« west side reprezent? kids these days... | Main | the sun dog days of spring »
May 23, 2006
Shaw is the new Arlington
Yesterday afternoon I was set to meet up with Miss In Shaw for some happy hour fish 'n chips at a new "Irish Pub" called Duffy's, which is right across Vermont Ave. from the BackBar entrance of the 9:30 Club. As it's only 2 blocks from my house, it'll be a fun place to crash and drink good beer if they don't ban me from ripping on them later in this entry...
Upon entering I was immediately smiled - almost beamed - at by 4 modelesque women and one woofy scruffy Irish-looking guy. I knew something was wrong...in DC people don't beam at you when you enter an establishment. Instead they give you a not-so-subtle reading up and down and continue on with their conversations once having appraised your value to them. Clearly these beaming people wanted something, and that something was my marketing demographic information. For Miss In Shaw and I had stumbled upon a Guinness road show & promotion, and to take part in it I had to give them my demographic information. But I might have misspelled my e-mail address...
Anyway, all that meant was FREE BEER and all you had to do was listen to the woofy scruffy Irish-looking guy talk about Guinness. I don't know who the other people in the bar were or how they learned about it, but I assumed they were there to mooch beer too. No Guiness marketer really needs to waste their time on me. Lucky for me Miss Mari In Shaw doesn't drink beer, so I got her free beer, my free beer, and the beer samples to boot.
As for the atmosphere of Duffy's, I know they are going to do well as it's a good send-off point before any 9:30 Club concert - it's just across the street. Plus there are tons of new hipsters and yuppies in the 'hood all dying to pretend to be culturally aware and spend too much money on beer. However, as for it's status as an "Irish Pub," I'll have to agree with Agatha:
"A dive bar can easily be classed up for little money with the implementation of a Gaelic-style font in its logo and Guinness specials, preferably on "draught." The bar thus undergoes a metamorphisis from a lowly, smoke-filled rendezvous for the poor to a lowly, smoke-filled cultural experience -- usually for the poor as well."
In Duffy's case, the Harp's and Guinness posters and mirrors looked like they were drill-screwed into the wall just yesterday - and hastily at that. A bent screw does not need to accent a picture frame so clearly. And I couldn't shake the feeling that Duffy's was only just recently an Ethiopian khat den or restaurant, as the ceilings were high, white and made of those cheesy sound-proofing drop-ceiling tiles you always see in the U Street Ethiopian restaurants. Irish bars don't have high, white ceilings...Irish bar ceilings are low, smoky and usually made of some kind of dark wood.
Anyway, Miss In Shaw got me totally wasted - again! At one point when the woofy scruffy Irish-looking guy called for a toast, I followed up with a "HARRRR!" which almost got Mari to shoot Guinness out of her nose. That was fun.
The fakeness of PseudoIrish bars begs a question...is it Irish by virtue of it's customers, barkeepers, or by decor? Is a gay bar still a gay bar if it's full of straight people, yet a mirrored disco ball still hangs from the ceiling? Discuss.
Posted by jimbo at May 23, 2006 10:44 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.kr8tiv.com/blogit/mt-tb.cgi/2018
Comments
As one who has lived through the on-going straightification of Greenwich Village, I will say that a gay bar that is now full of straight people is no longer a gay bar, no matter how much of the original "color" has been retained.
It's just a sad memory and a thorn in my side when I pass by.
Posted by: Mark at May 23, 2006 11:41 AM
Well, since there were probably few in any actual Irish people there, I'd call it a "Washingtonian" bar.
Posted by: john at May 23, 2006 12:37 PM
Okay my comment (lifted off of my blog):
I don't know the ethnic background of the Duffy's owner but in the case of Be Bar the orientation of the owner is known and thusly BB has been classified as a 'gay bar'. However, if the crowd patronizing BB is no different than the crowd at DC9 or some other Shaw bar, then I'd say it would not be a gay bar. Now apply the same to Duffy's would be harder as I don't think there are as many irishmen & women running around Shaw as there are gays & lesbians. It may go to our notions of what is an Irish pub an Irish pub and what makes a gay bar gay.
For my definitions an Irish pub is part decor & design, employee makeup, entertainment, food, clientele, it's pubbyness and that fuzzy thing called atmosphere. Gay bar, different set of factors. Food ain't one of those factors. Irish pub must have one of the following: fish & chips, Guinness on tap, something with potatoes, bangers, lamb stew, and so on. Is there a 'gay' dish? Decor? Compare say JR's to Halo, both considered gay bars both completely different interiors. Irish pubs, going from the food & drink base there is at least one or 2 Irish or British based beer signs on the wall. Clientele, this is where a gay bar becomes a gay bar and it really doesn't matter that much with the Irish pub.
Posted by: Marie at May 23, 2006 12:44 PM
Hum yes I have seen this Duffy's place you speak of. We have something similar in Clarendon, Molly Malones. Its ick. Oh but they do have Lord of the Dance music playing and sometimes some sorostitute jumps ups and attempts dancing ,falls down, and knocks over your pitcher, hilarious it is not. Um what is "Irish decor"? Peat moss oven? In other news I went to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and saw a snake eating a frog, a Blue Bunting and several wooftastic menfolk.
JM
Posted by: John in Arlington at May 23, 2006 1:23 PM
Oh blame Miss In Shaw for your stupor, right... So do you think you made a good impression on scruffy marketing guy? If you had ben taken out by said Irish seeming guy, would the bar then qualify?
Posted by: copperred at May 23, 2006 1:55 PM
Ahh, Jimbo, the Zen Master Philosopher Bear. Isn't this really the same as "if a tree falls in the woods and hits a gay guy on the head, will anybody judge him?" Or something like that.
It's not gay, but for sheer Irish-pubness I prefer the Disneyfied Fado in China Town. It's just how I would image the local Irish pub or, for that matter, any one of a dozen pubs in Hobbiton or the Shire (there really should be more Hobbit bars in America, if you ask me).
Yes, it's always full of new hipsters and yuppies, but I swear they have a little old Irish grandmother chained in the kitchen to whip up the bangers and mash. That's some good comfort food.
Posted by: Boo Augustus at May 23, 2006 2:02 PM
duffy's is brand new. the owner - andy duffy - is the irish part of this irish establishment. being that he's been open all of 2 weeks may be why it looks so new on the inside. also, it wasn't anything for quite some time - about 15 or 20 years - as its been a vacant storefront that entire time.
Posted by: dcvoterboy at May 23, 2006 5:00 PM
A gay bar can be only as gay as the patrons in my mind... for For example - Freddies in Arlington with no gays is just a flamboyantly garish bar filled with breeders in search of a sassy weekend brunch... i.e not a gay bar...
Posted by: TOS at May 23, 2006 11:53 PM
Okay, after chatting with your lesbian sisters, for one night Duffy's was a Irish Lesbian Bar. Apparently there was a lot chatter about softball and girlfriends among the crowd.
Posted by: Marie at May 30, 2006 7:45 AM