoes and therefore does not need ketchup. The Chicago dog at Ivy and Coney is perhaps the truest to the Chicago dog that can be found in Washington, DC (though I’m up for a taste test challenge if you know of something better). They get every element perfect from the celery salt down to the poppy seed bun. This Detroit and Chicago themed dive bar has friendly Midwestern vibe with an outdoor roof and a pool table to boot.

This place is a pretty darn good time. It’s nice and small but definitely not crammed. There are a couple of different bar areas you can sit and drink and they recently added a retractable roof that they can open up on nice evenings. Their beer and drinks are reasonably priced but you have to pay cash. While that’s annoying, they do have an ATM in the first room so they’re more than capable of accommodating. The employees are kind of a «fun rude» and are good at reading you. If you ask questions, expect to get a little sass as they’re just trying to pick fun at you. Definitely somewhere you want to experience.

Absolute true blue Chicago dog. Thank you! I took my BF and he loved his 2 Chicago Dogs. I had the banger and poached egg for brunch. Exceptional sausage, great flavor. We ate at the bar with great service. Next time the deck. Perfect easy breezy joint.

Unassuming atmosphere, which totally works for this Midwest themed bar. Plenty of TVs if you want to catch any game from a Chicago or Detroit based teams. Cheap beer ($ 3 for the Old Style) and great backside patio with more TVs.
I tried the Chicago dog but theirs didn’t work for me. The toppings were too large, covered in mustard, and the link seemed of low quality. The bun also didn’t seem very fresh, as it dehisced when I tried to eat it. Maybe it was just an off day, as I’ve heard so much good about them. I might try them again.

Love this spot — particularly w the new roof deck and expanded menu. Went their for brunch and got the «chicken and waffl-​ish.» Liked it so much, I got a second one!

I get the appeal — Chicago and Detroit inspired bar. Being a Detroit native, I definitely appreciate the Detroit Lions etc banner without someone making fun of it consistently.
The beer list is simple, some Bell’s, some Labatt Blue, cash only bar (unless you have bitcoin), two unisex bathrooms, a couch area in middle and an outdoor area with tons of TVs and peanuts on the floor.
It’s not a place that screams for me to come back, but I suppose if I lived in the area and wanted to watch Detroit sports, this’d be the place. Worth checking out if you happen to be in the area, but not worth going out of your way for.

Not very nice people, it’s like I’m paying my tab fucking respect. Go to Chaplins great happy hour and nice staff such great service and food
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Go to place for your Chicago dogs in DC. The other food is great too. Beer was cold. Staff was friendly. The outside deck is nice and they have heaters to keep it warm. Need to come here for a game.

Loved this place. It’s a little hole in the wall that reminds me of my old college bar. Peanuts on the floor, cash-​bar only, weird but awesome vibe. Worth checking out!

I live in the area. When I first visited a few weeks ago I was soooo happy. All of DC is very short of amazing places like this. Casual, affordable and plenty of TVs to watch sports. This is definitely my new go to spot.
The reason I gave 3 stars is that the beer is not cold. Hopefully someone at Ivy & Coney sees this review and fixes this major problem. Either way, I’ll still be coming back often. It’s 5 stars no doubt if the beer is cold.

Unpretentious, fun bar. Not many of these left in DC. Good for Chicago fans…
Cash only, I think.

Great! Place is cozy. Two Bartenders, maybe four drafts, One cheap mystery draft, two types of hot dogs for 2.50÷3 each I think, peanuts as a complimentary snack. You can toss the peanuts on the ground (I think it’s unnecessary but cool I guess). There was nothing fancy, nothing that really stands out but i really enjoyed this place. Their liquor selection was very limited. I dunno what shots we drank but none of us every heard or seen it before. Not great but it got the job done. Good place to go to for a pregame or pit stop if you’re in the area.

Homesick for Wrigley during this post season series after recently moving here from Chicago, I headed to Ivy & Coney with a friend for Cubs game. What a hidden gem! The place gets packed early. Service during the game was great — easy to order a beer, quick service, but CASH ONLY! They had specials on Miller Lite & Old Style (not my jam), but made me happy with $ 6 Two Hearted Ale drafts and free shots after the victory!
Not a ton of TVs, not a huge space, but fun atmosphere for Chicago fans missing their hometown team!

Ivy & Coney is a good option if you are in the mood for a dive bar. Outside, the door says things like «Farm to Table» and «Tapas.» Then you walk up the stairs and into a small dive, big enough for maybe 30 people. You can get hotdogs, free peanuts, liquor or beer. They also have Smith and Forge for the cider crowd. The bar is cash only, but there is an ATM inside. No matter how busy it got, service was prompt. And, it got busy. By 10 PM on a Friday night, the place was at capacity. The crowd ran the gambut. Some hipsters, some sports fans, a few of the preppy set.

