John Dominis. 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. Espaol . "Every time you come here you see someone you haven't seen in a long time, someone you grew up with. But he didnt fall off the face of the earth. And, of course, it was partially the model for the St. Elmos bar in St. Elmos Fire. I thought Georgetown was a pioneering neighborhood in that regard. For example, did you know that restaurant workers love it when tiny women order big club sandwiches? By fww2. In 1970, the Homophile Social League met here as well as the Community Church organized by Rev. "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. If I could turn back time! In 2014, The Third Edition became El Centro, an upscale Mexican restaurant. Dave Was Paramount not one of the early Washington gay enlightened restaurants? Reportedly decked in khakis and polished penny loafers, blond hair and blue eyes, he was a Georgetown junior at the time. 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. 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. There are many ways to recount Georgetowns history. This Hugh did. Crazy expensive and hard to get into, it set the standard for special-occasion dining in the era when butter and . The customer wasnt charged, but he wasnt able to finish his meal, either. In 1993, the Vinyard Vines store housed Britches Great Outdoors, a branch of the Georgetown-based Britches chain. 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. There was a bar and a backroom for small venues. The loss of a significant number of Georgetown's bars and late-night options has run contrary to the neighborhood's population growth. 4.5/5 Wonderful! Mike is impressed by the complexity of todays craft cocktails, if a little mystified by their appeal. The. What movies was she in?' The interior, meanwhile, was more inspired by another preppy haven popular with college kids, an underground spot called The Tombs. The following 13 vintage photos showcase different areas throughout Ohio during the 1970s: 1. But I'm not interested in going to discos and taking drugs. 'Meet Me at the Bar': A new memoir celebrates Georgetown's busy saloon The customer had dared to adulterate Mikes creation with ketchup. Todays mixological artisans work like alchemists, decanting potions and grinding tree bark. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The Cellar Door - Wikipedia Then again, no one in Georgetown is these days either. Is everyone forgetting the Library? 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. "Now that's a babe," he said, pointing to a picture of a blond. The price is $66 per night. But he didnt fall off the face of the earth. Currently the AMC Theatre, the Bayou was the go-to music scene from 1953 to 1998. The other big draw was the $1 hamburger night with Gregorio the bar-back flipping the nastiest hamburgers allowed for human consumption. 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. I think that may have been replaced by American Cafe, which was very popular. Free WiFi. This establishment was a left over remanent of the 1970s disco scene. All rights reserved. It closed two years ago and became El Centro. Ladin, lingua ladina . Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "ae994b54ef062d4461bc2a54018d3062" );document.getElementById("gab125c3ec").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. "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. 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. It wasnt all preppies, of course. He draws the caricature of an attractive woman, or sometimes, he says, "I'll tell a woman she reminds me of an actress. And awesome. (202) 338-4833, Georgetown Media Group. 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. 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. In the early days, all gentlemen had to wear a coat and necktie. Copyright 2023 InsideHook. Somehow we had to remake things so that those who wished could engage in political activity. It was the Duke Zeibert's of Dance, the Sans Souci of Sweat. 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. Georgetown. This is the scrappy old lesbian bar Coconuts, converted last year into Waterstone -- a pretty tavern for the under-served western edge of Mount Vernon . I went to all of those a lot when I was at GW from 98-02. $66. The scene was burning so bright, however, that it couldnt possibly last forever. 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. The spacious bar offered martinis and Sinatra music, while a preppy look acted as the cover charge. Bars & Clubs. The clothing store Wet Seal opened here sometime around 2003. "The Bayou was a mid-Atlantic icon," said Dave Lilling . 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. This bar created Georgetowns punk rock scene. 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. 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. A very civil place six nights a week according to a 1978 Hoya article, the only exception being thirsty Thursdays, when the preppies would invade en masse to Carolina shag a dance descendent of the jitterbug and drop trou, a supposed mating ritual endemic to an era when sexual harassment didnt exist. Thursdays was E.J. Garretts: GM spent many hours at this bar in his early 20s. 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.. Three hustlers standing on the street . 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. Clarke-like bar/restaurant, a reference to Manhattans iconic preppy paradise. 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. Use to work for Britches Great Outdoors. However, Poseurs loyal followers hosted a 30-year reunion, so check out their event on Facebook Event. 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. Meanwhile, the bars upstairs, outdoor patio was a tiki bar complete with kitschy totems. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Del Grande, sporting a high-and-tight haircut, said in confidential tones, "I'll tell you what. said the women. By 1980, WaPo was offering a laundry list of the clientele to expect there: Mt. Have you wondered where these bars went? Not just Georgetown students, those spots were big draws for GW students in the 90s and 2000s (and before, too.) I use to go every weekend for a while. We wear our boxer shorts and some say Oh, my God, who are these guys?. A rich tan (and were not talking about the Q.T. Theres still Tombs (the other inspiration and filming location of St. Elmos Fire) and Chadwicks under a new name is still basically Chadwicks. 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. Topher, I hate to contradict you but there never was a Mr. Henrys at 1225 Wisconsin Ave. By 1967 Flack had gained a healthy local following, and was singing five nights a week at a nightclub on K Street in Washington. GM was a big fan of Britches back in the day when a Britches Great Outdoors was at his local Connecticut mall. Menu at Bar Poliesportiu De Monserrat, Montserrat Does that sound right? They go to good colleges or have good jobs.. 