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. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Not to forget Crazy Horse, Desperados, the Down Under. We started DCs Fastest Bartender, and Monday night Mike Nardello spinning tunes during No Skin No Win naked dance contest Buddy Jenkins was Mgr. 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. This brought a huge influx of teenagers from the DC suburbs to Georgetown on Fridays and Saturdays that, when combined with the sizable university population, led to swells of 20,000 to 30,000 patrons, many of whom travelled by car, during the nighttime.. 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, Peter Tosh, Basia (1988, her first show in the United States), The Police, Phish, Leftover Salmon, Dave Matthews Band, Blue yster Cult, Lindsey Buckingham, The New Orleans Radiators, Hootie & the Blowfish, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, Dire Straits, the Tom-Tom Club, Acoustic Junction, Steeleye Span, From Good Homes, Foreigner, The Kinks, Todd Rundgren (backed by Utopia on this stop of his 1978 Back to the Bars tour), Yellow Magic Orchestra and other artists that influenced the evolution of rock as well as rhythm and blues from the 1960s through the 1990s. This bar (known primarily as a gay bar) was famous for being the place where Roberta Flack launched her career. 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. 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. 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 Bayou backed up to another famed D.C. music institution, Blues Alley, located down the alley behind the Bayou. This group is now the most populous . The food was very good (my wife had a Shrimp Basket, I had a chicken+cheese sandwich basket; the shrimp was very good. 2. I worked there. In the early days, all gentlemen had to wear a coat and necktie. "It's okay for young people in their twenties. (John Kelly/The Washington Post). The Georgetown bar culture was filled with much more than loafers, gingham, pleats and shoulder pads, wrote McGovern. 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. You can stand and talk and see the sights.". The post Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars appeared first on InsideHook. 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. This bar created Georgetowns punk rock scene. 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. 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. 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. 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. Roberta Flack performed more at Mr. Henrys on Capitol Hill than in Georgetown. "Space is the Place" was the soundtrack to radio spots for d.c. space. 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. 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). Those were the days.Let me tell you. Or have you accepted the fact that M Street is an eerily too similar replica of your hometown mall? 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. 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. But it was Clydes that the Official Preppy Handbook would list as their definitive prep bar for the DC area. . Popular attractions . All info on Bar Poliesportiu De Monserrat in Montserrat - Call to book a table. Beer was king, specifically bottled beer. Mike, 63, is semi-retired now. 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). At others, I shock people. [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. Some places, I fit right in. I once met John Waters and Divine there. Sign up for InsideHook to get our best content delivered to your inbox every weekday. I think the infamous Maximilian Rochambeau had a club in that building back in the early Nineties. Thursdays were the big nights Georgetown/American University nights. 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. Knew the owners Sam, Jack, Dave. 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. 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. Theres still Tombs (the other inspiration and filming location of St. Elmos Fire) and Chadwicks under a new name is still basically Chadwicks. The site you are referring to was The American Cafe in the 80s and may have been an Annies Steakhouse before. Currently the AMC Theatre, the Bayou was the go-to music scene from 1953 to 1998. He moved up to waiter, then to bartender. [14], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}385409N 770343W / 38.9024N 77.0619W / 38.9024; -77.0619, "Music returns to The Bayou, one night only", "Let the Good Times Roll Historical Marker", "Value Added: A 'passion project' leads to documentary on the Bayou", "Montgomery filmmakers see the finish line with the Bayou odyssey", "The Bayou Doc is About To Go International | MTITV Video Production DC", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Bayou&oldid=1125111874. 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. 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. They have a gay following and the original is near Dupont Circle. Todays mixological artisans work like alchemists, decanting potions and grinding tree bark. [5], The club was owned from 1953 to 1980 by the Tramonte family who designed it to have an intimate atmosphere like a family. Best chocolate chip cookies. And awesome. Nowhere was that more evident than in our nations capital, which was uniquely positioned to become Americas preppiest party city of the era. Brad, you might be right, but what I read is that Flack started at the Georgetown Mr. Henrys and then the club owner, Henry Yaffe, recognized her talent and then built a room for her at his Capitol Hill location. 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. By 1980, WaPo was offering a laundry list of the clientele to expect there: Mt. And yes, it was Dinos Paramount Steak House and yes it was very straight, not gay. 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. Only In D.C. Facebook page for more. This bar (known primarily as a gay bar) was famous for being the place where Roberta Flack launched her career. Pingback: St. Elmos Georgetown | The Georgetown Metropolitan. Yep, My one year in DC, 1983-84, Mr. Henrys in Georgetown was a favorite gay hangout. I bartended, waitered and managed the place from 1975-1980. On weekends, Georgetown is Washingtons front porch, wrote Leslie Berger in yet one more 1982 WaPo nightlife article. The interior, meanwhile, was more inspired by another preppy haven popular with college kids, an underground spot called The Tombs. 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.. This location was first the Carriage House, a dining room frequented by many important social and political figures of the District. We're happy. Washington, DC 20007 Hes not sure why. 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. Back in the day Georgetown was the groove, and way out in front, too. 10. It even got a moment of Hollywood fame as the beloved St. Elmos Fire bar in the 1980s classic St. English . It wasnt cool to drink draft beer, Mike said. 1050 30th St. NW Chidi had been opened as this youthful preppy scene was just beginning to emerge, in 1976. By 2002 Bebe had moved in. USA Distributor of MCM Equipment georgetown bars 1970s For decades, Washington's fancy restaurants were French. But 1225 Wisconsin definitely housed the American Cafe during the 1970s and early 1980s. Go down the hill on Wisconsin, pass the Church, turn left and there it was. The chain went bankrupt in 2002. "My dog's better'n that," replied Costner. 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. If you are talking the late 80s-early 90s, you forgot Winstons. 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. In 1970, the Homophile Social League met here as well as the Community Church organized by Rev. "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. John Dominis. [4] The main floor bars were fed bottled liquor from a "tap" room that was situated above the entrance. 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. 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. 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. Mike will be selling and signing books from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Boss Shepherds, 1229 Pennsylvania Ave. NW; from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Southside 815, 815 S. Washington St., Alexandria; and as part of a dinner special Oct. 29 at Clydes of Georgetown. 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. 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. Pingback: Neighborhood News Roundup: Your Receipt, Please Edition - City Desk. Georgetown. And hes especially fond of the saloon, a style of establishment for which Georgetown home of the original Clydes became famous. She also began taking on voice students of her own. 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. Her date swallowed hard on his fried fish. Great music! She directed church choirs and began taking voice lessons, concentrating primarily on opera, with Frederick Wilkie Wilkerson. self-published memoir: Meet Me at the Bar, Im Hungry. Topher, I hate to contradict you but there never was a Mr. Henrys at 1225 Wisconsin Ave. But it was Clydes that the Official Preppy Handbook would list as their definitive prep bar for the DC area. Log In. The East India Trading Company ( I think), another bar, in the basement of what was most recently Maxime.