The Sheppard

Very cool place with good/reasonably priced cocktails.

This place would only be a disappointment if you do not make reservations on a weekend and have to wait 2 hours. I definitely recommend using yelp and putting yourself in the waiting list before arriving.

When you arrive you will enter a large area with live music. This is NOT the speakeasy. This is just the "waiting" room. It is very pleasant and allows you to enjoy the live music for a few minutes.

When your time comes up, make sure to go to the hostess. They are not very flexible and accommodating. They lead you inside a small, dark and intimate room. The best part is that you can do a "bartenders choice" drink. For instance, my friend did a floral gin. Her boyfriend has a strong whiskey with bitters. I asked for a hot cocktail with ginger and any liquor. The drinks were fantastic and we had a great time!

The Sheppard is a great speakeasy in the heart of Dupont Circle. It's hard to spot to find if you don't know what you're looking for (inconspicuous entrance leading upstairs). Hint: it's right next to popular bars like The Gryphon and The Big Hunt.

There are no menus here so you be prepared to let the bartender know what tickles your fancy. I got myself a drink that resembled an old fashioned but I don't remember the name. It's dark/romantic atmosphere with classic furniture and they even have a table in an old decommissioned (I think) elevator--seemed kinda lame but cool at the same time.

My favorite thing here is their rocks glass ice which is made the old school classic way (a huge ice block that was chilled at a temperature colder than freezing [which removes frozen bubbles] and then hand carved into imperfect spheres/cubes). If a place has ice that like, you know you're at a high-quality bar.

I'm really disappointed in The Sheppard. A colleague suggested we meet up for a drink here. Neither of us have been so we were excited to try out this "speakeasy" so close to where we work plus this was the first time we were hanging out!

We ordered a drink from the menu which was tasty and strong. The bartender kept interrupting us to pressure us to order something else when our drinks were still half full - he even tried to take mine away from me and I had to stop him and let him know its half full and that I would like to finish it... thanks. Towards the end of our time there, he stood right in front of us and I'm realizing now that perhaps that was a sign for the guy who greets you when you first come in. That guy came over to us and pretty much kicked us out for not ordering more drinks. He lied and told us it was an hour and a half wait for the "ppl that were waiting." (See photo below it was only 30-45 min "wait").

Honestly, I get wanting us to order more drinks (especially because we only had one each) but kicking us out when there are seats available and when no one is actually waiting is pretty crappy. First of all, I had a baby earlier this year so my tolerance for alcohol is nonexistent and I don't need to explain that maybe I don't want to get faded while I'm meeting up with a colleague for drinks. Also, those drinks are strong (which is great) but it also means we're not slamming them back.

As for the "decor" - It felt speakeasy-ish but I think they could have done a little more - I really love attention to detail and although it had a speakeasy feel (mostly because it was dark) I was hoping for a little more. We were curious to see if the bathroom was also speakeasy-ish too. It somewhat was - it had some dark paint but I think it had potential to do a little more.

Honestly, the drinks are good, but given our experience (abruptly and openly being told to leave) and the lack of oomf I just can't justify a better rating. If you want a fun speakeasy experience where you won't be pressured you can check out the Gibson on U street which is not that far away from Dupont.

So pro tips:
- make sure you're prepared to order several drinks
- don't go with colleagues for the first time
- do go with friends who are ready to have a few drinks
- maybe don't go on first a date here

Note to The Sheppard - put a disclaimer on your website that its a 2 drink minimum otherwise you'll be asked to leave.

My husband and I checked it out this place on Saturday night. We had to wait for 45 minuets or so. But is it is okay.
We got a table. The ambiance is just dark and nothing is special.

The waiter is a nice guy. They don't have a menu. So you need to request like something smooth or egg white on top or something like that.

I am not a heavy drinker and don't know much about drinks. But I know what kind of drinks I can handle it.

I got two drinks and both are exactly I wanted.
So that was awesome.

My husband said he wanted to see a drink menu and want to have snacks.

The drinks are $12. It is reasonable.
I will definitely come back here again.

