‘Crazy Golf’ Swingers Club Comes to Dupont Circle
By • June 24, 2021 0 1105
A new 21+ club with a cheeky name has made its way across the pond from London. Swingers calls itself a “competitive socializing entertainment concept,” and its first location opened here in the District on June 18. Off Dupont Circle at 1330 19th St. NW, it should make for a popular after-work spot.
Swingers is an indoor miniature golf/bar/club/restaurant/food hall hybrid that’s earned the nickname “crazy golf” among the British. DJs spin tunes that get you in the mood to party. There are a couple different mini golf courses to try in the revamped space that was formerly The Front Page and Buffalo Billiards. The courses are designed to look like a 1920s English golf clubhouse.
Four cocktail bars are featured at Swingers, a few upstairs right as you enter. That one is a bit more relaxed, with a library-like setting (don’t get us wrong though, it was still a happening place!) On crowded nights, expect to stand your ground at the bottom floor bars. Even the soft opening was three to four people deep waiting to place orders for food and drinks.
The cocktails were fun and relatively reasonably priced for downtown D.C. The “Ferris Sour” was being passed out the evening we attended. The drink is a mix of Swingers’ version of a whiskey sour, made with Jim Beam, Wild Turkey American Honey, Barrow’s Intense Ginger, Monin pure cane and lemon.
Food at Swingers took a bit of getting used to. There are picnic benches and high top tables and the like, but guests needed to go up to one of the bars to order food from one of four options from Knead Hospitality + Design and Mah Ze-Dahr Bakery. There’s Succotash, serving burgers, chicken wings and fried pickles and other Southern style foods. Kneadza Pizza has seven different pizza options and appetizers (including delicious garlic knots reminiscent of this ‘90s child’s Pizza Hut days!) TuTaco has Mexican street food and Mah Ze-Dahr Bakery, a New York import, has sweet treats.
While you wait for your food, you can gaze on bizarre yet funny portraits of celebrity heads photoshopped onto golfers. My fiancé and I spotted Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s photos closest to our table.
Swingers offers multiple packages for your next night out that range from $39 to $90 per person. While it is wheelchair accessible, the lighting is pretty dim. My fiancé has low vision, so he was unfortunately unable to play golf. Even if you’re unable to play, however, I will say it’s quite entertaining to watch others tackle the courses, cocktails in hand!
Swingers accommodates up to 450 people and offers private party options for groups of 12 to 450. They are open from noon to midnight, Monday through Sunday. More information can be found here.
