Goodbye Eleventh (at least for now)

Eleventh Street Lounge closed today

Eleventh Street Lounge closed today, as they are moving out in preparation for the 10 story office building that will be constructed around it. Today the bar was unusually packed and loud throughout the day as locals came by to get one last drink.

The hostess did tell me that Eleventh's owner has found a new location, and Eleventh might relocate there soon. Also the current development plans will leave the buildings that house Eleventh and Potomac Crossfit in tact, so the bar might be able to return to Clarendon after construction is complete.

If Eleventh does make a come back, it may look different as most of the interior and decorations were sold online today at a Rasmus auction. I wish I had grabbed up a chandelier or set of draperies!

Get There Before Its Gone...

The announcement that corner block of Highland and Washington will eventually be demolished to make room for a 10 story office building has made me and my fellow Clarendon bloggers sad, as we will be losing a favorite late night hotspot Eleventh Street Lounge.

This has inspired me plan a bar hopping night to some local Clarendon venues that are either closing or might leave us soon:

1. Eleventh Street Lounge

Eleventh Street Lounge

As soon as I moved to Clarendon, the red walled lounge quickly became one of my favorite spots. Upstairs features a warm and narrow modern bar, with a "secret" dancefloor basement that I've gotten many fun memories from. They also used to have free stand up comedy shows in the basement regularly. I also enjoyed their stuffed burgers with mixed sweet potato and golden french fries. Definately a must visit place before they close on Sunday Jan 29. Here's hoping they will be able to reopen a new venue when the 10 story building is complete!


2. Jay's Saloon

Jay's newly felted pool table

Jay's is a long time favorite due to its dive-ish easy going ways, off-the-beaten-path location and half price burger Tuesdays. Even though Jay's states it is not going anywhere until at least 2013, their location next to a series of car dealerships on 10th Street and possible month-to-month lease worries me. I'm excited that they are coming up on their 20th anniversary in Clarendon. Check out their great happy hours from 4 - 9pm on Thursdays.

3. O'Sullivan's

O'Sullivan's

There have been no rumors of O'Sullivan going anywhere, but I listed it here due to their location in front and below of the stalled Zom/USAA planned 10 story apartment building. I'm worried that if construction ever starts, we might lose this Irish pub that features trivia night on Wednesdays, karoke Tuesdays, and live music Thursday to Saturday. This small bar also features a mean bruch special on the weekend.

Stuffed Burger at Eleventh

I had dinner the other night at Eleventh, a favorite late night destination for me that I had not yet tasted their menu. The red walled lounge was empty at dinner time, except for a couple folks at the bar and a massive table of athletes fresh fromt he neighboring Potomac Crossfit.

I chose wisely with the Stuffed Burger and a side of mixed fries. The patty was perfectly filled with bacon, cheese and diced tomatoes. I actually think it was the best burger I've tasted in a long time. The sweet potato fries mixed with regular ones sprinkled with Old Bay was a perfect suppliement.

I'm going to be very sad when Eleventh and the neighboring businesses on that block of Highland and Washington Blvd are eventually torn down and replaced with a 10 story office building. So I'm using that as an excuse to visit the techno music filled lounge as often as possible!

Halloween Eve at Eleventh

As expected, Clarendon was a hot bed of scandalous and creative costumes during this Halloween weekend. Although nowhere near as packed as the craziness that is the massive sea of people that hits Georgetown, the local dance floors of Spider Kelly's, Ballroom, Mister Days and the rest all had long lines of festive party goers at midnight.

I prefered Eleventh for this year's Halloween partying, as the often overlooked lounge is smaller and had a much shorter line and doesn't charge cover. Like everywhere else, it was full to capacity and people had to wait for some one to leave before they could enter. But its two floors had plenty of activity for great people watching, and our waitress was extremely nice and attentive for such a busy night.

Clarendon makes the Post happy

The Washington Post's Going Out Guide recently did a feature of places in Clarendon that makes them happy. Not surprisingly, Lyon Hall was ranked #1 as it seems to be the hip place to be seen now.

But I agree with Clarendon Culture that Eleventh should be somewhere on this list. The tiny little lounge serves a nice alternative to the huge and loud scene at the Ballroom. But maybe the less people know about our local hidden gems, the better for us. One local gem that did make the list was Iota, my favorite venue for live indie music and open mic nights on Wednesdays.

