Cafe Citron

This bar & restaurant with the citrus name and Latino flavor specializes in mojitos and caipahrinas both wonderful drinks. You must try them, but be forewarned they have a heavy kick.

Cheery lemon-and-lime walls, muted lighting and Latin music welcome you as you enter Cafe Citron. This bar/restaurant with the sunny name and Latino edge has brought mojitos and caipirinhas to Dupont Circle -- and none too early at that. Downstairs you're greeted by a long bar to the left, dining tables to the right and the swish of ceiling fans revolving far overhead. Climb up the narrow staircase at the back of the room to the cozy balcony crammed with comfortable, if battered, couches softly lit by faint, romantic candlelight.

The menu offers many tempting Latin American dishes, but if you're not here to eat, the upstairs is the place to be. Chatting can be difficult, even in the closeness, due to the rising voices of diners below. But the snugness of the space is preferable to conversing on the hard wooden seating downstairs. Plus, you get a view of the whole place, making this a perfect people-watching spot.

Although the cafe hosts live Latin music a few nights per week, don't expect to show off your salsa steps. This is strictly a listeners only place as there is simply no room for a dance floor, even an impromptu one.

Every Monday to Friday from 5pm-7pm, Cafe Citron hosts Happy Hour. Specials include $4 traditional mojitos ($5 for the frozen mango version); $3 bottles of Sagres, a Portugese beer; or $5 glasses of the house sangria. With a group, the $25 pitchers of caipirinhas, mojitos or frozen margaritas are a safe bet.