Friday, November 05, 2010

Argo Gets a Paint Job

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The Argo has traded its green for a light gray shade.



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Work continues on the downstairs,but remember that the patio and upstairs remain open (including for brunch on Saturdays and Sundays).

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Here are a couple of construction photos, but please keep in mind that the photos are almost A MONTH OLD, so they ARE NOT CURRENT.

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Here's the old bar area.

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The same bar in 2008.

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Here's the new bar area (those two boarded up windows).

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Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay cooks (2008) in front of what will soon be the new bar.

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The same spot two years earlier.

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A circa 2008 view of the dining room.

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The back corner of the dining room back when Argo was just a baby (June 2006, not even a year old!).

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The upstairs.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck, Argo! I am sad that it's not green anymore. It was so distinctive before.

Anonymous said...

H st doesn't seem the same without Argo there. I can't wait until the rennovations are complete!

Anonymous said...

I agree. I'm totally missing the Hulk green color. What was once a distinctive landmark in NE DC now blends into the sidewalk....

Anonymous said...

I agree with Anon 2:24 ... H Street doesn't seem complete without the Argo fully up and running. But I gotta say, I'm happy the green is gone. I was never a huge fan of it. Just my thought though. :)

Anonymous said...

HATED THE GREEN!! Love everything else.

Russ

djbays said...

I Loved the green -- and it made it even more of a landmark. I guess Argo has grown up enough that it doesn't need a distinctive color for people to find it.

Anonymous said...

I wish they would have used bricks or cobblestones on the sidewalks along h st. The stuff they put in instead looks disgusting. I'm hoping they'll place lots of trees to mask the ugliness. The new Argo paint color would have looked awesome if the sidewalks were done a little better

Rob said...

Vindicated!!!! :-) Somewhere in the archives of FT, can it really be six years ago already?, I asked "what were they thinking?" when the Argo was painted that green. Joe Englert replied "The green will grow on you" but it never did.
Glad they're progressing--good luck guys!

Poo has been around more than u said...

And I remember 6 years ago bitching about the choice of sidewalk surface. The problem was that some idiots at some h street main street said that buls$hit concrete with pebbles was historically accurate and would make it easier to pick off old gum. Wow. Those idiots really had a grand vision for H STREET, eh?

I'm logging off here and joining the lobby to totally screw the new destination spot in dc. Why not go full force?

I want a methadone clinic on 5th and h, and pop ups on all bldgs to increase density.

"the cement sidewalks will make it easier to clean up gum". Nice legacy, main street idiots.

Tom A. said...

GOL! I just GASPED OUT LOUD!

:-)

HULK SMASH!!!


I don't care if its no longer Hulk green as long as fish tacos remain!

Anonymous said...

I hope that gray is just primer.

Anonymous said...

I like the new sidewalks. Brick is stupid looking and a huge waste of money, and regular grey cement is just depressing.

Anonymous said...

I agree. And was the earlier commenter serious about cobblestone?!

tarisdaddy said...

Nice color, very tasteful, can't wait for the new dinning room and kitchen to open. I need more than Cubanos.

Derek said...

The old bar was cozy and comfortable. I have a feeling that the new bar and space will no longer be cozy. Although, I am still curious and will still stop in.

Anonymous said...

I distinctly recall the blogosphere outcry when they painted this place green. Then as soon as I saw that they painted the place gray, I knew it was time to visit the blogosphere again to see the reaction. Complaints.

Anonymous said...

I like it. Can't wait for the full menu,

Anonymous said...

I think they shouldve gotten an ice cream paint job.

Sean Hennessey said...

i loved the green. the grey is not my faorite, but whatever. the Argonaut is a great bar, one of my faorites in the city. fantastic staff. the upstairs bar is just as comfortable to me as the old downstairs bar. the patio is a great spot.

i look forward to their new incarnation. best of luck to them.

Dave B said...

"I think they shouldve gotten an ice cream paint job."

How about murdering it out

6:14 said...

How about murdering it out


what does that mean?
-Anon 6:14

Dave B said...

it is a way of painting a car. black matte pain job, dark windows, black wheels. like the bat mobile. google "murdered out". i'm as unfancy as it comes, but i do thin kit looks pretty cool

Alan Page said...

i miss the green :-(

glad they are on the way to re-opening though

Anonymous said...

hmm never heard of that one. thanks

Anonymous said...

I thought of the green as kind of their trademark. I'm not very fond of the bland gray. Looking foward to them opening back up though.

Anonymous said...

Another vote for the new color. HATED what one poster called "Hulk green." HULK SMASH!

FourthandEye said...

Count me as one of the fans of the green. I thought it was distinctive.

Anonymous said...

Count me as another fan of the green argo. At this rate, we'll have a few new starbucks on h street.

Anonymous said...

The paint job is boring, boring, boring. Not even an interesting shade of gray. The trim around the windows should have been given another color for emphasis and to set off the sashes.
The too-small Home Depot shutters look cheap and probably were?

That algae colored green was kind of shocking but it said that something was happening at that intersection and the Argonaut invigorated all of H Street. Now it just fades into the dull concrete.
This looks like it was done by bureaucrats behind metal desks in the bowels of a DC government office building somewhere.

Let's hope the food and service will rise above this tedious look.

inked said...

7:45,
pretty sure those shutters that you hate on aren't exactly new.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, inked, the shutters were there before the fire.
But redoing the building was an excellent opportunity to ditch them. They're not the right size and are just stuck there like a cheap suburban federal wannabe. A building of that era wouldn't have had shutters.
A cool paint job - sort of like San Francisco's "Painted Ladies" - would have really enhanced the Argonaut and all of H Street.

The first few posters used the word "distinctive." The old green might not have pleased everyone but it was interesting. The building no longer is.
It's now blah. Just blah.

Hillman said...

I liked the green. A lot. But, then, it's not my building, so they can paint it any color they want.

A really vivid color would be great as many view the Argo as a landmark to give directions by, but again not my decision.

Agree on the shutters also. Looks suburban fake. It actually worked with the green. Now it just looks wrong.

Scott Magnuson said...

I like the Gray, My Wife Likes THe Gray, We both liked the Green as well (Or atleast I did). The Argonaut has been required to make so many changes as this area has been developing. We are Welcoming change and trying to make the best out of this situation. Insurance will only go so far. Remeber we cook over a location that has been up and running for probably the last 110 years. I know the bartender who worked here for 44 years with the bar in the same place, met the daughter and granddaughter of the greek imagrants that opened the bar area in the 20's.
My Wife, myself, and the whole Aronaut family are very excited about the changes, and yes the change in color is a huge change. But I can guarentee that those of you that are coming home from a trip or work and see the Argo and relax because they are finally almost home like I do, Will still do the same when we are finished.

danmac said...

The pic reminds me of a pub I use to drink in outside London. I like the look