These Classic D.C. Restaurants and Bars Are Still Worth a Visit The post Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars appeared first on InsideHook. 1. 'Meet Me at the Bar': A new memoir celebrates Georgetown's busy saloon This brought a huge influx of teenagers from the DC suburbs to Georgetown on Fridays and Saturdays that, when combined with the sizable university population, led to swells of 20,000 to 30,000 patrons, many of whom travelled by car, during the nighttime.. Storz, in Kelly green bermuda shorts, planted a noisy smooch on Smith's lips. Back on Wisconsin Avenue, Mr. Henry's of Georgetown bar and restaurant, where gays and straights mingle freely, is so demure ("We're not a cruise bar, hon," said waiter Mark Redell) that families and heterosexual couples sometimes wander in, only to look around and walk right back out. Clarke-like bar/restaurant, a reference to Manhattans iconic preppy paradise. Menu at Bar Poliesportiu De Monserrat, Montserrat Williams also was the GM at the Nissan Pavilion. Perspective Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events. In 2014, The Third Edition became El Centro, an upscale Mexican restaurant. For example, did you know that restaurant workers love it when tiny women order big club sandwiches? 22 Historic Restaurants in Washington DC - TripSavvy Topher, I hate to contradict you but there never was a Mr. Henrys at 1225 Wisconsin Ave. Comments? Luciano was quite a character, but he didnt seem to have the business sense to make it there long-term, especially with the added challenge of not being on the street. Here is another article discussing Garrets closing. From 2000 to 2012, the population of 20-to-24-year-olds in Georgetown rose by nearly 40 percent, largely because of an increase in student enrollment at the university. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. In the early fall of 1983, J. Pauls opened to much fanfare, a two-level bar uniquely built for preppies. The interior, meanwhile, was more inspired by another preppy haven popular with college kids, an underground spot called The Tombs. There was a terrific creperie nearby. She directed church choirs and began taking voice lessons, concentrating primarily on opera, with Frederick Wilkie Wilkerson. (202) 387-8411. Ladin, lingua ladina . And I'll go down the list and that gets them talking.". lolAnyone remember Cafe de Paris and Sundowner Club? oh, but they were just south on M~ Cheers to those Great Times . From bell bottoms to long lost amusement parks we all wish would come back to Ohio, it was certainly a unique time to live in the Buckeye State. J. Pauls would close a few months after that, marking the end of an era, according to Eater. Popular attractions . Tuesdays was Pendletons or Chadwicks, a K Street joint located under Whitehurst Freeway known for its hamburgers, cheap beers and late-night hours. Not to forget Crazy Horse, Desperados, the Down Under. Would eat some nearly every lunch. The Cellar Door was a 163-seat music club located at 34th & M Street NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. from 1964 through January 7, 1982. These 13 Photos Of Ohio In The 1970s Are Mesmerizing Mike once banned a waitress from his kitchen after he heard her tell a customer that his stuffed calamari was made from testicles, instead of tentacles. Likewise, if in the 1970s, Georgetown was mostly known for its thrift stores (such as Commander Salamander), record shops and even a disco bar called Tramps, that too was in flux. It was rite of passage. This location was first the Carriage House, a dining room frequented by many important social and political figures of the District. News, advice and insights for the most interesting man in the room. Is everyone forgetting the Library? That was redneck.. Have you wondered where these bars went? Storz said he spit beer. Meanwhile, the bars upstairs, outdoor patio was a tiki bar complete with kitschy totems. "This is?" Meanwhile, the bars upstairs, outdoor patio was a tiki bar complete with kitschy totems. The people that come here are from good families, explained one Chidi-goer at the time, differentiating them from the non-preppy riff-raff. It stayed open until a few years ago when Vinyard Vines opened up. [5], The club was owned from 1953 to 1980 by the Tramonte family who designed it to have an intimate atmosphere like a family. And before there was an American Cafe next door there was Brits 24 hour diner where all the jazz artists