This sounds awesome! The folks at the Looking Glass Lounge and DC Reynolds are going to jointly renovate and run a new sports bar in the space between them, at the old Park View Patio space.
They’re calling it Walter’s, as in Walter Johnson, the hall of fame Washington Senators pitcher from the early 1900s. I’m excited.
The spot at 3632 Georgia Ave NW was previously the Blue Banana and Park View Patio, neither of which lasted very long. Blue Banana was a sports bar (named, oddly, for the bar in Pretty Woman) and Park View Patio was sort of everything and nothing.
It was kind of a sports bar, but DJs would come in and they’d play over the sports, and there were always random events like a party or happy hour for some group. They talked about bringing in food trucks to provide food, but only did that one time. They also had the Milk Cult breakfast taco pop-up for a few months, which was awesome, but then they moved on.
They did have a huge, nice patio, however, but the space really lacked ambiance, charm, or anything that made you want to stick around and come back. My theory is it was because it was owned by folks not familiar with our area or a laid-back bar vibe, as they ran fancier, clubby spots downtown — the Post actually predicted this culture clash back in 2013.
According to the Park View DC blog, Walter’s will have more and better food than the previous occupants. They’re still working out the menu, but ideas include wings, seven-layer dip, BBQ pork and brisket sandwiches, brats, and more.
This seems like a good move for a lot of reasons. For one, the area could definitely use a sports bar. The staffs of the two places are often sharing good-natured sports smack talking back and forth on Twitter, and both obviously know how to run good bars with good food and good atmosphere. I spoke to the Looking Glass folks last night and they were excited about it.
And amusingly, Johnson is cited on Wikipedia as famous for his good nature and spirit of friendly competition — sounds like the relationship between Looking Glass and DC Reynolds.
