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.. Georgetown. 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. 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. People bump into old friends, make new ones. Were not splitting the atom here.. Our guests praise the bar in our reviews. Then again, no one in Georgetown is these days either. English . If Washingtonians mostly only drank at restaurants, hotels, social clubs and high-society parties previous to 1980, that was about to change, and quickly. 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. 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. By the 21st century, Georgetown bar culture was dying as students began going out in the Adams Morgan neighborhood instead. American Cafe was great, a landmark endeavor for Georgetown and the food industry. In the Washington Post, January 7, 1982, there is an account of the unfathomably named Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III. There was another room in back down a hallway,which had a bar and piano. What movies was she in?' Reportedly decked in khakis and polished penny loafers, blond hair and blue eyes, he was a Georgetown junior at the time. John Thompson's teams made it to the Final Four three times in the 1980s and won the National Championship in 1984. I don't think I'll every be able to live with anyone, although I get very lonely sometimes. However, if it was dead all week, on the weekends it would become The Chinese Disco, or Chidi, a packed spot where he would dance the shag to beach music and flirt with local coeds it was then the epicenter of Washington DCs preppy playground. A one-square-mile neighborhood of cobble-stone streets and stately, federal-style homes centered around the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, Georgetown nonetheless boasted more than 115 liquor licenses in an approximately 10-block area. Then I am mistaken. The chain went bankrupt in 2002. (John Kelly/The Washington Post). It was the Duke Zeibert's of Dance, the Sans Souci of Sweat. In 2014 it was forced to move from its M Street location to K Street, where it replaced longstanding bar Chadwicks due to rising rents. [10], The Bayou was the subject of a documentary produced by Metro Teleproductions, Inc. Maryland Public Television aired the program on February 25, 2013. 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. To me, a saloon is where the dining room seating is right there with the bar, Mike says. Enjoy the seasonal outdoor pool and visit the 3 bars/lounges and poolside bar for drinks. In the early fall of 1983, J. Pauls opened to much fanfare, a two-level bar uniquely built for preppies. 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. Over the years, it has moved to a few different locations in the downtown area. USA Distributor of MCM Equipment georgetown bars 1970s 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. Open in Google Maps. Whats a Hoya with a fake ID to do these days? It closed two years ago and became El Centro. "The Bayou was a mid-Atlantic icon," said Dave Lilling . And awesome. While Im sad to see eras end, Georgetown is due for another chapter, said Georgetown restaurant broker Bill Miller at the time. Thursdays was E.J. Yes, definitely Mr. Henrys (Georgetown) was just above M street on Wisconsin Avenue, I think it was #1225. Great music! The Bayou was strictly a rock and blues venue, and it was UNDER K st. on Water St. down by the river. The population was shrinking, wealth flowed out to the suburbs, and you could buy a Northwest rowhouse for five figures. You can meet a lot of women if you want but I got a girl back home.". Have you wondered where these bars went? I do remember when Blimpies Subs opened just south of Mr Henrys, maybe a couple doors down or next door- It was perfect food for late nights,after the clubs. 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. But 1225 Wisconsin definitely housed the American Cafe during the 1970s and early 1980s. The Georgetown bar culture was filled with much more than loafers, gingham, pleats and shoulder pads, wrote McGovern. The club opened in September 1953 on the site of a former Dixieland nightclub called The Pirates Den which featured Dixieland jazz until the early 1960s when the format changed to rock and roll. Clarke-like bar/restaurant, a reference to Manhattans iconic preppy paradise. In 1970, the Homophile Social League met here as well as the Community Church organized by Rev. "Sometimes we take our pants off and it really bums people out," Smith said, with Storz at his side, doing exactly that. He taught at Duke Ellington also. And remember when there was Boogeys or Boogies, where now we have the Apple Store? 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. The clothing store Wet Seal opened here sometime around 2003. [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. Does that sound right? But it was Clydes that the Official Preppy Handbook would list as their definitive prep bar for the DC area. This building used to house The Cellar Door, a live music club thatplayed host to famous artists such as Jimmy Buffet, Patti Smith, Carole King and manymore from1965-1981. And awesome. The restaurants stayed open until sometime around 2000. