Fourteen years in the making, "The Bayou" is a 90-minute documentary about the legendary Georgetown nightclub, which closed in 1998. It was rite of passage. And then Bistro Francais on M, where everyone would show up at 3am and stay till dawn. Popular attractions . Roberta Flack performed more at Mr. Henrys on Capitol Hill than in Georgetown. This location has been a bar since 1952 when it was first the Shamrock. View the menu, check prices, find on the map, see photos and ratings. The abuse? It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows. "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." Just think back a few years ago and list the rowdy bars that almost exclusively attracted college-aged (or very recently graduated) patrons: Thats just from the last couple 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. 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. 12. While Chinese Disco had long since moved locations to Prospect Street NW, even it would close in 2018. I personally took comedians Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor to Brits. Three hustlers standing on the street . This bar (known primarily as a gay bar) was famous for being the place where Roberta Flack launched her career. Tales might involve bar hopping, disco dancing, lining up at music clubs, concert crowds or stylish restaurants. Yep, My one year in DC, 1983-84, Mr. Henrys in Georgetown was a favorite gay hangout. 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. 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. And this Georgetown dining room was the fanciest, Frenchest of them all. It was a safe spot to meet. The best was very comfortable. Opened 1939 as Don Dickerman's Pirate's Den. 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.. Tuesdays was Pendletons or Chadwicks, a K Street joint located under Whitehurst Freeway known for its hamburgers, cheap beers and late-night hours. It stayed open until a few years ago when Vinyard Vines opened up. 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. To me, a saloon is where the dining room seating is right there with the bar, Mike says. The article Revisiting the 1980s Heyday of Georgetowns Fabled Preppy Bars by Aaron Goldfarb was originally published on InsideHook. 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 Blues Alley and Charlie's, jazz-lovers sip drinks and converse in muted tones. Mr. Smiths: This piano bar abruptly closed last year, it immediately reopened in the space that Chadwicks occupied. This rare footage of Washington DC from the 1960s gives you more of a look into the fascinating history of the city. We talked for a bit and then I went on my way. This is news to me. 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. Its still just a drink, Mike says. The Washington, DC of the 1980s and '90s was a dramatically different place than the Washington, DC of 2017. Mike Tramonte: The Bayou 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. Theres a lot of booze in the book. 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.. Hes not sure why. And hes especially fond of the saloon, a style of establishment for which Georgetown home of the original Clydes became famous. Website by Red Clay Creative. Use to work for Britches Great Outdoors. For the two spines of Georgetown-M and Wisconsin-the era of college bars is now closed. I once met John Waters and Divine there. 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. There was a Mr. henrys on Wisconsin Ave. in the late 1960s. If you were really classy, you drank Heineken, the green bottle telegraphing your suavity. Or have you accepted the fact that M Street is an eerily too similar replica of your hometown mall? 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. Photograph: Courtesy Blues Alley. I especially remember it being packed on Half-Price Hamburger night (I think this was on Tuesdays). Reportedly decked in khakis and polished penny loafers, blond hair and blue eyes, he was a Georgetown junior at the time. 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. 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. And, of course, it was partially the model for the St. Elmos bar in St. Elmos Fire. It stayed open until a few years ago when Vinyard Vines opened up. F- Scotts just a few of the places I went to as a GU student. I remember a Mr. Henrys in Georgetown at the same time as the American Cafe but that Mr. Henrys closed around 1980-81 (it started getting mostly straight customers when they hired a teenaged Tori Amos to play piano)and the American Cafe followed suit a few years later. She also began taking on voice students of her own. As for Mr. Henrys, there may have been one in Georgetown, but Id go to Mr. Henrys on Capitol Hill, upstairs, to see Roberta Flack. A portion of the discussion will be dedicated to remembering Jack Boyle, owner of the Cellar Door, who died last year. 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. 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. Nowhere was that more evident than in our nations capital, which was uniquely positioned to become Americas preppiest party city of the era. 