Monday, November 03, 2008

Goodbye, Biddy's. I'll miss you.

On Friday night a friend and I went to Biddy's for one last pint of Guinness before they closed. I think this was my first goodbye to a bar, ever.

I don't have a picture commemorating this, so the pints from our wedding night will have to do.

We wanted to say goodbye. I'd been going there for, I don't know - a decade?

I loved the fact that it was an Irish pub without the loud Irish bands above which one usually has to shout. Because me, despite a little Irishness in my ancestry, I am not remotely interested in hearing about when Irish eyes are smiling. In fact, maybe the only kind of music I dislike more than Irish folk tunes would be bagpipes.

But I digress.

For a long time, it was our default happy hour place. I'd had drinks with, met, and introduced so many people there over the years. In fact, she and I realized we'd been introduced there by a mutual friend years ago.

I'd had a number of dates there as well (which, I realize differentiates it not from myriad other places in DC). It was a good test. If a guy orders bad beer at a place with such delicious beer on tap...

Not that I am ever judge-y or anything. And I don't know why a man's taste in beer should say anything about his strength of character. Maybe things like this were why I was single for so long?


So we sat at the bar. My friend ordered fish and chips. When her plate arrived, the bartender apologized for lack of utensils. They'd already sold the silverware.

They had a clock up on the wall with just over two hours left to go. You could watch the frantic electronic number spinning down.

We asked him if it was true that it was going to become a cocktail lounge.

He said the entire hotel is undergoing a massive renovation. He didn't precisely know what the bar would be like when they reopened.


I like having a comfy pub, right on the circle.

And really? Does DC need another random cocktail lounge?


  1. Answer: NO, no it does not. Give me a pub or a dive bar over a cocktail lounge any day.

    Even with loud drunken Irish music... they can tell me I'm a "right bonny lass" any day.

  2. Absolutely. And I want to be able to walk to it. Is that so much to ask?

  3. I can't believe they're closing! Had I known, I would have gone for one last pint. Dammit to Hell!

  4. Dammit! I didn't know about this end of an era. Ugh, Between Topaz and Gazuza, that area is fine with cocktail lounges.

  5. I had to say goodbye to my favorite bar of all times, the Royal Lee, in June. (I even wrote about it too, so sad:

    I still miss it, it was my regular Friday night hang out, no need to make plans I could just stop by and would bump into people I knew. I knew the owner, the bartenders, the bouncer, the regulars. Heck, I was a regular too!

    It was closed to give way to a condo, because of course Arlington has so few condos as is (eye roll). It closed in June, and nothing has been done to the site yet, couldn't they have just let it stay open longer??? Ugh.

  6. I am so so so sad to hear this news. =-/ Wow. Biddy's was such a great place to just relax and have fun. Oh unhappy news, indeed...Maybe we will be surprised and it will re-open as a decent pub?? (crossing fingers)

  7. FreckledK - I had heard it was closing and sure enough, when we stopped by Friday, they were counting in hours.

    Lemmonex - Yah, exactly! I haven't been to either Gazuza or Topaz in years at this point. I'm just never in the mood for them.

    Beach Bum - It's so sad to say goodbye to a place you really like and feel comfortable!

    Ryane - I know. So low key. That would rock. I'd be delighted.

  8. waaaaaahhhh! I am so sad. I am remembering a few hilarious nights there. (Like the wedding night, pictured above!) And the night I escaped from a date at the Mayflower (in which my date had kissed me, only to depart our table and kiss what I believe was a highly paid call girl at the bar) and dragged a friend to Biddy's with me, where I proceeded to ignore the date's frantic calls and kiss another guy. ;-) Memories.....
    Not to mention those great 8-hour "I'm leaving the country" farewell happy hours.... Hope you had a pint for me, peaches.

  9. MMmmm, Guinness, breakfast of champions. It's miserable when cool places close, things are so generic these days that places with character are seriously endangered.

  10. Jen my darling - Absolutely had a pint for you! And I remember that night of craziness. Wasn't there a very cute Indian guy somewhere in the mix? Or am I confusing this with another adventure?

    J - That's exactly right. Things are becoming more and more generic.

  11. Hi there - so out of touch and just having the luxury of fast enough internet to poke around the blog world. Big congratulations on your happy day!


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