from Blues Alley would go at 4 in the morning and artists from the Cellar Door would hang there, as well as most of the waiters of Georgetown after their respective restaurants closed. The scene was burning so bright, however, that it couldnt possibly last forever. The other big draw was the $1 hamburger night with Gregorio the bar-back flipping the nastiest hamburgers allowed for human consumption. [8], In the late 1990s, The Bayou was owned by Dave Williams (Cellar Door Productions), who was also responsible for putting on the concerts at DAR Constitution Hall and the Capital Centre. . Mike will be selling and signing books from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Boss Shepherds, 1229 Pennsylvania Ave. NW; from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Southside 815, 815 S. Washington St., Alexandria; and as part of a dinner special Oct. 29 at Clydes of Georgetown. Those were the days.Let me tell you. Copyright 2023 InsideHook. Pool. Georgetown Grill | The Georgetown Grill, from 1948 to 1977 - Facebook He started as a busboy and dishwasher at Chadwicks in Georgetown. Washington, DC 20007 This establishment was a left over remanent of the 1970s disco scene. Your email address will not be published. In 1970, the Old Ebbitt Grill was struggling financially and was bought by the owners of Clyde's of Georgetown. The article Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars by Aaron Goldfarb was originally published on InsideHook. She was discovered there by Henry Yaffe, who brought her to his trendy new Georgetown club Mr. Henrys. Likewise, if in the 1970s, Georgetown was mostly known for its thrift stores (such as Commander Salamander), record shops and even a disco bar called Tramps, that too was in flux. Looks like Old Glory is the last one standing. Open in Google Maps. "Every time you come here you see someone you haven't seen in a long time, someone you grew up with. In Blues Alley and Charlie's, jazz-lovers sip drinks and converse in muted tones. A Louisville Howard Johnson during the 1960s. Were not splitting the atom here.. The clothing store Wet Seal opened here sometime around 2003. http://www.angelfire.com/art2/delacroix_berthier/meet_de_la_croix.%20part%203.htm. If the Ivy League look had been around since the early 20th century, with a true scene emerging by mid-century, it would be mainstreamed into preppy culture by the start of the 1980s. I worked on M Street and I ate many meals and drank a few too many drinks there. He taught at Duke Ellington also. Not So Long Ago: Wisconsin and M St. - The Georgetown Metropolitan 3125 Mount Pleasant St NW, Washington, D.C. 20010. While Chinese Disco had long since moved locations to Prospect Street NW, even it would close in 2018. It's impossible to discuss 1225 Wisconsin without mentioning that it was the location of Mr. Henry's from 1967 to 1986. While Maryland raised its drinking age to 21 in 1982 and Virginia did the same in 1985, the District of Columbia held out, wrote Hunter Main for The Hoya Georgetown Universitys student newspaper in trying to explain the era. I had many meals and drinks there. If by the 1980s New York was going new wave and hip-hop, club kids and cokeheads, in Washington, DC, a melting pot of fledgling lawyers, bankers and politicos still enjoyed dressing up in boat shoes, blue blazers and Brooks Brothers button-downs to hit the town. The price is $66 per night. When he wasnt pounding keg beer on the Maryland shore, the future Supreme Court Justice could be found pounding [brew]skis at underage bars and house parties, according to his handwritten notations. I remember a Mr. Henrys in Georgetown at the same time as the American Cafe but that Mr. Henrys closed around 1980-81 (it started getting mostly straight customers when they hired a teenaged Tori Amos to play piano)and the American Cafe followed suit a few years later. This location has been a bar since 1952 when it was first the Shamrock. Free Cancellation. In the Washington Post, January 7, 1982, there is an account of the unfathomably named Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III. Check out this websiteto learn more! Changed to the Bayou in 1953 with Owners Mike Munley, Vince and Tony Tramonte, The Tramontes sell the Bayou to Cellar Door Productions in 1980, This page was last edited on 2 December 2022, at 07:05. Your email address will not be published. Roberta Flack performed more at Mr. Henrys on Capitol Hill than in Georgetown. Brett Kavanaughs infamous hand-scrawled calendar even detailed his goings-on during that crazy summer, when he was a year away from graduating from Georgetown Prep in nearby Bethesda. There were also the more restrained, upscale clubs like Pisces Club, Charlies Georgetown and F. Scotts for the preppies who had aged out of their old college favorites. Jammed upstairs and down. Wasnt there a regular Britches a little further up Wisconsin, like around where Polo is now? 