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Sad news for workers in the 19th and L area: the old standby watering hole Black Rooster Pub will be forced to close its doors by Nov. 3, the Washington Business Journal is reporting. The bar, located at 1919 L Street NW, is being kicked out by the building's owner, who has decided to lease the space to the Peace Corps. instead. Since opening in 1970, Black Rooster has long been the sort of place that's no one's absolute favorite bar, but that anyone would feel comfortable going to. Regulars describe the Rooster's charm as having a lot to do with the diversity of the crowd – older folks, full-time drunks, young office workers, lawyers – everyone ended up at the Rooster at some point or another.
Black Rooster Pub to Close in November
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F**kin Peace Corps, man. F**k have they ever done? F**k is more important: getting people stinko or saving some people who were only gonna die anyway. F**k, man. This used to be one hell of a country. F**k if I know what happened to it.
'Dear Dad. Have made terrible mistake and joined the Peace Corps. Please arrange to have me brought home at once. Your loving son, blah, blah, blah Lawrence'.
OTR, if you ever find yourself traveling in 3rd world countries. ALWAYS look for the Peace Corp girls.
I actually know where the original sign is located-but I am sworn to secrecy.
wow, i had my first illegal in-a-bar drink there, as well as one of my first legal ones. love that place.
sad day. had some great times in that place. I'm going to have to go for a couple of beers before it closes.
My least favorite people are peace corps folks... and Rumors frequenters.
I thought once you had black 'rooster' you never went back.
That's only if you catch something that makes your "rooster" turn black and fall off. "Black Rooster" or "Cock rot" as the younger people call it, is just one of the many perils of the DC dating scene. That and marriage.
"I never knew what real happiness was until I got married, and by then it was too late."
According to the owner and his son, the actual closing date is October 16, as they have to have all of their stuff OUT by November 3.
If you want to voice your opposition, here's an online petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BlackRoosterPub/
Any chance they'll find another spot in the area to move to?
doesn't sound like it, but it would be nice to see them pull something like stoney's did, and not move too far away...
I was just in there last night and can verify the Oct. 16 closing date. Straight from Babs' mouth. It's a pretty somber vibe going on in there, sadly.
That's our "Take the Intern to Lunch" spot. Please don't make us go to Sign of the Whale. Who knows what crawls or oozes over from Camelt?
That, of course, would be Camelot.
Or Cameltoe, really. Take your pick.
I though Sign of the Whale was "DCIST on a Whale Cake"
i always got it confused with mackey's when i was an intern.
adios, yet another bit of DC (recent) history.
it's a damn shame, the space will become another dead spot on L street, most likely. that street (from about 24th all the way through 11th) is one of the least lively streets in the entire downtown area. there oughta be a law....
It's called zoning, but totally ignored in this city.
commercial zoning allows for a dead face to the street, with nothing but a lobby as a "community benefit"
i don't think it's zoning that's the problem here. it's just piss-poor urban design.
But the Black Rooster already is a de facto extension of the nearby Peace Corps office.
Alas... farewell, Black Rooster, you shall be remembered fondly. An easygoing, comfortable, and diverse bar indeed.
Peace Corps? Holy Cow, are things really that bad on K Street?
I went there for lunch today and signed their petition. It's not just a happy hour place, it's one of the only cheap, sit-down, non-chain restaurants for lunch in this area. The menu is large and varied, food is ok, and the waitresses recognize you, remember what your regular order is, and call you "hon". I don't really think the petition will do any good, but I will hate to see this place go.
There's also a Facebook group... maybe the petition and the group won't do any good, you're right. But where's the harm in showing your support?
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143940226539
This, sadly, has been a long time coming.
They're about to start some huge project to renovate the whole building, in an effort to pack in more staff so they can give up overflow space leased in nearby buildings.
This whole thing started under the "previous administration" so I think there was some hope the new folks would take a different path, but it doesn't look promising.
In the mean time, they're scrambling for every free sq ft they can find for swing space, to have somewhere to park people while they gut the building and rebuild, one floor at a time.
I think those of us who work in the building are as upset, if not more upset, as anyone, but once the lease changed, there was no way Rooster wasn't eventually going to be taken out back behind a shed and given a good whack with the hatchet.