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. Also, Nathan's an elegant Georgetown bar is real big now." But Tramps was more than a disco. And remember when there was Boogeys or Boogies, where now we have the Apple Store? Modeled after turn-of-the-century Chicago taverns, it offered a 50-foot-long bar, gold-painted ceiling, solid oak floor and elevator doors repurposed from Manhattans Waldorf-Astoria. (202) 338-4833, Georgetown Media Group. Thursdays was E.J. Mike tells tales on himself, like the time he saw a customer abusing the dish he most loved to make: a veal chop stuffed with prosciutto and Fontina cheese. I once met John Waters and Divine there. Not sure how Scott (the manager) kept a lid on that zoo. Panelists include: Bros in polos and hungry clubbers start the night with massive plates of Irish nachos before climbing the stairs to the hot and heavy dance floor, wrote one review. Two recent college grads, Nicky Williams and Buff McDonald, asked The Day Lilys aging owner, Jim Chin, if they could start renting his restaurant for Friday night parties. Bottles placed upside down into funnels feeding long tubing led to the downstairs bars. Thursdays was E.J. The Bayou backed up to another famed D.C. music institution, Blues Alley, located down the alley behind the Bayou. Comments? A shock to the guest, perhaps, but not as shocking as what Mike says once happened at Kellys Irish Times. This location has been a bar since 1952 when it was first the Shamrock. In 1985, The Third Edition exterior acted as the stand-in for the titular St. Elmos Fire bar in the Joel Schumacher film about recent Georgetown graduates. And I'll go down the list and that gets them talking.". Photograph: Courtesy Blues Alley. Peak hours are 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., during which period the D.C. Department of Transportation estimates about 10,000 cars and 6,000 pedestrians travel through the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street. The interior, meanwhile, was more inspired by another preppy haven popular with college kids, an underground spot called The Tombs. Third Edition: This one was legendary among GU students for its lax entry policies. It closed two years ago and became El Centro. Occasionally on Wednesdays and always on Saturdays, the premier preppy spot was The Third Edition, or Thirds, a casual, wood-paneled restaurant opened in 1969 that in the evenings would become a nightclub full of Georgetown and George Washington students. For more discriminating tastes, there are establishments like the Pisces Club, F. Scott's, the Georgetown Club, Charlie's Georgetown, Chinoiserie and Blues Alley, which are protected from the masses by understated facades and locations off the well-trodden Wisconsin-and-M pathway. They go to good colleges or have good jobs.. Popular Mobile Games You Must Play In 2023, Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars. At Annie Oakley's Wild West Bar, Virginians like Susie Plundeke, 19, arrive every weekend ("if we can find a car") to drink beer, play pool, meet people and talk, despite the pulsating sound system. type); blond, dirty blond or light brown hair; a polo shirt with some sort of animal or mammal applique; a pair of madras pants or Bermuda shorts; and your name on the Britches mailing list for its new fall collection.. It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows. Its still just a drink, Mike says. It would become gridlocked with cars as far as the eye can see, according to the New York Times, each and every Saturday night. My friends Craig and Ardith and I would go there several times a week for happy hour, for years approx 1974 to 1977-ish. C/Luis Garca Berlanga, 19-21, Valencia, Valencia, 46023. Fourteen years in the making, "The Bayou" is a 90-minute documentary about the legendary Georgetown nightclub, which closed in 1998. A portion of the discussion will be dedicated to remembering Jack Boyle, owner of the Cellar Door, who died last year. On weekends, Georgetown is Washingtons front porch, wrote Leslie Berger in yet one more 1982 WaPo nightlife article. In the late 1960s and early 1970s there were so many Georgetown undergrads streaming down the hill to work at the neighborhood's bars, nightclubs and eateries that Mike and his friends had. Wasnt there a regular Britches a little further up Wisconsin, like around where Polo is now? I was a waiter at tended bar at Winstons in 78-80 glory days. Now, its location is filled in with Fine Retailer (whatever that means). Tuesdays was Pendletons or Chadwicks, a K Street joint located under Whitehurst Freeway known for its hamburgers, cheap beers and late-night hours. I thought Georgetown was a pioneering neighborhood in that regard. . "I've heard something about the problem ," he said, "but I understand it's a tradition since Georgetown has had nightclubs." "This is like being at home