Housebar

The building at 2701 P Street NW opened in 1934 as a neighborhood market and has operated as a liquor store since the 1950s. The Kapoor family ran it for years before Nate Smith purchased the business in 2022 for approximately $400,000, renovated the space over the summer, and reopened it as Housebar. The name and the concept represent a deliberate repositioning of what a neighborhood liquor store can be: a destination for the kind of drinker who wants to learn something from the purchase rather than simply buy the familiar bottle and leave.

Smith’s concept for Housebar is organized around helping people drink and entertain better at home, which he describes as reinventing the liquor store experience. The product selection reflects this premise. The bourbon section is extensive and organized to reward exploration, with a range that moves from widely available expressions through allocated releases and small-batch distillery products that are not easily found at standard retailers. The tequila section operates on the same logic, covering the agave spirits landscape from accessible everyday bottles through the craft distillery and single-village expressions that have driven the premium tequila category’s growth.

The wine selection is built for the home entertainer rather than the restaurant wine buyer: bottles that work across a dinner party menu without requiring expertise to navigate, alongside specific bottles for the guest who wants to bring something worth discussing. The staff are knowledgeable about the product range in a way that reflects the boutique bottle shop model. Asking for a bourbon recommendation at a specific price point, or a wine that works with a specific dinner, produces useful answers rather than a blank stare.

The P Street address is in the residential heart of upper Georgetown, removed from the commercial density of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue. The surrounding blocks are primarily residential, which gives the shop a neighborhood character that distinguishes it from the liquor stores on the main commercial corridors. The 1934 building and the decades-long liquor store history give the Housebar renovation a sense of continuity with the P Street block that a brand new concept would not have.

Housebar also operates the Navy Yard location, which serves the Anacostia waterfront neighborhood’s residential population. The two locations share the same concept and buying approach but serve distinct market areas. The Georgetown P Street address remains the original and serves the densely residential upper Georgetown neighborhood that surrounds it on all sides.

Hours run Monday through Saturday from 11am to 9pm and Sunday from noon to 6pm. The P Street address has some street parking available on the surrounding residential blocks. For home entertainers planning a specific event, visiting the store a few days in advance allows the staff to help assemble a package. The website at housebar-georgetown.com carries the current selection overview and any special releases.