Great music! 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. 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. He then grabbed a nearby bar stool, flipped it over, and pounded the defenseless steaks vigorously with the flat seat top.. 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. 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. 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. All Rights Reserved. At least Quick Pita lives on!! Performers included Count Basie and Woody Herman. Popular Mobile Games You Must Play In 2023, Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars. But if it was, I would suggest that you check out this website to learn more. The Bayou was strictly a rock and blues venue, and it was UNDER K st. on Water St. down by the river. I enjoyed F Scotts on 36th and Prospect. While in a restaurant the bar is a small part of the overall seating, in a saloon the bar might represent a third to a half of the total seats. 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.. Not So Long Ago: Wisconsin and M St. - The Georgetown Metropolitan Popular attractions . By the 21st century, Georgetown bar culture was dying as students began going out in the Adams Morgan neighborhood instead. If you were really classy, you drank Heineken, the green bottle telegraphing your suavity. There was a Mr. henrys on Wisconsin Ave. in the late 1960s. If Washingtonians mostly only drank at restaurants, hotels, social clubs and high-society parties previous to 1980, that was about to change, and quickly. 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. It closed two years ago and became El Centro. It was the first bar in Georgetown that integrated music videos into the bar! Spent a lot of time at the tiki bar at Third Edition. There are two worlds in Georgetown. No one was coming to his restaurant any way, so Chin figured he had nothing to lose. 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. At others, I shock people. They go to good colleges or have good jobs.. There were family restaurants, jazz clubs, punk bars and average joe-type dives, many frequented by Marines from the nearby barracks. Mr. Henrys Georgetown was owned by Avery Morrison and Larry Samuel. Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetown's Fabled Preppy Bars Champions closed their doors in 2002. . We started DCs Fastest Bartender, and Monday night Mike Nardello spinning tunes during No Skin No Win naked dance contest Buddy Jenkins was Mgr. 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. What about Chinese Disco? 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. News, advice and insights for the most interesting man in the room. If you are talking the late 80s-early 90s, you forgot Winstons. The scene was burning so bright, however, that it couldnt possibly last forever. This bar (known primarily as a gay bar) was famous for being the place where Roberta Flack launched her career. Your email address will not be published. Ladin, lingua ladina . 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. Roadside Pictures. Much like today, there was some turmoil, some celebrations and some change. "Every time you come here you see someone you haven't seen in a long time, someone you grew up with. M: Past and Present - The Hoya 12. While Chinese Disco had long since moved locations to Prospect Street NW, even it would close in 2018. The entire team was very kind. This bar created Georgetowns punk rock scene. 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. October 7, 1980. 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. The Bayou - Wikipedia It was the spot to be on Sunday nights. 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. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. 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. I think that may have been replaced by American Cafe, which was very popular. View the menu, check prices, find on the map, see photos and ratings. A rich tan (and were not talking about the Q.T. In its script, St. Elmos is described as a P.J. Jammed upstairs and down. And the location, perfect! It was the closest, the sleaziest, and the drunkest bar of them all. 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. 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. That would be the Class of 1972 at Georgetown University, although, in the end, Mike wouldnt graduate with it. Del Grande, sporting a high-and-tight haircut, said in confidential tones, "I'll tell you what. 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. Then I am mistaken. Somehow we had to remake things so that those who wished could engage in political activity. 4 out of 5. The gay on was the hole in the wall on 17th street. The Bayou was a music venue and nightclub located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.[1][2] The club occupied an old building at 3135 K Street, NW, in Georgetown, under the Whitehurst Freeway for forty-six years. I wonder if Rocky Horror Picture Show is still playing at that little theater across from Henrys? And it was popular with college kids primarily because you didnt even need a fake ID to get in; it was 18 and over. Georgetown Billiards: GM loved this place. In the '70s, everything went downtown." Toward the end of its run, the Quonset also featured a downstairs lounge for acts too edgy for the main stage. Reportedly decked in khakis and polished penny loafers, blond hair and blue eyes, he was a Georgetown junior at the time. In the Washington Post, January 7, 1982, there is an account of the unfathomably named Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III. . Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. 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. Georgetown Today, July 1970 The overwhelming majority of the faculty believed that we, right on the doorstep of the national government, just could not conduct business as usual. 