I'm sure we will have lots more places to make us happy in the neighborhood once the Clarendon Center construction finishes late this year.

Thanks to Cecelia for the link! Check out her book blog... if you're into that kind of thing.

New Restaurants Coming Soon to Clarendon

It seems that everyone is talking about the updates of the new restaurants set to open soon in the ever growing Clarendon neighborhood. This Washingtonian article details how the owners of Liberty Tavern are increasing their ownership in local territory, with Lyon Hall and Northside Social coming soon.

Northside Social is the replacement for the closed Murky Coffee on the same spot behind St. Charles Church. It will also serve coffee like Murky, but will also offer wine and I imagine a more sophisticated/less hipster atmosphere.

Lyon Hall will be a "European-style brasserie", and have what appears to be a operational basement. Given they have applied for a live music license from the County until 1am, I'm wondering if they plan on hosting live bands in the basement similar to the DJ's at Eleventh's basement. It will be located at 3100 Washington Blvd, marked on the map above.

Thanks to all those who sent me tips on this article via email and twitter! I have been lagging on updating this blog lately, hope to get back in the swing of things soon.

Open Mic Comedy @ Eleventh Street Lounge tonight

Eleventh Street Lounge is one of my favorite venues in Clarendon, as it is a little more classy and tasteful than the typical bars and clubs packed with the identical post-college drunkards.

Known for its techno music DJ's, warm red interior, and a speak-easy like basement section, Eleventh has added another feature to make it even more attractive. Every first and third Mondays of each month the lounge hosts an open mic comedy standup, with comedians ranging from beginners to veterans.

The open mic that starts at 8pm. More info at their site or their Facebook event page.

Chilly night in Clarendon

The Clarendon nightlife seemed a little sparse for this Friday night. I think it was the combination of a little wind chill and people heading into DC to take advantage of the end of Restaurant Week.

Eleventh was a little quiet, as the basement music was far too loud for the near empty room.

Mister Days was more populated and had a good sized crowd dancing (i.e. typical drunken gyrating out of beat with the music). Usually I think of Mister Days as "at least its not Ballroom," but tonight was a lot of fun.

Thanks to T-Bone and Flash for my new hair. I'm sure Mystery would approve.

Eleventh closed early tonight

Eleventh is quickly becoming my favorite spot in Clarendon, due to its laid back atmosphere and lack of a cover fee.

Tonight was a little disappointing, as the patronage was a little thin and the basement closed early at 1am. Then half an hour later the entire venue closed, 30 minutes before the usual kick out.

Dance Off @ Eleventh

With the usual techo beats echoing off the basement walls of Eleventh, my friends somehow started a impromptu dance-off. My cell camera was not fast enough to capture the talent and hilarity of the spontaneous dancing duo, but it was a fun time for everyone.

The atmosphere and the friendly crowd at Eleventh once again did not disappoint me and I will be back again next week.

New Fitness Center Coming on Highland Street

Nobody should be surprised that the attorney's office that used to occupy the space next to Eleventh is gone. I can't imagine they got any business, plus the place looks horrible.

Now Potomac Cross Fitness is taking the space left vacant after the Post Office moved across the street. It should do well there, and will give Gold's Gym down the street on Fillmore some more competition.

Although most of the condo and apartment buildings in Clarendon are new enough to have gyms as one of their amenities. So I wonder who are they targeting as their customers?

Flash Mob @ Eleventh

I completely missed the flash mob at Eleventh last week. The online organized spontaneous event was designed to promote their new policy of going smokeless. Thanks to this new rule I didn't smell like cigarettes Saturday night, so I wish I had participated.

Thanks to What's Up Arlington for keeping me informed of local events like this.

Also, looking forward to the Tristan Prettyman make-up show at Iota on the 27th!

DJ Stephen Patrick @ Eleventh

When it started raining Saturday night I was afraid that the evening might be washed out, but the rain just cooled the streets off just enough to make it perfect bar hopping weather.

We hit up Eleventh first. This trendy and slightly more upscale lounge attracted a good size crowd of party goers throughout the night. The upstairs bar and the downstairs VIP room alternated between being very packed to being sparsely occupied.

Stephen Patrick mixed electronic/techno styles of dance music throughout the night. His beats were energetic enough to convince more than one of the females to groove to the music.

Mister Days also proved to be worthwhile, even though I don't care much for that types of drunken and drama-causing stupid people that scene attracts.