Southern Efficiency

Definitely had a great experience here. Small whiskey bar, in the middle of a trio of bars/restaurants under the same ownership. Simple drink menu with very knowledgeable and friendly staff to answer questions. General questions or helping to discover your drink profile if you'd like such assistance. Drinks were good and well constructed. Not the beat I've had (I personally make a better old fashioned) but far from the worst as well. One treat we did enjoy tho were an order of the bourbon balls! These things are great, but we didn't want to over indulge and asked for to go packaging. Apparently we were the first to do so because we were provided with a plastic salad tumbler to take just a couple of balls to go. Not a problem for me, but might want to get something smaller. Nice establishment!

Five stars, if only for the decor. It really is stunning and makes for a really great bar experience. I had heard about this place when it was the Christmas bar, but the word on the street was that it was cherry blossom themed in the springtime. A deep freeze had descended upon the District, and the fate of the cherry blossoms was in limbo. So off to Southern Efficiency I went, desperate to be around some kind of blooms. I was not disappointed. You really should come in early, since this place fills up quickly. People wait for over an hour to get in here, and I can see why. I've never been to a bar like this before. It was really just a joyous experience. All of the drinks are either Mario themed (Mario is in the other part of the bar) or some cherry blossom themed drinks. All in all, this would be an interesting and fabulous place to take a date or to honestly just hang out and enjoy the vibe. I can't wait to see what they do with this place next!