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! A rich tan (and were not talking about the Q.T. Music of Washington, D.C. - Wikipedia 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. Hotel ILUNION Aqua 4. [3], The club included a balcony level, with tables and chairs, and two standing room only bars. [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. Donal was a protege of Roberta Flacks. This bar (known primarily as a gay bar) was famous for being the place where Roberta Flack launched her career. It's free. According to Salon, the American diplomat now sported short trousers, a large tattoo and spoke Arabic he was anything but a preppy. In 1993, the Vinyard Vines store housed Britches Great Outdoors, a branch of the Georgetown-based Britches chain. georgetown bars 1970s Friendships often begin in Georgetown bars. Get InsideHook in your inbox. The people that come here are from good families, explained one Chidi-goer at the time, differentiating them from the non-preppy riff-raff. Only In D.C. Facebook page for more. The restaurants stayed open until sometime around 2000. In the 1970s and 1980s, Georgetown had a diverse live music scene, and became known as a center for the early punk community. 10. Third Edition: This one was legendary among GU students for its lax entry policies. In the early days, all gentlemen had to wear a coat and necktie. In the early days, all gentlemen had to wear a coat and necktie. Eventually, he went to the Culinary Institute of America and returned to Washington as a chef, creating menus at such places at T. Gregorys (Simplicity does not foreclose imagination, wrote Post critic Phyllis Richman, and T. Gregorys has some original and successful culinary inventions) and Union Street Public House in Alexandria. 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. Restaurants - from when I was growing up - Pinterest These kids are very well-behaved," Spaulding said. Espaol . Also loved the roof deck and, Avril, who became a fast friend with the . Not exclusively gay but ahead of its time? We talked for a bit and then I went on my way. Been to them all, Lets not forget The Cellar Door, The Bayou, The M club, oh my I know theres a few I left out. NO SKIN NO WIN!!! 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. But to the chronic dismay of some Georgetown residents, the streets and a circuit of popular nightclubs are a commercial everyman's land. There were family restaurants, jazz clubs, punk bars and average joe-type dives, many frequented by Marines from the nearby barracks. "The Bayou was a mid-Atlantic icon," said Dave Lilling . The actual menu of the Bar Poliesportiu De Monserrat. If Washingtonians mostly only drank at restaurants, hotels, social clubs and high-society parties previous to 1980, that was about to change, and quickly. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. A 'hip' bar scene in Towson during the 1970s. Although many Georgetown merchants say this is the worst summer for business they have seen in years, one bartender in a popular nightclub said it can gross $10,000 on a Saturday night. The Death Knell of Georgetown College Bars In 2014, The Third Edition became El Centro, an upscale Mexican restaurant. Georgetown Most things at The Tombs aren't older than a college senior today. I especially remember it being packed on Half-Price Hamburger night (I think this was on Tuesdays). This establishment was a left over remanent of the 1970s disco scene. Fish Tails Bar & Grill. Flickr/Hunter Desportes 2) In the early 1970s, the country embroiled in the Vietnam War. It wasnt all preppies, of course. Tuesdays was Pendletons or Chadwicks, a K Street joint located under Whitehurst Freeway known for its hamburgers, cheap beers and late-night hours. The space next door was Britches Great Outdoors, Britches of Georgetownwhich sold mens suitswas where Ralph Lauren currently is. But when he asked how they liked the meal, the customers told him that the steaks seemed a little tough. The American Caf was next door down the street. That didnt last long, and the old Champions returned for a little while longer before closing a few years ago. In 1970, All Souls was the site of the Black Panthers' Peoples Revolutionary Constitutional Convention, an event staged with the strong support of DC's Gay Liberation Front. This establishment was a left over remanent of the 1970s disco scene. Eventually, Wilkerson convinced Flack to give pop music a try. It was a refuge for long-haired psychedelic groups as well as oddballs like Sun Country, a local garage act led by a female drummer. The Georgetown bar culture was filled with much more than loafers, gingham, pleats and shoulder pads, wrote McGovern. Past Bars in Georgetown | Facebook 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. Mr. Henrys was absolutely 1225 Wisc. ", Not everyone in Mr. Henry's was as happy as the wide-eyed North Carolina visitor, though. This article was featured in the InsideHook DC newsletter. 1) Washington DC in the 1970s was a riveting time. ", But Bruce Norris, cartoonist for The Georgetowner newspaper and a Nathan's regular, goes about finding a companion creatively. 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. I remember waking by the side steps of The Cellar Door and John Denver was just sitting there, strumming his guitar, enjoying some sun. 1. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. The scene was burning so bright, however, that it couldnt possibly last forever. The event will also feature a film screening of The Bayou: DCs Killer Joint (30 min.). 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. I worked there. Garretts Restaurant and Railroad Tavern shut its doors for the last time on a Monday in 1979. The customer had dared to adulterate Mikes creation with ketchup. The article Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars by Aaron Goldfarb was originally published on InsideHook. Williams also was the GM at the Nissan Pavilion. 5. The Bayou backed up to another famed D.C. music institution, Blues Alley, located down the alley behind the Bayou. 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 need for human contact draws many to bars in Georgetown. [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. Or order the book at meetmeatthebarimhungry.com. Free WiFi. I seem to remember a Mr Henrys on Columbia Road in Adams Morgan as well as all the ones mentioned here. Chidi had been opened as this youthful preppy scene was just beginning to emerge, in 1976. Yep, My one year in DC, 1983-84, Mr. Henrys in Georgetown was a favorite gay hangout. The Cellar Door - Wikipedia A good percentage of the people you see here never even went to prep school.. 