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The Bayou - Wikipedia And, of course, it was partially the model for the St. Elmos bar in St. Elmos Fire. Everybody went there. I was pretty cool with the bartenders and doormen and lots of ladies (current and graduates). He draws the caricature of an attractive woman, or sometimes, he says, "I'll tell a woman she reminds me of an actress. Washingtons weird territorial placement in the American firmament also played a key role in the bar scene that emerged. Lets not forget Scandals which was definitely a college bar and the famous Tramps Discotheque both in the same building at corner of Wisconsin and Prospect! [4] The sound system mixing console was located on the second floor balcony, overlooking the stage. The Bayou backed up to another famed D.C. music institution, Blues Alley, located down the alley behind the Bayou. Started my bouncing career in that joint. And there was nothing gay about Dinos. What started out as a trip to bid on a collection of antique beer steins at a tax auction for the oldest saloon in the city, resulted in Stuart and John becoming its new owners. "We wear our boxer shorts and some say 'Oh, my God, who are these guys?' Third Edition: This one was legendary among GU students for its lax entry policies. Georgetown After Dark: Loud, Lively and Preppy, Too Spaulding said Winston's patrons are college students from George Washington and American universities, "which are considered some of the finest academic institutions. homestead high school staff. Loved American Cafe. At least Quick Pita lives on!! James Muggy (Mike) Smith, a self-proclaimed "filthy rich" Indiana University student from Arlington, and Brian Storz, a Tulane University student from Savannah, Ga., met in the Third Edition this summer. It was kind of like Tuscany in that everyone had to go there at least once.. For one night only, resurrecting a Georgetown nightclub called Georgetown. Not sure how Scott (the manager) kept a lid on that zoo. Then Hugh tossed the meat back onto the plates and said it was probably plenty tender now. There was definitely a Mr. Henrys at 1225. The customer wasnt charged, but he wasnt able to finish his meal, either. In his day, a good bartender worked fast. It was the Duke Zeibert's of Dance, the Sans Souci of Sweat. "We're probably the preppiest people in there and we really bum people out," he said, leaning against the wall outside Winston's and looking oh-so-preppy in his pink-and-green plaid bow tie and pink sweater. All Rights Reserved. card. It would become gridlocked with cars as far as the eye can see, according to the New York Times, each and every Saturday night. There was a Mr. henrys on Wisconsin Ave. in the late 1960s. Then again, no one in Georgetown is these days either. Reportedly decked in khakis and polished penny loafers, blond hair and blue eyes, he was a Georgetown junior at the time. Sometimes we take our pants off and it really bums people out, claimed James Muggy (Mike) Smith, a self-proclaimed filthy rich kid who was wearing a pink-and-green plaid bow tie and pink sweater when he was interviewed in yet another 1982 WaPo article on the scene. View the menu, check prices, find on the map, see photos and ratings. That didnt last long, and the old Champions returned for a little while longer before closing a few years ago. "We want to be free to live as a community and not some kind of glorified freak show," said Paul Chadwell, a resident of Potomac Street NW, who, like many Georgetowners, says he is fed up with the traffic, noise and vandalism that are the byproducts of nearby discos. The D.C. Public Library's Special Collections Archivist Ray Barker will lead a panel discussion of the histories, stories and insights around Georgetown's great venue spaces of the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the best years of my early life were spent within those walls. [9], Though The Bayou generally attracted an older crowd, the club also featured a diverse following