Washington D.C. Washington's oldest saloon, dating from 1856 when William E. Ebbitt bought a boarding house, probably located on the edge of present day Chinatown. President McKinley is said to have resided there during his tenure in Congress, and presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Warren Harding refreshed themselves at the stand-around bar. Buffalo Bill Cody is also known to have stayed here. By the early 20th century it had relocated to what is now the National Press Building at 14th and F Streets NW. There were two saloons there - a Dutch room and an old English room. In the 1920s they relocated to 1427 F Street NW and it became the Old Ebbitt Grill. In 1983 it moved to its current location at 675 15th Street NW in what was the old B.F. Keith's Theater (across the street from the White House).

The interior features beautiful dark woods of many colors (for example, the cherry wood behind the main bar is a perfect match for the marble(?) columns). The mahogany Main Bar is a copy of the bar from the old F Street location. Behind the bar is a collection of beer steins, animal heads, (said to have been bagged by Teddy Roosevelt), and wooden bears said to have been imported by Alexander Hamilton for his private bar. The marble staircase with an iron-spindled rail was salvaged from the Old National Bank next door.

There are three other bars in addition to the Main Bar. Each are decorated differently and have their own vibe. Around the corner from the Main Bar is the Oyster Bar which features a fine selection of oysters and winning wines from the annual Old Ebbitt Grill International Wines for Oysters competition. To the left of the entrance is the Corner Bar, which evokes a kind of comfy Eastern Shore hunt club feel. Just behind the Main Dining Room is Grant's Bar - another beautiful bar with gorgeous dark wood bar back (and again columns), an old wood floor with booths across from the bar, lots of paintings on the walls and a large mural on the ceiling. Lots of choices for your drinking adventure!

And in the middle of all these bars is the gorgeous Main Dining Room featuring antique fixtures and gas chandeliers (there are gas lamps in the Main Bar also!), and copies of antique Victorian bentwood chairs from a New York Central dining car. My beer of choice - Forever Ever Double Hopped Hazy IPA from Other Half Brewing. Thanks so much to our friends Carl and Rosemary for bringing us here.