almost, like your own neighborhood," said Gary Smithwick, a 25-year-old resident of Southeast Washington who said he comes to Georgetown almost every Saturday night. I worked on M Street and I ate many meals and drank a few too many drinks there. Dave Was Paramount not one of the early Washington gay enlightened restaurants? Donal was a protege of Roberta Flacks. The club, which was a regular stop on East Coast tours by UK bands from the late 1970s on, featured artists including U2 (their second show in the United States), Kiss, Guns N' Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers (performing twice in 1988 which would be their final DC shows with founding members Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons ), The Only Ones, Squeeze, Marines, who invade Georgetown on Saturday nights, also frequent Annie Oakley's, with its mirrored dance floor and patrons in cowboy hats. Rhino Bar is the old Winstons, which I agree was a staple for years. 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. You can meet a lot of women if you want but I got a girl back home.". Or have you accepted the fact that M Street is an eerily too similar replica of your hometown mall? Tomorrow evening, April 17, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Georgetown Public Library at 3260 R St. NW, one of Georgetowns coolest times will be recalled with Last Call; The Bayou, Cellar Door and Georgetown Nightlife., The D.C. Public Librarys Special Collections Archivist Ray Barker will lead a panel discussion of thehistories, stories and insights around Georgetownsgreat venue spaces of the 1960s and 1970s. Since then the location has been a sandwich shop but currently remains for rent. Mr. Smiths: This piano bar abruptly closed last year, it immediately reopened in the space that Chadwicks occupied. He started as a busboy and dishwasher at Chadwicks in Georgetown. Storz said he spit beer. Garretts Restaurant and Railroad Tavern shut its doors for the last time on a Monday in 1979. Sign up for InsideHook to get our best content delivered to your inbox every weekday. 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. Friendships often begin in Georgetown bars. There are out-of-town families trying to decide where to eat: "But I don't want steak" went the refrain recently outside Dino's Steakhouse. Champions closed their doors in 2002. 1) Washington DC in the 1970s was a riveting time. I don't think I'll every be able to live with anyone, although I get very lonely sometimes. 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. In the early fall of 1983, J. Pauls opened to much fanfare, a two-level bar uniquely built for preppies. [6] The club had a lower level area with a large raised stage and a wrap around upper balcony that overlooked the dance floor and stage below. 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. But it was Clydes that the Official Preppy Handbook would list as their definitive prep bar for the DC area. The space next door was Britches Great Outdoors, Britches of Georgetownwhich sold mens suitswas where Ralph Lauren currently is. If I could turn back time! In the Washington Post, January 7, 1982, there is an account of the unfathomably named Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III. 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. 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. By the aughts, now known simply as Richard H. Houghton III, he was serving as Acting Country Director of the International Republican Institute in Baghdad. At least Quick Pita lives on!! ", But Bruce Norris, cartoonist for The Georgetowner newspaper and a Nathan's regular, goes about finding a companion creatively. Upstairs was a deli/market called Il Pane (thats Italian for bread). Had no regard for my coworkers. Chidi had been opened as this youthful preppy scene was just beginning to emerge, in 1976. we found that we could get into clubs if we dressed up! I worked in a candy/gift store (Sharons Mom and Dad owned it) right across the street from Mr. Henrys,and I also worked just down M Street at Clothes Circuit, so Henrys was a very convenient destination. Half of Mikes book is recipes, scaled down for household use, and half is behind-the-scenes reminiscences. But Winston's manager Scott Spaulding said his bar and the others are "scapegoats" for every problem that arises in the busy district. 