Last Wednesday, the glamorous and notorious Q Street Mansion granted guests a preview of the soon-to-open Service Bar DC (SBDC), coming to U Street later this month.
Service Bar is a concept brought to life by longtime DC restaurateurs Chris Willoughby, Chad Spangler, and Glendon Hartley. Chris was the owner of former Jin Lounge on U Street; Glendon is the VP of the U.S. Bartenders Guild D.C. chapter and spearheaded the creation of cocktail menus at Blacksalt Fish Market, Lost Society and Cava Mezze. And if you read my recent article on the opening of Bonfire DC, you may recognize Chad’s name – he’s the Beverage Director over there, and has opened a smattering of DC hot spots, including Red Light, Chaplin’s, Provision No. 14 and Prospect (to name a few).
The guys were hard at work during the evening cocktail preview and whipped up some of their specialties for the 200+ guests to try. The “Rose All Day” was elegant, citrus-y, and the perfect way to beat the heat as we sat poolside. The “Bottled Tom Collins” practically knocked me out – sharply tart and ice cold. I’m not a big gin lover, but I finished the whole damn thing and I loved toting it around in the little flask-sized bottle.
The bottom line: Service Bar is going to be our new neighborhood hang. Artisan cocktail bars all too often come with a hefty price tag and a pretentious atmosphere, but SBDC is offering the opposite: the luxury of seasonal cocktails paired with a casual neighborhood vibe and a price range that won’t leave customers branding the bar as a “special-occasions-only” destination. SBDC is the embodiment of what Chad, Chris and Glendon simply enjoying doing, and businesses built on that notion are hard not to like.
Service Bar DC (SBDC) will open in August at 926-928 U Street NW. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram, and follow Chad on Twitter here and Glendon here.
Keep scrolling for more pictures of the cocktail preview and of the 2220 Q Street Mansion, which is currently listed for $4.5 million by Compass Real Estate.
