Note: we’re not sitting on a throne of lies here, April’s Fools (observed) be damned.
A new pop-up bar is coming from a group of people who love Will Ferrell as much as Ron Burgundy loves scotch.
New York’s famed Stay Classy Will Ferrell-themed tribute bar has taken its show on the road, with plans to open for at least a month on H Street NE starting in May.
That means you can soon be sipping a glass of You’re My Boy Blue, Smelly Pirate Hooker, A Whale’s Vagina, or Glass Case Of Emotion while a Ron Burgundy impersonator bellows from behind an Anchorman desk.
“It’s such a happy environment—people come and have a blast,” says Stay Classy co-creator Zach Neil. “It’s like the fun bus has rolled into town.”
There are plenty of Elf references, but Neil and his partners are true Ferrell aficionados and you can expect some deep cuts and kitsch going all the way back to his SNL days.
Given an official launch date on Cinco de Mayo, Neil notes it is the perfect opportunity to get in references to Casa de Mi Padre (one my personal favorites). They’re even thinking about bringing in a live mariachi band.
Unlike the original, Stay Classy’s D.C. outpost will also offering food—giant, over-the-top burgers. The Ma’s Meatloaf burger (a Wedding Crashers reference), for example, will see a toasted brioche bun brushed with honey garlic butter and then topped with a seasoned fried potato cake, two cuts of meatloaf, smoked cheddar cheese, tomato chutney sauce, and crispy onions straws.
And they’re flying in one of the nation’s premiere Ferrell impersonators from Minnesota to sit behind a Channel 4 news set and read the “news” (read: half-priced shots).
After a decade working in the music industry, Neil got involved in the bar and nightlife scene—owning a club in Pennsylvania and becoming a partner at a bar in Times Square. But at some point, he realized that most bars fall into predictable tropes—sports bars, Irish pubs, rowdy taverns—that are charging as much for cocktails as an entire bottle of liquor.
“There was nothing going on in the bar world that would make anyone my age want to go to a bar. So I thought, what if I just opened something I’m interested in,” Neil says, and there are few things that give him greater joy than Will Ferrell movies. “I tried to think of something in my life, no matter how bad my day was, something that could consistently cheer me up.
Enter Buddy the Elf, Chazz Reinhold, Jacobim Mugatu, and Ricky Bobby.
Neil thought to himself: “Either it would the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, or it would fail miserably but I’d have a really great story … if I lost my money at least I’m doing it over the top and ridiculous.’
After a bit of a slow start (he says the first few weeks were “crickets,” with bartenders making $4 in tips a night), word got out and there were soon lines around the Lower East Side location stretching for hours. They wound up staying for 14 months, closing only once interest started to wane. He’s since turned to other concepts in New York, like a Tim-Burton themed bar called Beetle House, and taken Stay Classy on the road.
They’ve brought the concept to Los Angeles and are settling in for a 10 day stay in Boston before heading to our fair city.
But although D.C. once played host to an entire Anchorman exhibit, the District wasn’t originally on Neil’s radar. “Ever since they elected Donald Trump, I didn’t want to go near D.C.,” he says.
The owner of Mythology, a newly opened restaurant on H Street NE, actually gave the team a call and invited them to set up shop in a lounge space. Neil had a change of heart, realizing the Washingtonians need a dose of laughter more than anyone else.
“I was like, D.C. of all places needs some cheer and fun in their life. Let’s come in to town and bring some cheer.”
Stay Classy is set to have a soft opening on May 3 and an official launch on May 5 at Mythology (816 H Street NE); it will stay open for a month, though they may choose to extend it. The bar will be first-come, first-served, but they plan to take reservations for dinner. More details will be available next week.
Rachel Sadon