We were looking for a place to get a drink after dinner, but I had no idea how cool this place would be. Finding it proved difficult. The elevator is apparently out, so there was a stairwell with a sign that showed you were to go. Upstairs is a hostess who will put your name on the list, and text you when your seat is ready.

We went down the street to get a drink while we waited, but as soon as we got our drinks our table was ready. We got back to the Sheppard, which is hidden behind a nondescript door on the side of the room. Inside the decor is amazing (very old-timey) and the bar tenders are fantastic. No set menu, and you can just tell the bartenders what you want and they will make it. We ordered a Hemingway, an Old Fashioned, and a cucumber drink with either gin or vodka. The bartenders did not disappoint! Great ambiance, great drinks, would definitely go back.

I came here on a Saturday night, I never knew what the concept of a "speakeasy" was, I had heard the phrase used, but never paid much attention to what it meant. I love that we have these secret bars all throughout DC that I never knew existed :)

There is a Yelp waitlist system that is super convenient for The Sheppard, it shows you how many parties are ahead of you and the approximate remaining wait time. We asked a staff member in front of Kabin for help and they brought another staff member over to us to take down our phone number so they could text us when we were ready to be seated. We waited almost an hour before we were taken inside. We went up the stairs through Kabin and took a left into a hallway that led us to The Sheppard. It was all surreal as there was loud music playing and then we disappear into this small room which is relatively sound proof. You can still feel the bass from the music, but you can't clearly hear the music. We were a party of five seated comfortably into a cozy booth. The menu is very limited, but it is great that they offer custom cocktails based on your preferences. All cocktails are $12 each.

I told the waiter that I wanted something sweet that masked the taste of the alcohol. They definitely delivered on my request! The drink I had was very unique, it tasted like a spicy lemonade and the candied ginger it came with was a nice touch and adding even more flavor to the drink. I was very impressed with the care and craft that went into each of our drinks. It is truly an experience visiting The Sheppard, I love the atmosphere, the dim lights creates a really intimate feel and the drinks were all amazing. A great pregame spot, sip your drink and chat with friends before hitting up the night clubs :)

I've been to this place before, when you went up the elevator and were treated well. Sadly, these two things are both gone

We brought a couple out of town guests here after raving about the place. It was an awful experience, compounded by the embarrassment of taking friends there.

First we walk up the steps and are greeted by a guy in a Banana Republic sweater, who speaks o us strangely, like some combination of the greeter At Disney's haunted mansion and an indifferent waiter. I'm guessing it was his attempt at "authentic" speakeasy, but weird and he wasn't very good at conveying any information. After he checked our ID's I sorta just wandered in.

Now you don't enter the "actual" bar directly, rather a large and mostly empty "punch room". We are mostly ignored by the host, who can't be bothered to look up from her tablet, though when she finally does, she is rude, very rude, so it actually got worse. She explains that if we don't have a reservation- which they don't take, but somehow do- very confusing- then there is a 30 to 45 minute wait. We can leave and they can text us or we can wait in the "punch room". I understand there is an exclusivity feeling to being in some places, but exclusive is not the same as rude, and, again, you're not the only place in town (The Gibson being one of the best alternatives for a similar kind of establishment, but hosted and staffed graciously)

OK, I looked for reservations, your site said you don't take them so do you, or don't you?

Second, if I leave when I'm seeking a cocktail, I can find craft cocktails at literally 30 places within a 5 minute walk of the bar

Third, and weirdest and worst, why can't I just get a real drink in this vast empty room I'm standing in, the aforementioned Punch Bar or Bowl.

So now to the punch bar. You may be thinking, maybe they can't serve drinks in this waiting room we began to call purgatory, but you'd be wrong. You can, however, only drink things no one seems to want. Cheap beer, sparkling wine of widely varying quality, whiskey (but no mixer, so shots) and a cloyingly sweet punch that is served from a lightly attended to bowl sitting on the bar (which may be "authentic " until someone puts something in it while the single bartender gets a cheap beer from the cooler- I also have questions about the legality of such a set up). Anyway, that explains why the actual bar is full and this large room has 12 people in it (I counted).

So your options are to drink at this awful "concept"(their description, my adjective, or go drink at another bar. Given the sparse population in the punch bar, most opt for elsewhere.

