Dan's Cafe

D.C. Dive Dan’s Cafe Was the Unlikely Site of a Marriage Proposal Last Weekend | Eater DC

"A cash-only fixture in Adams Morgan, I’d describe Dan’s Cafe as a gloriously dingy dive that hasn’t changed much since opening in 1965: customers mix their own drinks, shots famously come in squeeze bottles, and the floors are frequently sticky. It’s not the likeliest spot to pop the question, which is why people went nuts when news broke on Valentine’s Day that a proposal actually took place there over the weekend. The newly engaged couple are Jaqlyn Alderete, a legislative assistant for Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), and Cyrus Huncharek, director of policy and advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Congress; Politico notes they met in a college fellowship program in 2016, and Huncharek says he stood by his choice because his now-fiancée was celebrating her birthday with friends. The bar’s purported Twitter account (@DansCafeDC) replied with a Notepad-typed Valentine’s Day statement about “an alleged recent incident involving an engagement at our establishment,” vowing to make sure it never happens again and calling the timing “all the more sickening,” while describing the spot as “a safe haven for singles, bad decisions, one-night stands”; it’s unclear whether that handle with over 8,000 followers is directly affiliated with the bar. Eater reached out to Alderete to hear her side of the story." - Tierney Plumb