For almost 80 years, Whitlow’s has been a fixture within the DC space’s bar scene—from at its very first, now-closed location in Penn Quarter to its present outpost on U Avenue. Now, Whitlow’s has taken to the water with a brand new location on the Wharf and its for-reservation tiki boat docked proper outdoors.
Whitlow’s at The Wharf, which formally opened its doorways on Friday, March 21, is a semi-shrine to Whitlow’s historical past. The 2-floor area contains images, indicators, and cubicles from the bar’s unique 1946 location. Proprietor Jon Williams has additionally put in a 46-foot-long, 80-year-old bar on the bottom flooring, in addition to a century-old, artwork deco bar façade upstairs.
“We just like the previous stuff,” he says. “It simply form of helps create the vibe.”
Meals and dinks may even be harking back to the opposite Whitlow’s, together with on-tap margaritas and espresso martinis, plus smash-burgers (beef or Not possible) and smoked wings smothered in “Mambo” sauce. The bar’s shut proximity to the Anthem has additionally impressed rotating pre-show and late-night menus on live performance nights with bites and sips themed after choose reveals.
Williams says that the placement, which boasts a downstairs sound stage and an upstairs balcony, may even function an leisure venue for native artists and bands throughout genres. The weekend reside music will “complement what’s enjoying” on the Anthem, he says.
Whitlow’s on The Wharf may even function a brand new dwelling for Whitlow’s on the Water, a 50-foot-long tiki boat—launched final yr—that friends can reserve for personal occasions. These new areas, together with the now-flagship U-Avenue bar, come after the closure of Whitlow’s of Clarendon in 2021.
“5 years in the past, I’d’ve by no means guessed I’d have a tiki boat on the market, a brand new Whitlow’s on U Avenue, and a brand new one at The Wharf,” Williams says. “Loopy issues occur, and I’m actually glad.”
Williams hopes Whitlow’s can have the identical broken-in and informal feeling of a hometown bar, particularly amid the plethora of luxe eating spots alongside the Wharf.
“I feel what we deliver to the desk is an reasonably priced place to go have a beer, a burger, and loosen up,” says Williams. “I feel that’s that matches effectively with what’s down right here—and the views are next-level.”
