This is Doug, the best bartender in the world! He mixes the best drinks around, and gets to know his regular customers personally. If you are a martini fan, he makes the best! Then again, he also makes the best margaritas as well. So stop by when you get a chance and say Donna sent you with a smile. :)

Here's a letter my girlfriend Juanita wrote to the Washington Post, nominating Doug as Bartender of the Month. I think it says it all.

Dear Nightlife (nightlife@washingtonpost.com),

I vote for Doug Garey at Center Cafe in Union Station. In a sea of transient faces, Doug makes C.C. feel like a neighborhood bar, "where everybody knows your name." More importantly, Doug knows your name. If you stay for a couple of drinks and a quick chat (a nice tip won't hurt either), odds are good that if you come back the following week, he'll remember you. Also, as a woman, if I don't feel safe just stopping into a place for a drink, I won't return. Doug looks out for his female customers, discreetly tipping them off to the resident player-wannabes who may be hovering in search of a conquest among the weary female travelers. Even when the busiest night has got him hustling from one end of the bar to the other, you won't feel neglected.

Because of the set-up of Center Cafe, background music isn't an option. There are no TVs, no bar games, no goldfish behind the bar---in fact, there are no goldfish in snack bowls (though there is a dinner menu). Seems like the place really was meant to be a way station for train riders.Yet, with about 5 or 6 other options in the immediate area of Union Station, not to mention the usual staffer haunts on the Hill, people who don't even live in the DC area have returned repeatedly just to stop in and see him, sometimes after hours of travel. Sometimes commuters are willing to miss their trains just for one more drink and a chat with Doug. And regulars who live or work in the area are more like disciples---if Doug's not working, they're not staying. He's comfort food on two feet; warm, reassuring, and that's even before the drink. A surprisingly nice selection of beer and wines but where Doug excels in my opinion is in his martinis, be they gin or vodka. Ozio's got nothing on Doug for a real vodka martini, the best I've had in the Washington area. Same Grey Goose, same olives, yet...well, you just gotta try it for yourself. And Cosmopolitans? Smooth, light, slightly sweet, not cloying like some bartenders seem to think they're made. The whole attraction of Doug at C.C. is his demeanor; "sit down and relax for a while." It's clear, a lot of the people who stop in are on their way to someplace else: a train to NY, a club in Adams Morgan, a late movie, or just home after a long day. And there's plenty of stress to be had elsewhere. But for a moment away from it, there's room at Center Cafe, and there's Doug, greeting you like an old friend.

Signed, Juanita