Washington D.C. Established in 1933 by former Major League Baseball player William Gloyd "Billy" Martin. In the early days Martin would hold court in a back room named "The Dugout", where cards, politics and gin flowed liberally, and ballplayers (Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra...) would stop in regularly and swap old stories.

Politics is the key word here. The list of political stories is endless. Here are a few:

Attorneys Thomas Corcoran and Benjamin Cohen from Franklin Roosevelt's administration met frequently in The Dugout debating and drafting legislation for what would become Roosevelt's New Deal.

In 1942 "Wild Bill" Donovan became the director of the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. They held many meetings The Dugout.

Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and a young congressman named Lyndon Johnson sat in booth number 24 many times in the 40s. In this era then Senator Harry Truman dined in booth number 6 with his wife Bess and daughter Margaret, who would go on to write mystery novels that mention Martin's -"Murder in Foggy Bottom" and "Murder in Georgetown".

John F. Kennedy lived two blocks from Martin's. Every Sunday after mass at Holy Trinity he would come to Martin's, read the Sunday paper, and enjoy breakfast in booth number 1 (years later he would write the first draft of his inaugural speech there). On June 24, 1953 he proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier in booth number 3, now called "The Proposal Booth".

In 1954, five Supreme Court justices sat in booth number 3 debating Brown v Board of Education.

Richard Nixon dined in booth number 2 and enjoyed Grandma Martin's meatloaf.

Martin's served every president from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush.

Other regulars include Ben Bradlee and Madalaine Albright.

I enjoyed 2 really nice beers -Martin's Tavern IPA (brewed by Right Proper Brewing) and Grateful Dead Juicy IPA from Dogfish Head.

Thanks to my good friend Carl for bringing me here.