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. I enjoyed F Scotts on 36th and Prospect. This is an Appalachian family in Eastern Kentucky, circa 1964. Free Cancellation. Everybody went there. Much like today, there was some turmoil, some celebrations and some change. 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. Meanwhile, the bars upstairs, outdoor patio was a tiki bar complete with kitschy totems. Closed down long ago. Every Friday night, he would head to The Day Lily, a red and gold velvet-walled Chinese restaurant, a seedy spot that would seem beneath his social class. I wonder if Rocky Horror Picture Show is still playing at that little theater across from Henrys? 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. Before Il Pane, there was a very tasty Italian sandwich shop up on the second floor called Lucianos Cafe. Mr. Henrys Georgetown was owned by Avery Morrison and Larry Samuel. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. 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. While Im sad to see eras end, Georgetown is due for another chapter, said Georgetown restaurant broker Bill Miller at the time. "What a wonderful place. Started my bouncing career in that joint. Great music! "Now which one of y'all is going to tell me that's her?" We locked the front doors and watched young co-eds from Marymout, Mount Vernon, GTown, UMD all neked and looking pretty good. There definitely was a Mr Henrys on Wisconsin avenue in the 80s. By 1968 she was drawing such a crowd to the club that Yaffe opened a special room at his other location near Capitol Hill to showcase her talent. Friendships often begin in Georgetown bars. And awesome. Not exclusively gay but ahead of its time? It was the closest, the sleaziest, and the drunkest bar of them all. He started as a busboy and dishwasher at Chadwicks in Georgetown. A Classic. . 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. News, advice and insights for the most interesting man in the room. We started DCs Fastest Bartender, and Monday night Mike Nardello spinning tunes during No Skin No Win naked dance contest Buddy Jenkins was Mgr. 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. See more ideas about growing up, silver spring maryland, rockville maryland. Pingback: St. Elmos Georgetown | The Georgetown Metropolitan. The population was shrinking, wealth flowed out to the suburbs, and you could buy a Northwest rowhouse for five figures. Mr. Henrys was absolutely 1225 Wisc. English . I think that may have been replaced by American Cafe, which was very popular. Next door in 1993 there was a branch of Roberto Donnas Il Radiccho brand restaurant. Every Friday night, he would head to The Day Lily, a red and gold velvet-walled Chinese restaurant, a seedy spot that would seem beneath his social class. And remember when there was Boogeys or Boogies, where now we have the Apple Store? 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.. 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). Copyright 2023 InsideHook. Back in the day Georgetown was the groove, and way out in front, too. I remember waking by the side steps of The Cellar Door and John Denver was just sitting there, strumming his guitar, enjoying some sun. 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. Free WiFi. "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. Over the years, it has moved to a few different locations in the downtown area. Photographer Michael Horsley documented the era with a fascinating series of 537 photos. The antique-lined bar at 75-year-old seafood restaurant Crisfield. 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. 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. C/Luis Garca Berlanga, 19-21, Valencia, Valencia, 46023. (Seven-year plan, he says of his stop-and-start undergraduate career.). For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly. . There are a few prerequisites [for entry], wrote WaPo. It transitioned toWinstons Pumphouse in 1972, and then in 1996 it became Rhinoa popular if not beloved Georgetown Universitybar. Georgetown is a multicultural and international hub now which I think is a positive thing.. I bartended, waitered and managed the place from 1975-1980. If Washingtonians mostly only drank at restaurants, hotels, social clubs and high-society parties previous to 1980, that was about to change, and quickly. Washington, DC 20007 I was a bouncer at Crazy Horse. Mike is impressed by the complexity of todays craft cocktails, if a little mystified by their appeal. Performers included Count Basie and Woody Herman. I don't think I'll every be able to live with anyone, although I get very lonely sometimes. There was a bar and a backroom for small venues. John Thompson's teams made it to the Final Four three times in the 1980s and won the National Championship in 1984. USA Distributor of MCM Equipment georgetown bars 1970s Log In. This really does cap a disturbing trend in the Wisconsin/M area. Reserve now, pay when you stay. 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. 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.