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). 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. Thursdays was E.J. The event will also feature a film screening of The Bayou: DCs Killer Joint (30 min.). I think the infamous Maximilian Rochambeau had a club in that building back in the early Nineties. 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. 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. 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. 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. Donal Leace, who sadly passed away yesterday in Texas from COVID19, use to play Sunday afternoon shows at Mr. Henrys on Wisconsin. Photograph: Courtesy Blues Alley. "I've heard something about the problem ," he said, "but I understand it's a tradition since Georgetown has had nightclubs." Jammed packed, upstairs and down. Richard Harrington: music critic, the Washington Post 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. 1. "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." The other big draw was the $1 hamburger night with Gregorio the bar-back flipping the nastiest hamburgers allowed for human consumption. It was a safe spot to meet. Topher, I hate to contradict you but there never was a Mr. Henrys at 1225 Wisconsin Ave. 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. 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. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. I also thought it was called Annies Paramount Steak House. 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. A misty rain dampens the sidewalk in front of the Naples Cafe on New York Avenue NW near 13th Street. 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. 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. Currently the AMC Theatre, the Bayou was the go-to music scene from 1953 to 1998. Somehow we had to remake things so that those who wished could engage in political activity. Roberta Flack performed more at Mr. Henrys on Capitol Hill than in Georgetown. One amorous pair -- a man and woman -- eating dinner and oblivious to their surroundings, was asked, "Did you know this is considered a gay bar?". Co-proprietor Hugh Kelly was relaxing after the kitchen had closed for the night only to be asked if he could cook up a pair of steaks for some late travelers. It was the first bar in Georgetown that integrated music videos into the bar! He then grabbed a nearby bar stool, flipped it over, and pounded the defenseless steaks vigorously with the flat seat top.. 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. My friends Craig and Ardith and I would go there several times a week for happy hour, for years approx 1974 to 1977-ish. I was pretty cool with the bartenders and doormen and lots of ladies (current and graduates). The food was very good (my wife had a Shrimp Basket, I had a chicken+cheese sandwich basket; the shrimp was very good. A good percentage of the people you see here never even went to prep school.. 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. The space next door was Britches Great Outdoors, Britches of Georgetownwhich sold mens suitswas where Ralph Lauren currently is. In his day, a good bartender worked fast. Flickr/Hunter Desportes 2) In the early 1970s, the country embroiled in the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, the bars upstairs, outdoor patio was a tiki bar complete with kitschy totems. Whats a Hoya with a fake ID to do these days? It would become gridlocked with cars as far as the eye can see, according to the New York Times, each and every Saturday night. "What a wonderful place. Pool. 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. 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. Go down the hill on Wisconsin, pass the Church, turn left and there it was. 4 out of 5. During the Tramonte's ownership of the club, Paul Wolff was the front of house engineer. In the Washington Post, January 7, 1982, there is an account of the unfathomably named Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III. In the 1970s and 1980s, Georgetown had a diverse live music scene, and became known as a center for the early punk community. 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.. 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. 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. Yes, definitely Mr. Henrys (Georgetown) was just above M street on Wisconsin Avenue, I think it was #1225. [3], The club included a balcony level, with tables and chairs, and two standing room only bars. We wear our boxer shorts and some say Oh, my God, who are these guys?. In 1970, the Old Ebbitt Grill was struggling financially and was bought by the owners of Clyde's of Georgetown. Nightlife. Or order the book at meetmeatthebarimhungry.com. By 1980, WaPo was offering a laundry list of the clientele to expect there: Mt. 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. The clothing store Wet Seal opened here sometime around 2003. 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. He snatched the offending pieces of beef off the plates and slapped them on the bar top, Mike writes. In the Washington Post, January 7, 1982, there is an account of the unfathomably named Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III. Mike Tramonte: The Bayou The Bayou was strictly a rock and blues venue, and it was UNDER K st. on Water St. down by the river. It was kind of like Tuscany in that everyone had to go there at least once.. Eastern Kentucky boys and men, circa 1964. "Now which one of y'all is going to tell me that's her?" 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. It was the Duke Zeibert's of Dance, the Sans Souci of Sweat. In the early days, all gentlemen had to wear a coat and necktie. 3125 Mount Pleasant St NW, Washington, D.C. 20010. There was another room in back down a hallway,which had a bar and piano. I loved the Bayou (great bands, great dancing), and the club behind the Biography theater (a psychedelic scene) now a CVS. "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. 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! . Fourteen years in the making, "The Bayou" is a 90-minute documentary about the legendary Georgetown nightclub, which closed in 1998. The following 13 vintage photos showcase different areas throughout Ohio during the 1970s: 1. I wonder if Rocky Horror Picture Show is still playing at that little theater across from Henrys? The Boy-Whore World. USA Distributor of MCM Equipment georgetown bars 1970s 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. Pingback: St. Elmos Georgetown | The Georgetown Metropolitan. 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. Storz said he spit beer. A good percentage of the people you see here never even went to prep school.. 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. "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 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. . 