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. [My friends] and I were pretty upset about it closing, noted one Georgetown junior in reference to Chadwicks, which shuttered before the new school year of 2014, by now famous for its cheap and unlimited champagne brunches, a preppy mecca until its final days. By Joann Stevens. The loss of a significant number of Georgetown's bars and late-night options has run contrary to the neighborhood's population growth. Where: Find: Home / Spain / Montserrat, Valencian Community / Bar Poliesportiu De Monserrat / Bar Poliesportiu De Monserrat menu; By 1968 she was drawing such a crowd to the club that Yaffe opened a special room at his other location near Capitol Hill to showcase her talent. The post Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars appeared first on InsideHook. Free Cancellation. Your email address will not be published. Some places, I fit right in. He snatched the offending pieces of beef off the plates and slapped them on the bar top, Mike writes. In 2014, The Third Edition became El Centro, an upscale Mexican restaurant. In Nathan's, where sophisticated young professionals mingle before a backdrop of forest green walls and framed pastel hunting scenes, a lawyer explained his presence simply: "It's loneliness, the human condition. 5. Spilling over from sidewalks onto jammed streets, strolling in cosmopolitan chic or tour-bus casual, they stake out the shops, restaurants and nightclubs and claim the elite, historic district as their own. But those are off the main drags. Espaol . And it was popular with college kids primarily because you didnt even need a fake ID to get in; it was 18 and over. October 7, 1980. At first she considered the suggestion an insult, but over time she began making appearances at local clubs, both as a pop singer and as a piano accompanist for others. And hes especially fond of the saloon, a style of establishment for which Georgetown home of the original Clydes became famous. The East India Trading Company ( I think), another bar, in the basement of what was most recently Maxime. There was definitely a Mr. Henrys at 1225. While it may have "grill" in the name, diners won't find much more than Utz potato chips to go with the beer and rail drinks. There definitely was a Mr Henrys on Wisconsin avenue in the 80s. According to Salon, the American diplomat now sported short trousers, a large tattoo and spoke Arabic he was anything but a preppy. This article was featured in the InsideHook DC newsletter. In the late 1960s and early 1970s there were so many Georgetown undergrads streaming down the hill to work at the neighborhoods bars, nightclubs and eateries that Mike and his friends had another name for the elite Jesuit university: the Georgetown Restaurant School. The entire team was very kind. Eastern Kentucky boys and men, circa 1964. "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. Mr. Henrys Georgetown catered to a gay crowd but never declared itself as such because of its dependence on the tourist crowd in Georgetown. Georgetown Piano Bar View Map Address 3287 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA Phone +1 202-827-3236 Web Visit website Gather around the cherry red piano and sing along at Georgetown Piano Bar on M Street, which offers music and live entertainment every night of the week. Past Bars in Georgetown By Curtis Newman on Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 11:01 AM D.C. bars back in the day If they have an address I have the Matches with Address and Ph# 15 Minute club 18th Street Lounge 21st Amendment was a GW hangout 3514 (12th St NE) 5th Column 930 Club (Was F St now 815 vst) Abbey Road ACME Bar and Grill It's impossible to discuss 1225 Wisconsin without mentioning that it was the location of Mr. Henry's from 1967 to 1986. By the 21st century, Georgetown bar culture was dying as students began going out in the Adams Morgan neighborhood instead. In 1970, the Old Ebbitt Grill was struggling financially and was bought by the owners of Clyde's of Georgetown. ", Not everyone in Mr. Henry's was as happy as the wide-eyed North Carolina visitor, though. Not just Georgetown students, those spots were big draws for GW students in the 90s and 2000s (and before, too.) 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. Use to work for Britches Great Outdoors. Beer was king, specifically bottled beer. Equally lamentable was the disappearance of Philly Cheesesteak. The food was very good (my wife had a Shrimp Basket, I had a chicken+cheese sandwich basket; the shrimp was very good. I worked there. As for Mr. Henrys, there may have been one in Georgetown, but Id go to Mr. Henrys on Capitol Hill, upstairs, to see Roberta Flack. This week for Not So Long Ago, GM stops by Wisconsin Ave. just above M St. where the Vinyard Vines and Bebe shops now sit. A misty rain dampens the sidewalk in front of the Naples Cafe on New York Avenue NW near 13th Street. 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. Best jazz clubs in DC. Closed down long ago. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. By 1967 Flack had gained a healthy local following, and was singing five nights a week at a nightclub on K Street in Washington. Garretts: GM spent many hours at this bar in his early 20s. While Im sad to see eras end, Georgetown is due for another chapter, said Georgetown restaurant broker Bill Miller at the time. This is news to me. A good percentage of the people you see here never even went to prep school.. 