Waitman Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Polly's Cafe is dead. Shit. I haven't been there much lately, ownership has changed, on the PoP Blog there's a general consensus that it went downhill badly. But it's hard to overstate the charm and significance of Polly's Cafe back when it first opened 20 years ago. U Street was trench. The subway station was under construction. We used to hear the hookers clip-clopping down 13th Street at night in their FMers. I don't think there was a open commercial establishment between 18th and 10th street, certainly not a place to hang out in (sorry Ben's) or grab a beer. One night I was wandering down U Street and Pierre caught me peeking through the window and invited me in to say hi. He and Elizabeth rejected tradition: he was the gregarious front of the house guy, she cooked (and she became a very good one -- what was the name of their "high end" place on Connecticut Avenue?). He had a vision and a passion and a sense of humor, and together they had the cojones to drop their life savings on a bar in a wrecked neighborhood during the Barry years. And what a great little spot it turned out to be! Cheap and casual enough for a young family to drop by for burgers on a Wednesday night, cool enough that you felt like you didn't have to get to Adams Morgan for a big night out. The staff was as friendly as the owners, the food was pretty decent and microbrews in pint glasses were hardly a given at the time. On cold nights and snowy days there was the fireplace to crowd next to. The Sunday it served brunch there was a line around the block -- that's how badly we needed Polly's. The crowd was as eclectic as the pre-hipster U Street was. The closest thing my daughter had to a birth announcement was the graffiti a friend of mine scrawled in the men's room: "Teeny Weeny Sweeney is coming." And not long after she arrived, her mom and I sat in Polly's until 4AM in our black tie best, the perfect spot to end a night that had already taken us to Jean-Louis and an Inaugural Ball. Pierre and Elizabeth have gone onto other things, U Street will hardly miss one cafe and Teeny Weeny Sweeney is looking at colleges. Nonetheless, if a bar can be important to a neighborhood, Polly's was, and it's a little sad to see it go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. B Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Not with a bang but a whimper and a sigh from me. I really liked the fireplace. I really appreciate the chance they took. I have a lot of great memories and hope whatever occupies the space next does as much for the neighborhood now as Polly's did way back when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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