The Arena and Neighborhood:

Located in the Chinatown/Penn Quarter neighborhood, one of the city's most trafficked commercial areas, Verizon Center (aka "Phone Booth") has been in operation since 1997. Notable places nearby include Ford's Theater, the headquarters of the FBI, and the Smithsonian. In our opinion, it's one of the most ideally located basketball arenas, and it's one of the factors that has lead to the revitalization of the neighborhood. If you're looking for a spot pre or post game for food and/or drinks, you'll have no problem finding whatever you're in the mood for.  From The Greene Turtle sports bar attached to the arena to upscale Mexican or old school Italian restaurants, there are plenty of options. For some of our favorite places nearby, check the "Before & After the Game" map.

Getting There/Parking:

From the south you can take the I-395 North exit towards Washington and cross over the 14th Street Bridge, or from some points North, MD-295 South to US-50 W. How will traffic be? Probably about as bad as you can imagine.

Verizon Center has its own garage underneath the building which is inexplicably not open for public parking for games, with the exception being for people with disabilities. There are several public garages surrounding the arena, the closest being the Gallery Place garage on 6th Street NW. A couple garages can be booked right online through us, and are usually around $11 for most games. Look for their parking icons on our map.

Public Transportation:

Defnitely the recommended way to get to the game. The arena actually sits atop the Gallery Place metro station on the Green, Red, and Yellow line. For a detailed map of the Washington Metro: http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm