Heather Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 But with the demise of the Childe Harold (alas) The Guards remains one of the few watering holes left in NW DC with some true heritage. What's happened to the Childe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 What's happened to the Childe?What she said.Actually, I found this: click The last entry, from this past Saturday, says there's a "for lease" sign out front. I haven't set foot in the place in years, but I used to go there all the time in the 70s-80s. I saw the legendary jazz fiddler Stephane Grappelli there (performing, not just hanging out). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southdenverhoo Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 What she said.Actually, I found this: click The last entry, from this past Saturday, says there's a "for lease" sign out front. I haven't set foot in the place in years, but I used to go there all the time in the 70s-80s. I saw the legendary jazz fiddler Stephane Grappelli there (performing, not just hanging out). wow...was just in there last fall (it's a long haul from Denver...) To a hick kid from Warrenton having a beer at the Childe Harold in, say, the early 70's when I turned 18 meant one had entered the sophisticated big city life....seeing acts spoken of on, gasp, WHFS... Had a pint or three and was joined by wife and stepdaughter there after they wore out their legs & credit cards in various Dupont Circle boutiques....I swear there was a dude there who had been sitting there since 1979 when I moved to Denver. Stepdaughter at that point had lived 2 blocks east of the Circle for two years, and had never been in the joint, though at least a weekly visitor to Zorba's next door...sic transit gloria mundi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm chen Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I was in there Friday and didn't notice the sign. Huh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I swung by on my way home from work earlier, and the Childe is clearly open for business, and I couldn't find any "for lease" sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Pressley Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I know at least one person who has been working already to get in the space for over a month now. I don't know any more details than that, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunnyJohn Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Apologize for causing unnecessary pain, but I heard from friends that a couple of months ago the Childe looked closed, had a for lease sign out front and this served to confirm what I heard in news reports that the owners of the Childe had not been able to conclude a new lease with their landlord. I will make inquiries and find out what's going on and report backwhen I am able to swing by Dupont Circle. [edited for update] Just got off the phone with a former bartender at the Childe who told me that they are now closed for lunch on Mon-Wed but otherwise open for dinner on those days and lunch and dinner the rest of the week. I will still try to find out what the long-term arrangements will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Well....dang. This is one of the usual places me and my friends hang out to catch up every several months drinking lots of pints. I hope they stay open even if it is somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apples & Bananas Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 I was just at The Childe Harold with a group of friends, including one that works there, and tonight is their last night - at least the last night they're serving food (they might be open tomorrow for drinks). Does anyone know why they've suddenly closed. My friend, who is a waiter there, seemed pretty surprised that they were closing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Are they going to re-locate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Posted November 5, 2007 Author Share Posted November 5, 2007 Are they going to re-locate?That might be even worse than closing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunnyJohn Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Does anyone know why they've suddenly closed. My friend, who is a waiter there, seemed pretty surprised that they were closing.The original owner of the Childe Harold -- who was a fairly poor businessman, may he rest in peace -- declined to buy the town house that it is located in when he opened the Childe in 1967. The building then was avaiable for a song. By the time the present owner acquired the Childe, leasing was really the only good option, because he lacked the capital to buy out the lease. Now with real estate in the Dupont Circle area going off the Richter Scale, the owners have visions that they can cash in for a price far higher than the owner is willing to pay and therefore the lease will not be renewed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Landrum Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Ahhh, The Childe... One would hope for a somewhat more Byronic ending to such an institution than a rent-hike. For me the site of many youthful, snowblind and lustbound pilgrimages. My tales from there would have to be described less as the game of Chasseur and more as spewing from the filthy mouth of Boccaccio, but still, by any measure the Childe's closing is the completion of a remarkable cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Ahhh, The Childe...One would hope for a somewhat more Byronic ending to such an institution than a rent-hike. Observing Thorvaldsen's statue of Byron, as well as the original manuscript of Winnie The Pooh, was a Childe - a Wren Tike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheezepowder Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Wash Post article on the closing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Maybe someone can open a wine bar there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunnyJohn Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Ah the memories...The first time I set foot in the Childe was April 1973 when my prep school's History Club was conducting its own pilgrimage to Washington over Spring Break. One of my buddies had a friend at GU Law School who introduced us to the joint as the place with the best burgers in town -- and they were, then. Then when my family moved to DC a few months later I practically lived at the downstairs bar (drinking age was 18, so I was legal). While I never caught Springsteen there I did see so many really great shows before they stopped the live music. I remember old Bill Heard stumbling up to the stage and informing everyone that he was chartering a jet to fly some of the band and some of his closer customers out to LA or Vegas to party after the show. No joke -- that's why he eventually had to sell the Childe to Hossain, who started out as a busboy but loaned Bill so much money over time that he eventually owned more than half of the restaurant, and Bill just sold him the other half. This is true Americana -- a penniless Iranian comes here as a refugee, works hard and becomes a moghul (Hossain still owns The Guards and other real estate in G'Town) while an heir to millions goes from riches to rags (the last time I saw Bill Heard, he was sleeping in his car somewhere around Dupont Circle, although he eventually went on the wagon and passed away in Indianapolis where he was working as a janitor in a Church there.) Like they say: the Childe was an institution, and near the end, most of its customers could be/should have been institutionalized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Slater Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Ah the memories...The first time I set foot in the Childe was April 1973 when my prep school's History Club was conducting its own pilgramage to Washington over Spring Break. One of my buddies had a friend at GU Law School who introduced us to the joint as the place with the best burgers in town -- and they were, then. Then when my family moved to DC a few months later I practically lived at the downstairs bar (drinking age was 18, so I was legal). While I never caught Springsteen there I did see so many really great shows before they stopped the live music. I remember old Bill Heard stumbling up to the stage and informing everyone that he was chartering a jet to fly some of the band and some of his closer customers out to LA or Vegas to party after the show. No joke -- that's why he eventually had to sell the Childe to Hossain, who started out as a busboy but loaned Bill so much money over time that he eventually owned more than half of the restaurant, and Bill just sold him the other half. This is true Americana -- a penniless Iranian comes here as a refugee, works hard and becomes a moghul (Hossain still owns The Gurards and other real estate in G'Town) while an heir to millions goes from riches to rags (the last time I saw Bill Heard, he was sleeping in his car somewhere around Dupont Circle, although he eventually went on the wagon and passed away in Indianapolis where he was working as a janitor in a Church there.) Like they say: the Childe was an institution, and near the end, most of its customers could be/should have been institutionalized. My first visit to DC was in 1975 as a college senior on a research trip. We stumbled into the Childe just because it was there and we were hungry. Connecticut Avenue was a riot of construction at the time for the new Metro. Over the years, it's been the offbeat place to have drinks when the usual places were boring. It will certainly be missed. To say the crowd was eclectic is gross understatement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 I'll miss the place. Only hit it once a year or so with friends, but it had become a regular joint for us getting together to catch up. <sigh> I'm sure, if a restaurant opens there, it'll be some kind of corporate food. Blech Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdg Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 this is unfortunate. any news on the space? it'll probably end up being chain and awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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