including college students from Georgetown University, men and women from the many military installations in the DC area and The Pentagon. But Mike always had a soft spot for the bar both sides of it. Washingtons weird territorial placement in the American firmament also played a key role in the bar scene that emerged. And remember when there was Boogeys or Boogies, where now we have the Apple Store? In my day. (Seven-year plan, he says of his stop-and-start undergraduate career.). On M Street, in the recently opened disco called The Library, patrons from Potomac and other affluent suburbs gyrate under strobe lights and ignore the books lining the walls. A 'hip' bar scene in Towson during the 1970s - Baltimore Sun Champions closed their doors in 2002. But it was Clydes that the Official Preppy Handbook would list as their definitive prep bar for the DC area. According to Salon, the American diplomat now sported short trousers, a large tattoo and spoke Arabic he was anything but a preppy. J. Pauls would close a few months after that, marking the end of an era, according to Eater. All rights reserved. Tales might involve bar hopping, disco dancing, lining up at music clubs, concert crowds or stylish restaurants. Georgetown was getting overrun by high-end national retailers, movie theater chains, luxury hotels and cupcake shops, though a few bars had managed to hang on into this century. I enjoyed F Scotts on 36th and Prospect. I guess it would be fairer to say she was discovered at the K St. club (the Bayou maybe?). 4.5/5 Wonderful! For one, its geographic location straddled the line between the prep schools and Ivy League institutions of the northeast, while also having a foot in the South with its fratty gentlemen and sorority belles. John Dominis. He got a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service at Georgetown and a law degree from Catholic University. The Death Knell of Georgetown College Bars Pingback: Neighborhood News Roundup: Your Receipt, Please Edition - City Desk. Which brings GM to: Chadwicks: GM can speak from a brief personal experience that this bar was popular with GU students (at least in the late 90s) and that its entrystandards werelargely to blame. "Now that's a babe," he said, pointing to a picture of a blond. The Untold History of Postwar Washington's Nightlife It would become gridlocked with cars as far as the eye can see, according to the New York Times, each and every Saturday night. It transitioned toWinstons Pumphouse in 1972, and then in 1996 it became Rhinoa popular if not beloved Georgetown Universitybar. More than 100 businesses in the area serve liquor. But to the chronic dismay of some Georgetown residents, the streets and a circuit of popular nightclubs are a commercial everyman's land. Yep, My one year in DC, 1983-84, Mr. Henrys in Georgetown was a favorite gay hangout. Great memories. Espaol . I personally took comedians Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor to Brits. A 'hip' bar scene in Towson during the 1970s. There were lines of boat shoes out the door every Friday night. The actual menu of the Bar Poliesportiu De Monserrat. Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events, Mike Soper, a D.C. chef who started out working in Georgetown bars in the early 1970s, at Bobby Van's restaurant in Washington. There definitely was a Mr Henrys on Wisconsin avenue in the 80s. Likewise, if in the 1970s, Georgetown was mostly known for its thrift stores (such as Commander Salamander), record shops and even a disco bar called Tramps, that too was in flux. Before the dawn reclaims the streets, there are myriad human sights and sounds, often in stark contrast. An American Bar, according to its marquees subtitle, it opened in 1963 in a former motorcycle hangout as the first full-sized bar in the District since Prohibition. Georgetown is a multicultural and international hub now which I think is a positive thing., How Suburban Chicago Became the Unlikeliest Clubbing Scene of the 1980s, The Discreet Charm of the Old-School Preppy Bar, Bonfires, Ballrooms and Boris Johnson: Photos From the Last Days of the Old, Decadent Oxford. And then Bistro Francais on M, where everyone would show up at 3am and stay till dawn. Popular Mobile Games You Must Play In 2023, Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars. However, the Federal-style townhouse playing host to all those hormones was built in the mid-1800s. Channeling the immense popularity of Chidi, a so-called