A foamy fig whiskey sour was created for Nero’s downstairs speakeasy, Sabina. | Nero Nero settles into a new three-story home only a few blocks away from its original Connecticut Avenue NW location If you missed the iconic self-serve wine machines and Italian-Indian bites at Nero, the Roman emperor-themed wine bar and lounge is back in a new Dupont Circle spot that has even more to offer. The new space opened in September and enhances everything that the beloved bar was already known for, with a big patio out front and a full event space upstairs that can fit up to 60 people (1207 19th Street NW). Nero The main air at Nero has the same orb-shaped lights, but a more upscale aesthetic. Pieces of the original Nero, which closed about two years ago, can be seen on the main floor, with the same floating orb light fixtures casting warm light off a shining copper bar. There are even more upscale touches this time around, like marble tabletops and comfy upholstered booths. The food menu also features some reimagined favorites like the tandoori chicken pops, delicious pizzas, and a creamy burrata platter, as well as completely new dishes, like sausage and pepper-studded gnocchi and grilled octopus served on a white bean salad. Nero Prosciutto and truffle-topped pizzas pair well with the vast selection of wines. The wine dispensers, where patrons can use a rechargeable tab card to choose different sized pours of rare and expensive wines, lives in the rentable upstairs space, where there are more tables and a small bar that will host DJ sets on the weekends when it’s not booked out. Nero The upstairs event space, which will serve as extra seating for the bar and host DJ sets on open weekends. Nero The three Wineemotion temperature-controlled machines hold 24 hard-to-find bottles at a time. The most exciting part of the three-story bar is a hidden speakeasy, which originally was planned for the old space and was being developed right before the pandemic hit. In the new and improved Nero, a secret door downstairs from the main entrance is covertly carved out of the painted brick exterior. An out-of-place water spigot functions as a secret door handle, swinging open to a candle-lit cocktail lounge with original aged brick walls. Sabina, named after Nero’s second wife, is filled with plush warm-toned chairs and couches, golden vintage mirrors, and alcoves filled with waxy layers of candles. Nero The entrance to downstairs Sabina, a low-lit speakeasy. Nero The entire menu is served in the speakeasy, including a new grilled octopus dish. The hidden spot serves up a new cocktail menu created by Jack Sinclair, a bartender at the famous national Death and Co. bar that touched down in D.C. last year. Sinclair actually began his bartending career at the original Nero and remembers “building up that confidence behind a bar” there. Now, he’s helping to open Sabina, training bartenders that will be making fun drinks like a fig and thyme-flavored whiskey sour, watermelon Lambrusco spritz, and chai espresso martini. He’s also experimenting with clarified and smoked drinks on the new menu, which really diverge from the kinds of drinks served at Death and Co. “For me, it’s about having the agency to produce a single cocktail and put everything into telling a whole story in one drink,” Sinclair tells Eater. “And here was an opportunity to kind of have a little bit more of ebb and flow and have different styles of drinks, and play with the structure a bit more.” The speakeasy is only operating Thursday through Saturday from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., while the wine bar opens at 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is even extending to brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Nero Beverage consultant Jack Sinclair developed cocktails for Nero’s subterranean speakeasy Sabina.