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. English . "Every time you come here you see someone you haven't seen in a long time, someone you grew up with. This became the preppy list-restricted George-more popular with a slightly older 20-something crowd of transplant Southerners-which itself recently became Chinese Disco. John Dominis. The action stops only after 2 a.m., when serving liquor is forbidden, and the streets slowly empty as people try to remember where they parked. The space next door was Britches Great Outdoors, Britches of Georgetownwhich sold mens suitswas where Ralph Lauren currently is. Pingback: From the Comments | The Georgetown Metropolitan. 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. Richard Harrington: music critic, the Washington Post A Classic. Outside Winston's rock 'n' roll cave, jean-clad youths wait impatiently to show identification to bouncer Wally Costner, whose 21 years of living are distributed through a 6-foot-5, 240-pound frame. She noted that by now the 100-plus bars in the neighborhood were starting to rankle the older, upper-crust residents with to their boisterous partying. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Mr. Henrys was absolutely 1225 Wisc. In Mr. Smith's, while the young frolic in the garden patio, older patrons get melancholy around the piano bar, singing, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" and "Eidelweiss," harmonizing with strangers in a minor key. And I'll go down the list and that gets them talking.". The site you are referring to was The American Cafe in the 80s and may have been an Annies Steakhouse before. 3135 K Street, Georgetown, Washington DC. This Hugh did. . He's the author of a new memoir, "Meet Me at the Bar, I'm Hungry." Loved American Cafe. Ladin, lingua ladina . Before the dawn reclaims the streets, there are myriad human sights and sounds, often in stark contrast. They used to sell canned Clydes chili. Next door in 1993 there was a branch of Roberto Donnas Il Radiccho brand restaurant. 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. The article Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars by Aaron Goldfarb was originally published on InsideHook. Required fields are marked *. ", The need for human contact draws many to bars in Georgetown. 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. Pingback: St. Elmos Georgetown | The Georgetown Metropolitan. In 2014, The Third Edition became El Centro, an upscale Mexican restaurant. In the early days, all gentlemen had to wear a coat and necktie. Kentucky Explorer. Half of Mikes book is recipes, scaled down for household use, and half is behind-the-scenes reminiscences. Spent a lot of time at the tiki bar at Third Edition. No one was coming to his restaurant any way, so Chin figured he had nothing to lose. October 7, 1980. Thursdays was E.J. 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. Passions can run high in the restaurant biz. She directed church choirs and began taking voice lessons, concentrating primarily on opera, with Frederick Wilkie Wilkerson. Go down the hill on Wisconsin, pass the Church, turn left and there it was. Thursdays were the big nights Georgetown/American University nights. That building is supposedly haunted. Comments? lolAnyone remember Cafe de Paris and Sundowner Club? oh, but they were just south on M~ Cheers to those Great Times . Or have you accepted the fact that M Street is an eerily too similar replica of your hometown mall? acid jazz and electronica, following the establishment of a variety of bars and clubs in the area, most notably The Black Cat (which was co-founded by Dave Grohl, another native of the DC punk scene). Equally lamentable was the disappearance of Philly Cheesesteak. 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. In 1970, the Old Ebbitt Grill was struggling financially and was bought by the owners of Clyde's of Georgetown. 1. [5], The club was owned from 1953 to 1980 by the Tramonte family who designed it to have an intimate atmosphere like a family. $66. In the early days, all gentlemen had to wear a coat and necktie. 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. Sign up now for more from the Beltway. Winstons was the go-to spot in the mid 80s. For decades, Washington's fancy restaurants were French. John Kelly writes John Kelly's Washington, a daily look at Washington's less-famous side. The Third Edition was a Georgetown neighborhood staple, serving students, visitors and the neighborhood from 1969 to 2013. Photograph by Ehpien/FLICKR . Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Georgetown Most things at The Tombs aren't older than a college senior today. Not sure how Scott (the manager) kept a lid on that zoo. Nov 21, 2022 - Explore Sharon Clayton's board "Restaurants - from when I was growing up", followed by 176 people on Pinterest. 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. Looks like Old Glory is the last one standing. Not to forget Crazy Horse, Desperados, the Down Under. The gay on was the hole in the wall on 17th street. Or order the book at meetmeatthebarimhungry.com.