circuit of preppy bars soon dotted the neighborhood, giving the pastel-clad a place to party virtually every single night of the week. The steakhouse was called Dinos Paramount steakhouse and served the best sizzling steaks in the city. Pingback: From the Comments | The Georgetown Metropolitan. It closed in 1989 and is now the Running Company. Admittedly, the quiet Wendy Beamish (Mare Winningham) is the only real preppy in St. Elmos Fire (described as a sweet-faced, insecure preppy in the script) as Alec Newbury (Judd Nelson) has advanced into more of a mid-1980s yuppie with his slick hair and Gordon Gekko-esque contrast-collar dress shirts. ", But Bruce Norris, cartoonist for The Georgetowner newspaper and a Nathan's regular, goes about finding a companion creatively. Log In. Over the years, it has moved to a few different locations in the downtown area. 10 Best Vintage Photos From Washington DC In The 1970s - OnlyInYourState Vernon College girls in Pappagallo shoes, McMullen blouses, Villager skirts and Liberty sweaters; Georgetown Foreign Service School types in some of the first Gucci shoes and Paul Stuart suits seen in Washington: tousled Irish Catholic kids in jeans and tweed sportcoats, whose great regret in life was not being old enough to have gotten drunk with Dylan Thomas at the White Horse in Greenwich Village.. He looks back on his career in a new self-published memoir: Meet Me at the Bar, Im Hungry (Dog Ear Publishing; $16.95 paperback, $26.95 hardcover). Just ten years ago, such an outcome would seem impossible, but after a few years of relentless closures, the inevitable has come about. The owner sold it to a corporation and then it began to slide. Montserrat, Valencian Community Hotels from $54 - Travelocity All info on Bar Poliesportiu De Monserrat in Montserrat - Call to book a table. "What a wonderful place. Georgetown is a multicultural and international hub now which I think is a positive thing.. The space next door was Britches Great Outdoors, Britches of Georgetownwhich sold mens suitswas where Ralph Lauren currently is. Brett Kavanaughs infamous hand-scrawled calendar even detailed his goings-on during that crazy summer, when he was a year away from graduating from Georgetown Prep in nearby Bethesda. It is currently a Zara clothing store. The Bayou was strictly a rock and blues venue, and it was UNDER K st. on Water St. down by the river. It was the spot to be on Sunday nights. This site seems to confirm that there was a Mr. Henrys at 1225 Wisconsin Ave.: Meanwhile, music remained a central part of Flacks life outside of the workplace. I once met John Waters and Divine there. If I could turn back time! Sometimes we take our pants off and it really bums people out, claimed James Muggy (Mike) Smith, a self-proclaimed filthy rich kid who was wearing a pink-and-green plaid bow tie and pink sweater when he was interviewed in yet another 1982 WaPo article on the scene. The Third Edition was a Georgetown neighborhood staple, serving students, visitors and the neighborhood from 1969 to 2013. Nightlife. However, Poseurs loyal followers hosted a 30-year reunion, so check out their event on Facebook Event. Yes, definitely Mr. Henrys (Georgetown) was just above M street on Wisconsin Avenue, I think it was #1225. Before Il Pane, there was a very tasty Italian sandwich shop up on the second floor called Lucianos Cafe. The announcement yesterday of the imminent closure of the Rhino Bar means that come March, there will be no more college bars left in the heart of Georgetown. He influenced many and left a mark on the soul with his performances. Jammed packed, upstairs and down. Every Friday night, he would head to The Day Lily, a red and gold velvet-walled Chinese restaurant, a seedy spot that would seem beneath his social class. Mr. Smiths was arguablythe second oldest continuing bar in the Georgetown neighborhood as it was founded in 1962. C/Luis Garca Berlanga, 19-21, Valencia, Valencia, 46023. It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows. The Boy-Whore World. "I've heard something about the problem ," he said, "but I understand it's a tradition since Georgetown has had nightclubs." The bar was bought and converted into an upscale Belgium restaurant called The Sovereign. In its script, St. Elmos is described as a P.J. Remember in the 1980s, DC wasnt doing well, says Alana McGovern, a Georgetown alum who wrote about the neighborhoods bar scene over the years for a project entitled Booze to Bougie.