Here's a suggestion, staff the bar, make real drinks in the punch bar (which looks to hold 60 people) and increase your profits by a factor of 3. I'm sure you can run the numbers and find out what that awful concept is costing you.

So, ever the optimist, I suggest we wait, hoping the actual bar hasn't likewise been ruined.

We have punch (terrible, but ) and beer. We wait. Have another terrible round, doubling down on our error. It's now an hour since we checked in with rude woman

We get a text. Our space in the real bar is available. We pay up our tab, as rude woman had commanded several times, and walk over to the host. Oops, your space is not available, psych!

Now what?

We decide to hold out a bit longer.

Manager comes by to apologize for the confusion- we explain that beyond that, the whole experience has been abysmal. She offers to buy us a round. We decline, as its already our third bad drink here, we have dinner reservations and still no firm time on entry into the real bar. There's a long awkward silence (with only not authentic music playing and not authentic movie- Dr Strangelove, playing). Finally she folds and just says she will camp is the drinks we had. Cool. Though I came there to pay for good drinks, pleasant service and a fun atmosphere- none of which we experienced. Free isn't what I wanted. I'll never get back the time or the embarrassment of taking people here.

After the credit is issued, we leave, wondering what the heck just happened.

In the end, great cocktail bars are not rare anymore- you can get a "Last Word" at nearly every coroner now. If you're going to continue with the speakeasy theme, which was new again around the year 2000, then you have to do it very well. This is not that.

I will drink elsewhere

I don't like speakeasy places too much because it's the worst part of that whole 'mixologist' bartenders are chefs and chefs are superstars thing. What I can appreciate though is a place that does classic cocktails right-which they do. Old Fashioneds here done well with the majority of my friends ordering them and then appreciating them and then ordering more.

I had the Old Fashioneds here before and liked them but I wanted another cocktail with whiskey in it that wasn't a twist on either an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan. I told our server, a cocktail, bourbon based, not an Old Fashioned or Manhattan, with citrus. What I got back from the bar was a twist on the Tennessee cocktail, which had a lemon juice some maraschino liquer and bourbon, enough of it that I tasted it, but balanced. I had another and then some of my friends drinking Old Fashioneds jumped ship and ordered it for themselves.

I've been here and even though there have been people there it's never been loud or obnoxious. Well, it was until I got there.

I came here with some friends of mine this other night and had a really good time.

I think the place could handle the way they do the waitlist a lot better. It was a bit chaotic. They told us 1-1.5 hour wait so we went to the Gryphon only to be texted 20 minutes later to say our table was ready. We had a large party of 6 so we didn't expect to be seated immediately, but we did expect better timing on their part on predicting when we should return.

They offer a basic drink menu with their on rendition of classic cocktails. They were good and whatever else we through at them they did well at making us something off the menu with the ingredients we desired. I told them I wanted a drink with bitters, egg, and bourbon. They made a couple of delicious concoction and I was very pleased with what I ordered.

It's a very small space on the top floor of Kabin. It is in the same space as the club, but the club itself had no bearing on the speakeasy as far as noise or ambiance. It really felt like a completely different feel until you walk out of the speakeasy.

I would return because we had a really nice time. Service was slow at times, but he was still a nice person. I wouldn't really recommend it from a big group though. it is more of a date place or somewhere that you should come with 1 or 2 people, but not more than that.

Made a trip there on a Friday at 6PM. First cocktail bar to remind us of Philly. Moved to VA recently, one of the big things my wife and I miss is the diversity and the amazingly effortless way we could walk down the street and get an amazing cocktail and conversation. "The Sheppard" filled that billet...and what a great staff! James was our main bartender (very helpful) and Dylan really knew his drinks (making multiple recommendations after we told him what we liked)... the other two gentlemen were very pleasant as well.

The atmosphere was nice; dim lighting with music low enough to have a conversation and it was small, which I found intimate and charming. I would have given this review five stars but there wasn't anything to snack on. We didn't want to leave and loose our seats while finding a restaurant, but that's what happened. If they had a small food option (like two types of flatbread or tapas) we would have stayed longer. That said, we will absolutely go again though. Thanks for the great time gentlemen!