The Barhopper

[nacho]

Post half-price-wine night freakout!

[nacho]

And...it looks like we've lost the Harp and Fiddle. They've been closed all this week, with a note saying that they are "making improvements for the rest of the World Cup." The re-opening has now been delayed for three days, with the sign changing each day...

[Reginald McGraw]

Barhop this!

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/the-oldest-bar-in-every-state-in-america-98176755662.html

[RottingCorpse]

Annapolis!

[nacho]

Barhop this!

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/the-oldest-bar-in-every-state-in-america-98176755662.html

Just at a glance -- WVA is wrong. The Parkersburg Blennerhassett bar opened in 1889, is still there, and has a very storied history -- riverboat bootleggers, oil and gas magnates, corrupt officials, gangsters...

And DC is wrong -- I'm in the "It's not the same if you just use the name" camp:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/19/AR2010061902832.html

[nacho]

So passes the Quarry House...

County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer says patrons of the Quarry House Tavern noticed smoke around 1 a.m. Thursday and called 911 when they investigated and found flames. All patrons were able to escape unharmed.
Piringer says more than 100 firefighters responded and brought the fire under control quickly, but the tavern, Bombay Gaylord and Mandarin restaurants were seriously damaged. He says damage is estimated at $750,000.


Read more: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/03/3-restaurants-damaged-1-firefighter-injured-in-2-alarm-silver-spring-fire-112440.html#ixzz3UpXjOyrV
Follow us: @ABC7News on Twitter | WJLATV on Facebook

[RottingCorpse]

Oh... That's a little sad.

[nacho]

The QH died long ago... This is merely a physical death.

[nacho]

Well, Jackie's going to keep it alive...

In answer to the many inquiries, no one was hurt, which is all that really matters. The place is still there, folks, and we will definitely reopen. More news as soon as we have some. Thank you again-- we love you all.

[RottingCorpse]

Chief Ike's was a theater hangout bar in the early aughts. A lot of people liked it, but it wasn't a personal favorite for me. Still, it's another piece of "old" DC fading away.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2015/03/23/storied-d-c-dive-bar-chief-ikes-mambo-room-is-closing/

Storied D.C. dive bar Chief Ike’s Mambo Room is closing

On Sunday, the neon-blue lights of Chief Ike’s Mambo Room will go dark for good. The long-running Adams Morgan dive bar is closing because D.C.’s nightlife has shifted to other neighborhoods, like H Street and the 14th Street corridor, says owner Al Jirikowic.

“Adams Morgan is no longer where the hot, cool people go. It’s all becoming strollerified now,” he says.

In all fairness, it’s been decades since Chief Ike’s was at its peak hipness. When the bar opened in July 1992, it quickly became a hotspot for Clinton staffers and their Hollywood friends. “George Clooney used to come here, and we saw Steven Soderbergh a few times,” says Jirikowic. They’d dance to funk and samba spun by Stella Neptune — back when she was a DJ rather than a clothing designer.

Today, you’re more likely to find teetering bachelorettes and college kids looking for (relatively) cheap drinks at Ike’s undulating countertop — but not enough of them to keep the lights on.

So Jirikowic is retiring. He plans to write a personal history of D.C. and hopes to publish it next year.

“It’s been a tough go for Ike’s for a while now, just like it’s been for a lot of places in Adams Morgan,” says manager Alan Beal.

Inside the bar, the walls are covered in trippy paintings: day-of-the-dead skeletons and Marion Barry riding a lion, and the bar’s namesake in a feathered headdress.

“The name came from when I was 4, and I saw a picture of Eisenhower in a ceremonial headdress,” says Jirikowic. “For years I thought the president of the United States was an Indian.”

Pretty soon, those murals will be painted over and the space will probably end up becoming an upscale yuppie restaurant, Jirikowic says.

“That’s the way the neighborhood seems to be going,” he says. “Adams Morgan lost its funk, it really did.”

[nacho]

LOL -- "strollerified." That's excellent.

[monkey!]

Your favourite bars close and I'm sitting here with fine red wine from near the Alps. It has pepper and violets on the nose, spiced strawberry and raspberry afternotes.

[nacho]

Your favourite bars close and I'm sitting here with fine red wine from near the Alps. It has pepper and violets on the nose, spiced strawberry and raspberry afternotes.

And the taste of jet fuel and burned flesh?

[monkey!]

Only when I visit the synagogue.

[nacho]

Oh no!

Piratz Tavern in Silver Spring, Maryland, which was featured on the second season of Bar Rescue has announced that they will close on April 4th due to the bar losing their lease.  Tracy, the owner of the bar, posted the following message on the "The Soul of Piratz Tavern" Facebook group.

"It is with a heavy heart that I have to deliver the sad news that Piratz Tavern has lost it's lease. Our last night will be April 4th. I am trying to keep this information within the family as we really don't want to deal with anymore bullshit from the reality TV world. Thanks to all who worked and played so hard to make the last eight years so great. The memories will last forever!"

And this from their FB page:

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Piratz Tavern will open it's doors for the last time on Saturday April 4th. Unfortunately the negative publicity, constant prank calls, vandalism and bogus reviews generated by our unfortunate participation on Bar Rescue have taken their toll. To add insult to injury, late last year Taffer's crew reached out to me again asking that we participate in a back to the bar episode. They promised that it would be followed by a re-rescue and that they would right all the wrong's committed during the first episode. Obviously I don't learn. I believed them. On December 1st we went to the effort to open on a Monday, the one day a week we have been closed for 8 years, with a skeleton staff of former employees who agreed to play the parts. It was basically coerced and staged to be an opening act for a re-rescue. I was told to bring in several changes of clothes to make it appear that filming covered several days. As usual they brought in a bunch of extras to fill the house and we were told what to say and with whom to speak. Throughout the entire shoot the director coached Juciano to curse and say negative things about John Taffer. He referred to me as the "hero", my daughter as the "victim" and Juciano as the "villan". Total bullshit frown emoticon Basically we have been fucked by reality TV again and with know one to blame but ourselves, we have decided not to renew our lease. Just can't take anymore. Director James Agiesta sweet talked me into the deal and then left us behind like carnage, just like the first time. A HUGE thanks to all of you who worked and played so hard to make Piratz Tavern the awesome place it has been for the last 8 years