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. 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. The people that come here are from good families, explained one Chidi-goer at the time, differentiating them from the non-preppy riff-raff. 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. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. That same year, WaPo was already pointing toward Georgetowns end days, and they werent even aware of the looming crack epidemic which would cripple the city and turn it into the nations murder capital. There was a Mr. henrys on Wisconsin Ave. in the late 1960s. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. There were family restaurants, jazz clubs, punk bars and average joe-type dives, many frequented by Marines from the nearby barracks. That didnt last long, and the old Champions returned for a little while longer before closing a few years ago. . Hes not sure why. It is currently a Zara clothing store. The spacious bar offered martinis and Sinatra music, while a preppy look acted as the cover charge. However, Poseurs loyal followers hosted a 30-year reunion, so check out their event on Facebook Event. However, the Federal-style townhouse playing host to all those hormones was built in the mid-1800s. Great memories. Topher, I hate to contradict you but there never was a Mr. Henrys at 1225 Wisconsin Ave. 1050 30th St. NW Winston's is part of the cluster of bars in the 3200 block of M Street, which includes Crazy Horse, Desperados, Beneath It All and Paul Mall. The article Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars by Aaron Goldfarb was originally published on InsideHook. Website by Red Clay Creative. Pingback: Ten Years: The Recent Past | The Georgetown Metropolitan, Pingback: The Sovereign 17 Cork by Northwest, Pingback: Mayor Proposes End to Tavern License Cap in Georgetown | The Georgetown Metropolitan, Pingback: Georgetown Looks Set to Double Tavern License Cap, Will it Matter? The actual menu of the Bar Poliesportiu De Monserrat. There was a bar and a backroom for small venues. In 2014, The Third Edition became El Centro, an upscale Mexican restaurant. "Now that's a babe," he said, pointing to a picture of a blond. Or order the book at meetmeatthebarimhungry.com. [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. ", The need for human contact draws many to bars in Georgetown. He got a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service at Georgetown and a law degree from Catholic University. I used to bartend at Winstons in 1990/1991. Thursdays were the big nights Georgetown/American University nights. In my now 60 years on earth I never felt more connected to my fellow brothers then during the Sunday afternoon/evening Broadway show tune sing-a-longs with the piano player at the Mr Henrys at 1225 Wisconsin Ave from say 1977 to 1980. He said he comes to Mr. Henry's mainly for conversation. It was described as not simply another restaurant closing but rather the loss of a popular community hangout loved and frequented by locals, students,employees, and tourists. It has since been replaced with a Thai restaurant. The Death Knell of Georgetown College Bars, ANC Signals End to Moratorium But Delays Decision | The Georgetown Metropolitan, The Georgetown Metropolitan Forgets its Birthday Again | The Georgetown Metropolitan, Ten Years: The Recent Past | The Georgetown Metropolitan, Mayor Proposes End to Tavern License Cap in Georgetown | The Georgetown Metropolitan, Georgetown Looks Set to Double Tavern License Cap, Will it Matter? According to Salon, the American diplomat now sported short trousers, a large tattoo and spoke Arabic he was anything but a preppy. By 1982, preppy partying in our nations capital was reaching a fever pitch, with limousines crawling down M Street and bars packed eight-deep as people queued up for drinks. ", "Ma'am," said the Winston's manager, gazing on the exhibition with horror, "I hope you don't think they reflect my clientele.". 293 views, 6 likes, 4 loves, 2 comments, 1 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Preserving LGBT Sites in Metro DC: The Georgetown Grill, from 1948 to 1977, became a popular gay male hangout, especially. And, of course, it was partially the model for the St. Elmos bar in St. Elmos Fire. Started my bouncing career in that joint. There are two worlds in Georgetown. Have you wondered where these bars went? Its still a lot like a frat party, except now, because of the recent prep craze, you might see a Marine or someone from [the bar] across the street just because its cool to be prep, explained another suffixed partier, Jean-Charles Dibbs III, then a barely-legal Republican political aide. This bar created Georgetowns punk rock scene. Then I am mistaken. I ran an escort service called the Stables