Old Ebbitt Grill from 15th Street.

Restaurant information

Established 1856

Current owner(s) Clyde's Restaurant Group

Food type American

Dress code Casual

Street address 675 15th Street NW

City Washington, D.C.

Postal code/ZIP 20005

Country United States

Website www.ebbitt.com

 

Old Ebbitt Grill is a historic bar and restaurant located at 675 15th Street NW in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is Washington's oldest bar and restaurant, and as of 2011 was owned by Clyde's Restaurant Group.

 

History

Old Ebbitt Grill was founded in 1856 by William E. Ebbitt. Ebbitt purchased a boarding house near the present-day Verizon Center in Chinatown, and it became Washington's first known bar.

 

For a brief period, President William McKinley lived at the boarding house during his tenure in the United States House of Representatives. The facility also became notorious for frequently hosting U.S. presidents. Presidents Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Warren G. Harding all refreshed themselves at the bar.

 

By the early 20th century, the Ebbitt moved to what is now the National Press Building at 14th and F Streets. Two saloons co-existed in the Press Building at the time, a Dutch room and an Old English room. During the 1920s, when the Ebbitt moved to a converted haberdashery at 1427 F Street, the legacies of these Dutch and English bars were combined into a single Old Ebbitt Grill.

 

The F Street location was just two doors away from the Rhodes Tavern, which occupied the northeast corner of F and 15th Streets. Having a considerable history of its own, its bar was reportedly the site where British generals toasted one another as they watched the White House burn during the War of 1812.

 

By 1970, the Old Ebbitt Grill had fallen on hard times and an auction was held to satisfy a federal tax claim. When the auction was announced, Stuart Davidson and John Laytham, owners of a newer Washington institution, Clyde's of Georgetown, expressed an interest in buying the Ebbitt’s collection of antique beer steins to display at Clyde's. When auction proceeds fell short of the lien on the property, bidding began again, but this time on the entire contents. And suddenly, for $11,200, the two partners unexpectedly found themselves owners of a second saloon, the Old Ebbitt Grill.

 

In 1983, the Old Ebbitt Grill was uprooted one last time. The building was razed, and Old Ebbitt moved around the corner to its current location at 675 15th Street (the former home of Loeb's NY Deli), to the Beaux-Arts building that was once the old B. F. Keith's Theater.

 

Popular culture

Old Ebbitt Grill was featured in the movie In the Line of Fire. An exterior scene was shown and then Clint Eastwood and John Mahoney were shown sitting at Grant's Bar inside. A plaque referencing this movie is on the wall in Grant's Bar.

 

Old Ebbitt Grill is mentioned in the Brad Thornovel, Path of the Assassin. Other novels mentioning the restaurant include The Outlaws by W.E.B. Griffin, The Pravda Messenger by Robert Cornuke, The Athena Factor by W. Michael Gear, House Justice by Joe DeMarco, and The Green Trap by Ben Bova.

 

Old Ebbitt Grill, Washington, D.C.

Washington icon the Old Ebbitt Grill has been attracting the likes of presidents and beltway movers and shakers since its opening in 1856. It is the city's oldest bar and restaurant, and though it has relocated twice -- most recently to 15th Street two blocks from the White House in 1983  many of the original spot's artifacts, including taxidermy and gas lamps, made the move.

 

Like many of the country's oldest restaurants, Old Ebbitt serves a take on saloon fare meatloaf, chops, burgers -- but the chefs here also rotate in specials based on local ingredients and seasonality. The very famous Oyster Bar should not be missed.
 

675 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C., 20005