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. It closed in 1989 and is now the Running Company. Cerphe Colwell: musicplanetradio.com. 2. Thursdays was E.J. Check out this websiteto learn more! "That block is becoming another 14th Street strip," said attorney Courts Oulahan, who is representing Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3A and the Georgetown Citizens Association in an old battle aimed at reducing the number of Class C (restaurants) liquor licenses granted in the area. 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. Does that sound right? I also thought it was called Annies Paramount Steak House. 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. Mike Tramonte: The Bayou I was a bouncer at Crazy Horse. 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. 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. Best chocolate chip cookies. The Third Edition was a Georgetown neighborhood staple, serving students, visitors and the neighborhood from 1969 to 2013. It even got a moment of Hollywood fame as the beloved St. Elmos Fire bar in the 1980s classic St. Costner yelled to a group of giggling girls, as he examined a fake I.D. . By fww2. 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. Montserrat, Valencian Community Hotels from $54 - Travelocity She also found time for a social life during this period, culminating in her 1966 marriage to Stephen Novosel, a jazz bassist. While Chinese Disco had long since moved locations to Prospect Street NW, even it would close in 2018. 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. But I'm not interested in going to discos and taking drugs. lolAnyone remember Cafe de Paris and Sundowner Club? oh, but they were just south on M~ Cheers to those Great Times . Georgetown Nightlife Remembered | The Georgetowner One of the more lively approaches is to gather some persons of a certain age, whether those of the baby boom generation or not, and swap stories about the late night scenes along Wisconsin Avenue and M Street. Bottles placed upside down into funnels feeding long tubing led to the downstairs bars. "I had this girl friend with me I couldn't stand," Smith said, "so I went up to Brian and asked him to get rid of her for me." Georgetown After Dark: Loud, Lively and Preppy, Too Then Hugh tossed the meat back onto the plates and said it was probably plenty tender now. A note to Jacques: Before Lucianos on the second floor was Blimpies, the original foot long sandwich shop (theres still one up in New Jersey). Required fields are marked *. "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. It was rite of passage. And this Georgetown dining room was the fanciest, Frenchest of them all. It's impossible to discuss 1225 Wisconsin without mentioning that it was the location of Mr. Henry's from 1967 to 1986. The best was very comfortable. | The Georgetown Metropolitan, ICYMI: When Wootten Met Thompson at Jelleff. 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. In the early fall of 1983, J. Pauls opened to much fanfare, a two-level bar uniquely built for preppies. This location was first the Carriage House, a dining room frequented by many important social and political figures of the District. (202) 338-4833, Georgetown Media Group. He said he comes to Mr. Henry's mainly for conversation. On weekends, Georgetown is Washingtons front porch, wrote Leslie Berger in yet one more 1982 WaPo nightlife article. Georgetown Grill | The Georgetown Grill, from 1948 to 1977 - Facebook I think the gay steakhouse was called Paramount? 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. As for Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III, that original WaPo article is literally the only time his full formal name would ever be mentioned in the annals of American journalism. In Blues Alley and Charlie's, jazz-lovers sip drinks and converse in muted tones. Nowhere was that more evident than in our nations capital, which was uniquely positioned to become Americas preppiest party city of the era. In the Washington Post, January 7, 1982, there is an account of the unfathomably named Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III. The. That was redneck.. Reportedly decked in khakis and polished penny loafers, blond hair and blue eyes, he was a Georgetown junior at the time. "He totally grossed her out," said Smith, with relish. Just ten years ago, such an outcome would seem impossible, but after a few years of relentless closures, the inevitable has come about. 7 Jazz Clubs in D.C. for Live Jazz Music - Time Out Washington DC Night falls on Georgetown like a sable cape, lights begin to flicker and suddenly people are everywhere. http://www.angelfire.com/art2/delacroix_berthier/meet_de_la_croix.%20part%203.htm. See more ideas about growing up, silver spring maryland, rockville maryland. Log In. 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. 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. I loved the Bayou (great bands, great dancing), and the club behind the Biography theater (a psychedelic scene) now a CVS. History | Clyde's American Bar & Restaurant For the two spines of Georgetown-M and Wisconsin-the era of college bars is now closed. Tales might involve bar hopping, disco dancing, lining up at music clubs, concert crowds or stylish restaurants. Happy memories. 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. Rhino Bar is the old Winstons, which I agree was a staple for years. [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. She directed church choirs and began taking voice lessons, concentrating primarily on opera, with Frederick Wilkie Wilkerson. They say customers park illegally, drink beer, urinate on sidewalks and gardens, and vandalize property before driving away intoxicated. 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. . [4] The sound system mixing console was located on the second floor balcony, overlooking the stage. A good percentage of the people you see here never even went to prep school.. Blues Alley. Not just Georgetown students, those spots were big draws for GW students in the 90s and 2000s (and before, too.) Over the years, it has moved to a few different locations in the downtown area. Mike, 63, is semi-retired now. All rights reserved. For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly. C/Luis Garca Berlanga, 19-21, Valencia, Valencia, 46023. The abuse? I was pretty cool with the bartenders and doormen and lots of ladies (current and graduates). Where else can you watch drama, comedy, tragedy and farce for the price of a drink? 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?