We promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  As future members of the DC Lawyers Assistance Program, we are proud to present a bi-weekly run-down of DC hotspots. Now that the school year is officially in action, we are well aware that you are too busy to even attempt to plan your own social life.  Luckily for you, we're here to serve as your personal party planners. This week we're doing a review of the annual Halloween Party, held at Ibiza on October 29th.

Before getting into this review, we'd like to introduce ourselves to the new batch of 1Ls at GW Law (everyone else, you, unfortunately, know us by now). Set is a recent graduate of GW undergrad (no she did not wear tights, an oversized white t-shirt, big black sunglasses, or carry a $5K bag...) and DC's very own former bar wench.  You will likely meet her soon as she will probably harass you at Bar Review, which she is now partially in charge of organizing (suggestions welcome!).  Lisa, a Chicago/Philadelphia-import, is thrilled to be able to use her now-dwindling batch of loan money to buy drinks, not books.

Halloween Party at Ibiza

Case: Review of Ibiza, the site of this year's infamous Halloween Party. We were VERY skeptical of the venue selection. Located in Northeast, Ibiza is a huge club that neither of us had ventured to before. But, what Bar Brief writers would we be if we let location get in the way of our reporting.

Facts: Ibiza is a large club that opened a few years ago to cater to the more serious club-goers in DC. Because neither of us are serious club-goers, we had to rely on several of our friends' descriptions of Ibiza. Given what we had heard, we were not surprised to see a long line and serious security when we arrived in our clown-car packed taxi the night of the party (hey, a cab ride to Northeast is expensive). The line moved fairly quickly considering the frisking that was taking place. Luckily we had no packs of gum or carabiners to confiscate and were able to get our cane and fake hair bow in without any trouble. The entrance to the party consisted of a large lounge area with two huge bars and a buffet of assorted food. We quickly scarfed down a few finger foods, procured several drinks, and then made our way to the enormous dance floor. We were surprised to see even more bars, a sweet VIP lounge, and a balcony bar overlooking the entire party. There was even a large rooftop bar area equipped with cabanas for those looking to cool off or take in a quick smoke.

Issue: In the spirit of upcoming finals, we're going to outline the issues.

1. Food
   
   1. Quantity

i.      We know that over 200 tickets were sold on the day of the party, but there was not nearly enough food. It should be expected by now that over 600 (hungry!) people typically attend this party each year and securing enough food should be a priority (especially with all the drinking that goes on).

ii.      Furthermore, why was any remaining food taken away by 10:00?  As poor law school students, we are more than happy to scavenge, and after downing 10 drinks and dancing our butts off, nothing says happiness like room temperature chicken fingers.

1. 1. Quality

i.      Speaking of chicken fingers, why were they reminiscent of fish sticks? And what was that mush inside those mini-burritos? It should not be the case that the best food we had all night came from the leftover purse of the Hamburgler (mmm....cold double cheeseburgers...).

1. Cabs
   
   1. Where were they?

i.      We were told that a long line of cabs would be waiting for us at the end of the night. Yet, upon leaving the club at various times (post midnight), there were no cabs to be seen. In fact, Lisa made her way home in what can only be described as a mini-van driven by two Good Samaritans looking to make a quick 20 bucks.

ii.      Set wasn't so lucky. After waiting for at least 45 minutes, she was finally able to hail an unmarked vehicle risking life and limb to make it home.

Holding: Awesome venue. The space was huge and conducive to both dancing and socializing. We were happy to see that everyone took our orders seriously and dressed to the nines.  We were especially impressed by, in no particular order, the Pinata, Kenneth the Page, Pootie Tang, the pack of multi-colored highlighters, the swimmer getting eaten by a shark, the 400 Waldos, and our favorite Communist dictator, Kim Jong Il. The DJ blasted our favorite tunes all night and minus the fact that shots weren't allowed, the bartenders ably handled the crowds and quickly dished out drinks. Our favorite part of the venue was the rooftop, which also had a fully-stocked bar and great views of the city.

Rule: Despite our gripes about the food and the cabs, and our initial hesitation about the location, we were more than pleased with this year's Halloween Party. It seemed like everyone else was also having a good time and this venue is surely a front-runner for next year's party.

Since this is the last issue of the semester, we would like to wish everyone good luck on their finals. See you kids in the new year!