Is this man too old for the Pug? Probably not.
Richard of Rebuilding Place writes about differing age groups and how we need to consider them when determining neighborhood uses. It seems he too has been thinking about the recent Post article in which condo owners lament the noisy nightlife on U Street. The article reminded me of the perennial cries that "[t]here's no parking." The degree to which people sympathize, or don't sympathize with such complaints varies widely. Personally, I think H Street has probably gotten safer since more night oriented stuff opened simply because you can now often find groups of people standing outside at night. The counterpoint to that argument is that more people might be at risk of crime at night on H Street because they are now more likely to be there while intoxicated.
I had a related conversation last night when a younger co-worker (very early 20s) mentioned that she and some friends had recently gone barhopping on H Street and felt out of place because they were so young. I said I suspected that the Country Club probably currently has the youngest average crowd. Depending on the show, The Rock and Roll Hotel and the Red and the Black can also skew younger. Rose's Dream is mostly an older crowd, and I think that is generally also true of the Martini Lounge (to a much lesser degree). "How old"are the hangouts around here?
11 comments:
I'm 37, and I like to go to H St at least once a week. I've never felt "out of place" or "old" at a spot, until I went to the Country Club on a recent Thursday. It felt like I was at Buffalo Billiards, circa 1998. The R&B tends to skew a bit younger too... but the Pug, Argo, Sticky Rice, all have a cool mixed age vibe. The Rock and Roll too, depending on the show.
If the younger crowd thinks H St skews a bit older, that seems reasonable. H St (I'd bet) draws mostly from nearby residents. The really young don't own houses, and tend to congregate in rentals around the universities. This seems to jive with my observation that a good portion of the 'young' people on H are from Gallaudet.
Has anyone been to Miss Whiskey's yet? What age group is it planning to cater to? I tried to go Saturday night. The lights were on but the door was locked.
Saturday night I was at Sova with a group 6 in our mid to late 20s. There were "older" (40's, 50's) folks in the other room and it was just a great mix of mature people sipping fantastic wine, having good converstation and listening to a chill music mix (PS Frank if you are reading the five accompanying me had never been to your establishment before and they LOVED it). So I think another piece of the discussion might be the maturity and mood of venues, rather than just age.
wait until the new intern house is finished (the one on 3rd and k).
basically, it'll house 600 'younger folk'....
As someone who is 40-something, I've been to almost all of the H Street establishments, but feel least out of place (or most comfortable, depending on how you look at it) at the Arg, Granville Moore's and Sova. I'm not counting Napa or Naby's Island since I've only been to each once.
As I am 25, I have never felt out of place hanging out @ any of the spots on H Street. Although I am not much older than your co-worker, it is a little nice for her to say that she is out of place on H Street. Unlike many of the neighborhoods in DC, H Street really doesn't cater to a college crowd. I would hate for H Street to turn into another U Street or Adams Morgan with a trolley being built but also I think that your co -workers comment of feeling out of place probably has less to do with age and more to do with the neighborhood and the staff that works at the H Street establishments.
I'm 36 and really enjoy SOVA. Not too loud, great cocktails, and its easy to get into a conversation at the bar, with folks young and less-young :-)
Country Club is cool, but definitely a younger crowd. Palace of Wonders is so offbeat that age doesn't really matter.
I'm boycotting H St bars until Joe opens Sunset Acres on H, a theme bar with early bird blue plate specials, sponsorship by Centrum Silver and Viagra, Ensure vodka cocktails, and a special corner for guys like me to sit with our low volt electric cattle prods and zap whippersnappers whilst muttering 'off my lawn, you ungrateful pups.'
Little Miss Whiskey's isn't open yet. Supposedly it will open this coming weekend. I think it will draw the same type of crowd that goes to Jimmy's - it varies from night to night, but there are definitely local regulars and some non-local regulars who just love the place.
I just did a pub crawl with friends on H on Saturday. Our ages ranged from 22 to 33 and we all had a BLAST. I don't think any of us noticed any discomfort with the age of the crowd at any of H Street's fine establishments ;)
The issue is that the people who go out regularly have a particular kind of demographic, and the reality is that the H Street neighborhood (similarly to other neighborhoods) doesn't have enough members of the demographic to support such establishments by solely relying on the residents within a neighborhood (who don't only consume goods and services within their neighborhood anyway).
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