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. Washingtons weird territorial placement in the American firmament also played a key role in the bar scene that emerged. This bar (known primarily as a gay bar) was famous for being the place where Roberta Flack launched her career. Is everyone forgetting the Library? Reserve now, pay when you stay. Where else can you watch drama, comedy, tragedy and farce for the price of a drink? This establishment was a left over remanent of the 1970s disco scene. The price is $66 per night. Clarke-like bar/restaurant, a reference to Manhattans iconic preppy paradise. Looks like Old Glory is the last one standing. Champions: This sports bar at the end of the alley next to Benetton entertained drunk college kids for years before it briefly became the upscale Blue Gin. A Louisville Howard Johnson during the 1960s. | The Georgetown Metropolitan, ICYMI: When Wootten Met Thompson at Jelleff. Williams also was the GM at the Nissan Pavilion. For decades, Washington's fancy restaurants were French. By Joann Stevens. Popular attractions . Over the years, it has moved to a few different locations in the downtown area. Mr. Henrys Georgetown catered to a gay crowd but never declared itself as such because of its dependence on the tourist crowd in Georgetown. [5], The club was owned from 1953 to 1980 by the Tramonte family who designed it to have an intimate atmosphere like a family. The Bayou backed up to another famed D.C. music institution, Blues Alley, located down the alley behind the Bayou. 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. 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 wasnt all preppies, of course. It then became a French bistro and then Five Guys and now &Pizza. Jammed upstairs and down. The current location, near the White House, has been its home since 1983. I enjoyed F Scotts on 36th and Prospect. Now, its location is filled in with Fine Retailer (whatever that means). . The 9:30 club . 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. 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. 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 family restaurants, jazz clubs, punk bars and average joe-type dives, many frequented by Marines from the nearby barracks. Everybody went there. 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. I once met John Waters and Divine there. 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. "The Bayou was a mid-Atlantic icon," said Dave Lilling . News, advice and insights for the most interesting man in the room. There was a terrific creperie nearby. The Georgetown bar culture was filled with much more than loafers, gingham, pleats and shoulder pads, wrote McGovern. This rare footage of Washington DC from the 1960s gives you more of a look into the fascinating history of the city. Garretts: GM spent many hours at this bar in his early 20s. Use to work for Britches Great Outdoors. These kids are very well-behaved," Spaulding said. He said he comes to Mr. Henry's mainly for conversation. I had many meals and drinks there. Photograph by Ehpien/FLICKR . No one was coming to his restaurant any way, so Chin figured he had nothing to lose. Upstairs was a deli/market called Il Pane (thats Italian for bread). "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. They say customers park illegally, drink beer, urinate on sidewalks and gardens, and vandalize property before driving away intoxicated. 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. It stayed open until a few years ago when Vinyard Vines opened up. 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 remember waking by the side steps of The Cellar Door and John Denver was just sitting there, strumming his guitar, enjoying some sun. Those were the days.Let me tell you. 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. Chidi had been opened as this youthful preppy scene was just beginning to emerge, in 1976. 5. Knew the owners Sam, Jack, Dave. I guess it would be fairer to say she was discovered at the K St. club (the Bayou maybe?). Our room was spacious, clean and quiet. 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. Cerphe Colwell: musicplanetradio.com. 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. It was kind of like Tuscany in that everyone had to go there at least once.. But to the chronic dismay of some Georgetown residents, the streets and a circuit of popular nightclubs are a commercial everyman's land. Bottles placed upside down into funnels feeding long tubing led to the downstairs bars. According to Salon, the American diplomat now sported short trousers, a large tattoo and spoke Arabic he was anything but a preppy. Costner yelled to a group of giggling girls, as he examined a fake I.D. 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. I used to bartend at Winstons in 1990/1991. The people that come here are from good families, explained one Chidi-goer at the time, differentiating them from the non-preppy riff-raff. By the 1990s, Georgetown had, like most of America, entered into a grunge period, with alternative music blasting out of the doors at rock clubs like Poseurs. Third edition was my go to spot from 92-96. And it was popular with college kids primarily because you didnt even need a fake ID to get in; it was 18 and over. And the location, perfect! Eventually, Wilkerson convinced Flack to give pop music a try. 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 At Commander Salamander, punk rockers in concentration camp coiffures gobble up New Wave merchandise just like the middle-class consumers they disdain. Required fields are marked *. Also, Nathan's an elegant Georgetown bar is real big now." But Tramps was more than a disco. And there was nothing gay about Dinos. 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 could go anywhere in Georgetown and not spend a dime. There was a Mr. henrys on Wisconsin Ave. in the late 1960s. They chat, window-shop, kiss under the Whitehurst Freeway, throw change to street musicians, carry vendors' red roses, sit on cars and play the radio (sun roofs and hatchbacks open) as if settling down for a day at the beach. 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. 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. 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. He's the author of a new memoir, "Meet Me at the Bar, I'm Hungry." Nor the fact that an endorsement from then-Mayor Marion Berry would make September 30, 1986 the final day 18-year-olds could legally drink in Washington. $66. Thursdays was E.J. Bars & Clubs. Enjoy the seasonal outdoor pool and visit the 3 bars/lounges and poolside bar for drinks. And remember when there was Boogeys or Boogies, where now we have the Apple Store? All Rights Reserved. Georgetown is a multicultural and international hub now which I think is a positive thing.. Thats because theyll often leave some behind, and since the club is cut into separate quarters, its almost sanitary to snatch a bit off the plate. And this Georgetown dining room was the fanciest, Frenchest of them all. I think the gay steakhouse was called Paramount? Ladin, lingua ladina . Georgetown Most things at The Tombs aren't older than a college senior today. Honestly, I thought it was going to be very preppy [before I moved there] and I had my Lily Pulitzer skirts ready, but no one was really preppy any more, says McGovern, who started at the university in 2013. Del Grande, sporting a high-and-tight haircut, said in confidential tones, "I'll tell you what. Reportedly decked in khakis and polished penny loafers, blond hair and blue eyes, he was a Georgetown junior at the time. (Seven-year plan, he says of his stop-and-start undergraduate career.). American Cafe was great, a landmark endeavor for Georgetown and the food industry.