The Weekly Feed: Experimentation Edition
Morning Roundup: Change Edition
Former Blade Staffers Launch 'DC Agenda'
D.C. Insurance Dept. Denies Birth Control Coverage Meddling
Controversy Over Rhee Now to Include Sex, Congress
It's a hard act to follow, opening a bar where the Common Share used to be. The Common Share closed last September when it was sold by its owners, and the Adams Morgan community's outpouring of grief at the closing was truly memorable. It turns out that people attach a lot of sentimentality to $2 beers and a divey atmosphere, but after a few months of renovations, the new owners have reopened the old space, now named Blaguard.
In addition to the widescreen TVs, shuffleboard table and new upstairs bar, Blaguard has three new support beams, which, according to a fellow patron, were missing from the second floor when the renovations started. The overall effect is that the place feels like an old college buddy who decided to sell his Birkenstocks and finally buy some nice dress clothes for his new desk job. The core of the layout is the same, while the upgraded decor will probably take some getting used to. I suspect that if the old Common Share regulars stop in, there will be much nostalgia for "the good times."
But I digress. The new tap list is relatively large, but choices are fairly predictable: Miller Lite and High Life, Guinness, Yuengling, Bass, Peroni, etc. The only surprise was Delirium Tremens, although I'm not sure I'd feel right drinking Belgian beer in this place. But hey, at least they're trying. The kitchen is advertised as "open late," but I didn't get a chance to look at a menu. Blaguard only opened last Friday, and the real challenge for this place is going to be adjusting customer expectations: foot traffic in this area is pretty steady, but people that go in expecting the "Be Smart, Drink Cheap" mantra of the Common Share are going to be dismayed when they realize they just paid $4 for a Miller High Life.
At least its less-than-inviting name - a riff on "blackguard" - won't be difficult to pronounce. After all, the inebriated Adams Morgan crowds are already slurring their words and making belching noises once they get that far down 18th street.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
So sad. Looks like another nameless lifeless bar to me. I heard rumors that Common Share might reopen on H Street. Any news?
Haven't heard any details here, Stone.
well at least it's not a Mardi Gras Bourbon Street meets Hooters with waterbeds. Oh wait, that's coming soon. Splash is the name I believe.
well at least it's not a Mardi Gras Bourbon Street meets Hooters with waterbeds. Oh wait, that's coming soon. Splash is the name I believe.
yuengling.
This place is great if you want to pay $6 for a glass of Coke with a splash of Jack Daniel's. I highly recommend it.
Fear not this place will be packed with Kickballers by May.
looks like every other crap bar in dc. pass.
I was there last weekend and there was no bar to be found upstairs, though there was a stash of carpentry tools in one corner so maybe they are still working on it.
Eric, is this supposed to be a review of a bar? Or is it just someone using their public voice to take a swipe at a new local business?
I enjoy cheap drinks as much as anyone, and I used to frequent Common Share plenty. That said, it's gone, a new bar is there now, and it deserves a fair shake. There are plenty of shit bars in the Morg, and some good ones. It sucks that Common Share is gone, but that's not a good reason to dislike what moved in afterwards, and it shouldn't be the context for a review. After all, it's a new neighborhood business not a Starbucks, and Blaguard didn't drive Common Share out.
On the topic of new places in the Morg, Black Squirrel opened recently where TS Muttly's used to be (and prior to that abomination, the awesome Chez Antoine). Black Squirrel offers 40 beers, which is easily the largest selection in the Morg and brings that location closer to the Chez Antoine model. And, bonus, the food is pretty damn good.
Oh, and a note to DirtyGunz, a stop-work order halted the "progress" at Splash about two months ago. And the front door got smashed a few weeks ago. So, who knows, maybe it will go the way of the doggy day-care place that literally shut down the day after it opened.
Anyone have further info on this Splash? Googling "splash washington dc" doesn't bring up much.
"Bollocks" would have been a much cooler name.
It's definitely not meant to be a full review (hence the "First Look" heading). I stopped in one night, and I used my "public voice" to tell people my first impression. And yes, I think the previous inhabitants are very good context for the new bar. It's indicative of the priorities of the neighborhood and the sorts of places that are going to thrive in Adams Morgan in the future.
My first impression of Blaguard wasn't negative because it's different from Common Share. My first impression was negative because a unique bar was replaced by a cookie-cutter bar with very little identity. It may gain character as time goes on, and I'm not counting it out entirely, but just because it's "local" doesn't mean it's good.
Hopefully "the priorities of the neighborhood" are "less drunken street brawls/public urination/vomiting," which is going to mean more Blaguards and less Tom Toms and Grand Centrals. Fine by me.
Only three televisions? How gauche. I wont set foot in a bar unless it has twelve and they're all showing Rachel Ray's hatchetmouthed Joker face.
dfh-
"the Morg"? really?
It's disappointing to hear that the place is more on the cookie-cutter end of the spectrum. That does in fact suck. And you're right that local does not equal good (Tom Tom comes to mind as a perfect example of local being horrid).
I still don't think the premise for looking at Blaguard should be "how does this compare to Common Share?" Common Share pretty much has legend status, and that's a really tough standard to meet. I hope you'll have the opportunity to stop in for a full review at some point. The question I would like to have answered is "does this bar have something remarkable that makes it worth a visit, or is it just another unremarkable bar?" It's unfortunate news that all signs pointed to unremarkable when you visited the other night.
I'm also interested in what direction the Morg is headed. Over the past year several new "upscale" restaurants opened and more and more retail stores are opening as well. With the Harris Teeter coming sooon, it looks like the neighborhood may have a bit of an identity crisis. Will the condo-croud drive out the Morg's character? It's possible that the roudy weekenders that most residents find irritating (to put it mildly) will keep just enough development out of the neighborhood to act as a buffer against making the place all cookie-cutter boring.
I prefer AdMo, myself -- although that's really just for writing and texting. When I speak I go old school and actually call it "Adams Morgan."
But "the Morg" reminds me of the hipsters who call Mount Pleasant "the P." It's either that, or a whole hell of a bunch of goths looking for a good time.
Yeah. I'm probably the only one who calls it "the Morg." I'm fine with that.
I always preferred the alternate spelling "the Morgue", especially when the drunks are all stumbling around at 3am like they're the living dead.
Drink too many pints of Delirium too fast, and you'll be in the bathroom changing "Blaguard" to the porcelain god...
Ah, the good old days when I used to do "the P" in the alleys behind Toledo Lounge in "the Morg."
[Still pissed they don't call Dupont/Adams Morgan/U Street "DAM-You."]
"Priorities of the neighborhood"? I don't know about all that. And I don't even really know what the fuck that even mean. Sounds like hippie speak to me.
More like what one particular bar owner / group of owners decided to open.
"More like what one particular bar owner / group of owners decided to open."
For what it's worth, the people who own the Blaguard also own Bobby Lew's across the street, and I think also Angry Inch.
And the Adams Mill.
I agree with the writer, and was not at all impressed with this new place. It was full of typical DC d-bags, the service was mediocre, everything is more expensive, and it completely lost any of the personality that was there when it was still the common share. Please make sure and update if they do open up the common share again somewhere else!
I must say, I've been there twice now, and have actually enjoyed it. The beer was fresh (I had two Delerium, a stella and a lite) and the bartenders couldn't have been any nicer. I understand that this is the norm for a new place and that they will probably end up as "friendly" as the wonderful people at Toledo Lounge (...), but for now it's not bad.
And the fucking chicken quesadilla is incredible.