As someone with an even mix of gay and straight friends, I wanted to throw a birthday party at a venue where everyone could feel comfortable, but also where no one was going to get gay bashed or roofied. This rules out, for various reasons, Cobalt, Jr’s, Madhatter’s or really anywhere in Adams Morgan. Because it bills itself as “straight friendly,” and because its around the corner from my house (I’m can be very lazy) I decided to have everyone gather at the newly opened Nellie’s Sports Bar at the corner of 9th and U.

And though I don’t remember much of the evening, I have been told that I had a very good time.

Two things immediately set Nellie’s apart from alot of other D.C. gay bars. It plays good music and it is big. Hearing Arcade Fire and The Cure play through Nellie’s loudspeakers while strolling through the dining room, the downstairs bar, the upstairs bar and the giant deck is in very nice contrast to being boxed in at JR’s while Avril Lavigne tells me, yet again, that she doesn’t like my girlfriend.

Nellie’s also did prove to be a good place to take my straight friends. The guys didn’t get overly cruised, probably due to the fact that Nellie’s really is a sports bar and not a pickup joint. The girls enjoyed themselves, but were frustrated that there were so many hot guys there who didn’t give a fuck about them.

Nellie’s drinks are more expensive than I prefer (I dimly recall paying $8 for a shot of Jameson) but it was my birthday, so I didn’t have to buy alot of my own drinks. Most alcohol was consumed on the very expansive deck, which overlooks the corner of 9th and U and feels entirely removed from the grittier aspects of the area. Almost everyone that came to Nellie’s that night went straight for the deck and still it never felt cramped.

I should go back and see the place when I’m in charge of my own motor skills, but I can, at least tentatively, give it the stamp of approval.