Ivy & Coney is the kind of place that I think is dope enough for a possible 5 stars, but also the kind of place who wouldn’t want to ruin their «street cred» by garnering Unilocal acclaim. It’s the kind of We DGAF style bar that typically takes decades of not cleaning surfaces and leaving crap lying around to achieve, yet is only barely over a year old now and going strong with the dive mentality. This bar inspired many conversations on whether you could have a «new» dive bar, but I think if anywhere I’ve seen has done it successfully it’s I&C.
I was entertaining a friend of mine who was visiting from LA, hopping around many of my favorite DC spots in one night, when we decided to end the night here. Although I had never been I heard enough positives from drinkers that I trust, and was surprised to find some good service industry friends from one of DC’s more well known establishments (that we had been in earlier that night). That was definitely a good omen, and a good sign that this place is pretty legit. We had already downed a massive platter of meat options at Zenebech, so unfortunately I didn’t get to try either of their signature hot dogs here, but since I’ll definitely be coming back I’ll be sure to save extra stomach space for the next trip.
This visit was purely for drinks, and they came fast and cheap (by DC standards). Pints of Bell’s Two-​Hearted were «only» $ 6, versus the $ 7 or more found pretty much everywhere else in DC (when not on HH specials). They also had some cheap stuff ($ 3 Strohs and PBR type things if you don’t care how your beer tastes), and some midrange stuff like Goose Island and a few other tap handles in the $ 4 to $ 5 range. All liquor drinks were a fixed price, easy to manage and efficient. I like it. The selection wasn’t top shelf or anything, but the price is hard to beat to have someone doing the work for you.
I can see why this place was packed on a random week night well past midnight. It definitely has a much more «neighborhood-​y» feel to it when compared to many of the other new Shaw bars that strive to be more destination worthy type places. It reminds me a lot of one of my own neighborhood spots, The Pug, in terms of attitude, even though they both come to the final result in very different ways.

Finally I can say that there is a bar that is just a bar in DC. No frills. No pretension and overpriced cocktails. Just a couple of cheap draft pulls from Chicago/​Detroit and coney/​chicago-​style dogs. I went to Michigan for college and have strong family ties to the D so walking into this place is like walking into a piece of home.
Everytime I go here I see the Harry Caray mural and feel the urge to yell out «HEY! Would you eat the moon if it was made of ribs?!» Much respect for this place.
Come over whenever whether its for a Tigers game, Bulls game, or hockey. My allegiance lies with Detroit teams but I’m digging the friendly Midwestern vibes of Ivy and Coney. DC needed this desperately.

This is my kind of bar. Being from Michigan, living in Chicago, and visiting DC, I had to check this place out.
They get it right. Coneys, Chicago dogs, stroh’s, old style, and of course, Malort. Atmosphere is divey, but friendly. The bartenders WILL do shots with you (and then maybe more, I wouldn’t try to keep up). I kind of want to come back here again before I leave town.

Did you ever have that friend in high school or college who turned his or her basement or attic into a hangout pad where you and all your friends could just chill and have a good time? That’s Ivy & Coney, but with a nice selection of draft beers and good shooting whiskey in addition to the cooler full of canned «dad beer».
Short on pretense but high on good old midwestern hospitality, Ivy and Coney is a divey little bar in a rundown rowhouse smack-​dab in the middle of the increasingly popular Shaw neighborhood. If you don’t know where you’re going you might walk right past it – look for the one with baseball pennants streaming. This place is cash only, but they have an ATM that doesn’t charge ridiculous fees if you don’t have time to hit your bank beforehand.
The Coney dog was good, but I liked the Chicago dog better because it reminded me of the dogs my friends and I would get from this rundown little stand off the side of the road back when I lived in CHI.
Oh, and by the way, complimentary bar peanuts… and you throw the shells on the floor.

I started a local bar crawl with friends here, and we were all a little weirded out. Correct me if I’m wrong, but this spot claims to be a Chicago bar yet is decorated with Detroit memorabilia. My friend who was from Chicago also remarked that the hot dogs didn’t come close to the real deal. Also, there weren’t any super special, local beers on tap (from DC, Chicago, or Detroit). The inside was dingier than it was divey. For example — why was there a ‘My Little Pony’ box (complete with toy horses) taped on the wall? I was honestly concerned that this place was unsanitary and structurally unsound.
I do not understand the hype about this bar. I’m always down for a funky, weird bar experience, but this spot was just too strange for me.