and many of my models would meet there clients there. Here at 4E we asked these questions and did the research into Georgetowns bar history, and no this is not a shameless plug for my final research project. It was closed in 2015 due to high rent and is now Club Monaco, a clothing store. But he didnt fall off the face of the earth. Bros in polos and hungry clubbers start the night with massive plates of Irish nachos before climbing the stairs to the hot and heavy dance floor, wrote one review. At one point, every place on M Street had a manager or chef who was someone from my class, Mike Soper says as I tuck into my oyster poboy at Bobby Vans downtown. Yes, definitely Mr. Henrys (Georgetown) was just above M street on Wisconsin Avenue, I think it was #1225. . Quickly, Williams and McDonalds bashes, based on a Myrtle Beach frat-boy aesthetic they had grown up on in the South, were a sensation, packed with men in blazers and women, according to WaPo, who pronounced daddy as a three-syllable word. 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. Its free. The population was shrinking, wealth flowed out to the suburbs, and you could buy a Northwest rowhouse for five figures. The price is $66 per night. A Classic. In 1970, the Homophile Social League met here as well as the Community Church organized by Rev. The restaurants stayed open until sometime around 2000. Looks like Old Glory is the last one standing. English . Nov 21, 2022 - Explore Sharon Clayton's board "Restaurants - from when I was growing up", followed by 176 people on Pinterest. Log In. Winstons, Pall Mall, Pierce Street Annex, Numbers, The Bayou, Bojangles, Windsor McKays, Abbey Road and Pattons, Pingback: ANC Signals End to Moratorium But Delays Decision | The Georgetown Metropolitan, Pingback: The Georgetown Metropolitan Forgets its Birthday Again | The Georgetown Metropolitan. [5], The club was owned from 1953 to 1980 by the Tramonte family who designed it to have an intimate atmosphere like a family. There was high crime, a lot of drugs, prostitution Georgetown was where the going-out scene ended up being simply because the rest of the city wasnt as nice.. So if finals haveyou feeling down, take a walk with 4E down memory lane and peer into the past with our Georgetown Bars Now and Then. ORileys Pub, opened in the late-1970s by two Georgetown alums one who owned an old warehouse, the other who simply had a catchy Irish name. This bar (known primarily as a gay bar) was famous for being the place where Roberta Flack launched her career. Our room was spacious, clean and quiet. All Rights Reserved. Not a fan of Rhino, but its a shame to see rising rents continue to reduce Georgetowns diversity of storefronts. For example, did you know that restaurant workers love it when tiny women order big club sandwiches? 2. Three hustlers standing on the street . Costner yelled to a group of giggling girls, as he examined a fake I.D. In the early days, all gentlemen had to wear a coat and necktie. Though Lisa Birnbachs iconic 1980 Official Preppy Handbook was meant to lampoon the aesthetic, it instead galvanized it, and, just like the early-aughts Brooklyn hipster movement, all irony was soon stripped away. "Well," she said with a drawl, "We're gay. 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. Pingback: St. Elmos Georgetown | The Georgetown Metropolitan. I went to all of those a lot when I was at GW from 98-02. Though Lisa Birnbachs iconic 1980 Official Preppy Handbook was meant to lampoon the aesthetic, it instead galvanized it, and, just like the early-aughts Brooklyn hipster movement, all irony was soon stripped away. Georgetown. 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. (202) 387-8411. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. The idea was you needed to sell food at the bar, as well as drinks, because it took up so much real estate, Mike says. 12. Opened 1939 as Don Dickerman's Pirate's Den. It offered an onyx bar top, hexagonal white tiles on the floor, checkered tablecloths, draught beer and burgers. This location was first the Carriage House, a dining room frequented by many important social and political figures of the District. She directed church choirs and began taking voice lessons, concentrating primarily on opera, with Frederick Wilkie Wilkerson. Everybody went there. And awesome. But on May 19, the Birchmere will host a reunion of people. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Mr. Henrys was rollicking, but it was Mr. Henrys on Capitol Hill, Pennsylvania Ave., S.E., where Roberta Flack performed and from which she became a hit. The Guards: This one was more popular with the post-collegiate set, particularly in W. Bushs Washington when the formerly scuzzy basement became the still scuzzy Gryphon Room. 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 influenced many and left a mark on the soul with his performances.