A Beloved D.C. Dive Bar Swings Open Along the Southwest Waterfront | Eater DC

"Owner Jon Williams completely transformed the Wharf’s two-story Brighton bar into the waterfront dive of his dreams: a 46-foot marbled bar framed with a massive mural and a custom LED-lit trivia wheel activated by bartenders, and a handsome Elvis bust perched above the bar that is an antique twin of the Clarendon one Williams found (the twin currently oversees drinkers in Shaw). Calling cards like cheese fries, nachos, smash burgers, fried pickles, smoked wings, shrimp and grits, and Andouille sausage-topped penne join bottomless brunch and weekday happy hour (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) with $5 ice-cold beers and rail drinks and $8 margs and espresso martinis on draft. Touristy cocktails done well include crushes, rum buckets, and a blood-orange tequila coupe with a mini rubber ducky-slash-souvenir floating on top. The Wharf location devotes tons of TVs and a massive projector screen to sports; the TGIF opening comes just in time for March Madness, with the University of Maryland men’s basketball team playing its first tournament game in front of its sea of fans in “Crab 5” T-shirts. Retro artwork memorializes the bar’s storied past, an upper-level mural gives year-round love to cherry blossoms, and the operation plans to play off its 6,000-person Anthem neighbor with a high-end speaker system and stage for live music. The second-story level is outfitted with an Art Deco-era wooden bar and sports an additional patio overlooking the water. The bar’s legacy dates back to 1946 when founder David Whitlow opened the original at the corner of 11th and E Streets NW (about a 10-minute drive north of the Wharf); Greg Cahill — who’s Jon Williams’ dad — took over in 1971, and the family relocated to Clarendon’s Wilson Boulevard in 1995, closing in 2021 before moving back to the District in 2022. Williams dove deep into his local storage unit to dust off Pawn Stars-worthy memorabilia that now lives at the Wharf, including the iconic vertical green "Grill" sign that lured post-Prohibition drinkers into the long-gone D.C. original, as well as antique booths that once sat inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral; such reclaimed accents join all-new furniture and huge garage doors that roll up to a prime people-watching patio. The bar’s 50-foot, tiki-styled party boat that first set sail in 2024 will prominently dock out front starting this spring, and visitors can already stroll along the Southwest Waterfront to gawk at a Texas steakhouse titan’s 252-foot superyacht that’s been anchored there for days. Opening weekend hours start at 4 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday; daily service starts Monday, March 24, with weekday hours from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to midnight." - Tierney Plumb