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. ", Not everyone in Mr. Henry's was as happy as the wide-eyed North Carolina visitor, though. At least one valid email address is required. Also loved the roof deck and, Avril, who became a fast friend with the . lolAnyone remember Cafe de Paris and Sundowner Club? oh, but they were just south on M~ Cheers to those Great Times . He snatched the offending pieces of beef off the plates and slapped them on the bar top, Mike writes. This group is now the most populous . Pool. "Space is the Place" was the soundtrack to radio spots for d.c. space. 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. And yes, it was Dinos Paramount Steak House and yes it was very straight, not gay. And this Georgetown dining room was the fanciest, Frenchest of them all. 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. 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. And awesome. Donal Leace, who sadly passed away yesterday in Texas from COVID19, use to play Sunday afternoon shows at Mr. Henrys on Wisconsin. By 1980, WaPo was offering a laundry list of the clientele to expect there: Mt. At others, I shock people. But Mike always had a soft spot for the bar both sides of it. Best chocolate chip cookies. 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. "I've heard something about the problem ," he said, "but I understand it's a tradition since Georgetown has had nightclubs." They have a gay following and the original is near Dupont Circle. Sign up for InsideHook to get our best content delivered to your inbox every weekday. 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. 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. Williams also was the GM at the Nissan Pavilion. For the record: Dinos Paramont Steakhouse, with a parking lot to the left, and Mr. Henrys to the right, and American Cafe to the right of that. Unfortunately, in 1982 it stopped Staying Alive and closed its doors. English . Perspective Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events. Go down the hill on Wisconsin, pass the Church, turn left and there it was. Popular Mobile Games You Must Play In 2023, Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars. 7 Jazz Clubs in D.C. for Live Jazz Music - Time Out Washington DC Chidi had been opened as this youthful preppy scene was just beginning to emerge, in 1976. Roadside Pictures. 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. 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. In 1970, the former boarding house stand-around bar, Old Ebbitt Grill, stood one city block away from the White House. Jammed packed, upstairs and down. He taught at Duke Ellington also. THE BEST Georgetown Bars & Clubs (with Photos) - Tripadvisor Closed down long ago. A misty rain dampens the sidewalk in front of the Naples Cafe on New York Avenue NW near 13th Street. . 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. . 2. 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. Website by Red Clay Creative. Not exclusively gay but ahead of its time? self-published memoir: Meet Me at the Bar, Im 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. 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. By Joann Stevens. These Classic D.C. Restaurants and Bars Are Still Worth a Visit It was closed in 2015 due to high rent and is now Club Monaco, a clothing store. [5], The club was owned from 1953 to 1980 by the Tramonte family who designed it to have an intimate atmosphere like a family. 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. 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. Spent a lot of time at the tiki bar at Third Edition. In the Washington Post, January 7, 1982, there is an account of the unfathomably named Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III. Washingtons weird territorial placement in the American firmament also played a key role in the bar scene that emerged. I seem to remember a Mr Henrys on Columbia Road in Adams Morgan as well as all the ones mentioned here. 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, The Bayou backed up to another famed D.C. music institution, Blues Alley, located down the alley behind the Bayou. The bar was bought and converted into an upscale Belgium restaurant called The Sovereign. 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. Pingback: St. Elmos Georgetown | The Georgetown Metropolitan. http://www.angelfire.com/art2/delacroix_berthier/meet_de_la_croix.%20part%203.htm. 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. There were family restaurants, jazz clubs, punk bars and average joe-type dives, many frequented by Marines from the nearby barracks. 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 Most things at The Tombs aren't older than a college senior today. It was kind of like Tuscany in that everyone had to go there at least once.. Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgteown's Fabled Preppy Bars In the Washington Post, January 7, 1982, there is an account of the unfathomably named Richard Hamilton Herrud Houghton III.. From 1977 to 1991, the building at 7th and E Streets NW that currently houses a Starbucks was home to one of the area's. Check out the website Booze to Bougie to learn more: Photos/gifs:trophyhomes.com, images.google.com, boozetobougie.wordpress.com. "He totally grossed her out," said Smith, with relish. 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. Would eat some nearly every lunch. I remember waking by the side steps of The Cellar Door and John Denver was just sitting there, strumming his guitar, enjoying some sun. But when he asked how they liked the meal, the customers told him that the steaks seemed a little tough. But to the chronic dismay of some Georgetown residents, the streets and a circuit of popular nightclubs are a commercial everyman's land. Washington, DC 20007 Fish Tails Bar & Grill. The Rainbow History Project: PLACES & SPACES -- clubs, bars - YUMPU Blues Alley. 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. There was a time when some bartenders kept pace with their customers, when some chefs carefully calibrated their liquor intake over the night, sweating out the alcohol over a hot grill. There was also the gay-friendly Georgetown Grill (I may have the name wrong; it was long ago, in the 70s). The Georgetown bar culture was filled with much more than loafers, gingham, pleats and shoulder pads, wrote McGovern. We're happy. Thursdays were the big nights Georgetown/American University nights. 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. 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. Some of the best years of my early life were spent within those walls. 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. It wasnt cool to drink draft beer, Mike said. There were family restaurants, jazz clubs, punk bars and average joe-type dives, many frequented by Marines from the nearby barracks.