Old Ebbitt Grill: Washington's Oldest Saloon Still Pours a Welcome

Some places in Washington, DC you only read about in history books, and some you can still walk into tonight. Old Ebbitt Grill at 675 15th Street NW, steps from the White House, has been pouring since 1856, which makes it the oldest continuously operating saloon in our Nations Capital. For anyone wondering what living in Washington, DC actually feels like beyond the monuments, this is the bar to bring them to, one plate of oysters at a time.

A Bar That Outlived the Hotel That Gave It a Name

In 1856, innkeeper William E. Ebbitt opened a hotel and tavern at 14th and F Streets NW, and his bar quickly became a haunt of the city's political class. Presidents Grant, Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Warren G. Harding drank here, and William McKinley lived at the Ebbitt House during his years in Congress, right up to his 1897 inauguration. When the hotel was later razed to make way for the National Press Building, the bar survived the wrecking ball, took the name Old Ebbitt Grill, and simply kept pouring.

An Auction Bid, a New Home, and a Legendary Room

In 1970, when the old grill came up for auction, Stuart Davidson and John Laytham, the founders of what would become Clyde's Restaurant Group, bought it for $11,200. A little over a decade later, in 1983, the saloon settled into the corner it still owns at 675 15th Street NW, one of the great power-dining rooms of the city. Clyde's is now part of the Graham Holdings Company, the former parent of The Washington Post, but the room itself still feels like the 19th century got to keep one prize.

Oysters, Steins, and the White House Crowd

These days Old Ebbitt is known for three things: the raw bar, the history, and the crowd. The oysters here are a rite of passage for newcomers, and the prime rib and crab cakes have fiercely loyal followings. The dining room wraps you in Victorian oak, brass, and glass-fronted cabinets of antique beer steins, with game mounts that legend says Theodore Roosevelt himself bagged. You are two blocks from the McPherson Square Metro on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines, a few blocks from the White House, and an easy walk from Ford's Theatre and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, so the room fills with first-year Hill aides and off-duty hospital staff alike. If you want to feel downtown Washington, DC hum, sit at the bar on a crisp November evening.

What 170 Years of Service Says About Washington, DC Real Estate

For anyone weighing Washington, DC real estate, think about what a bar surviving 170 years says about one address. The corner at 675 15th Street NW has been a destination through the carriage era, two world wars, the arrival of Metro, and the downtown condominium boom. That staying power is what buyers should look for in a neighborhood: real transit access and street life that draws people after dark. Old Ebbitt sits at the center of a downtown that daily mixes staff off shift from George Washington University Hospital and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, students from Georgetown University, George Washington University, American University, Howard University, and Catholic University, families connected to Children's National Medical Center and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, and commuters from George Mason University across the river in Virginia. Where that mix is this steady, the Washington, DC real estate market tends to follow, and living in our Nations Capital starts to feel like being inside a great story.

Whether you are a newcomer exploring downtown or a buyer asking which DC neighborhood has real roots, put Old Ebbitt on your list. And when you are ready to turn a great neighborhood into your address, reach out to Robert Clarke at Coldwell Banker Realty at robert.clarke@cbrealty.com or call or text (202) 681-9556. One hundred and seventy years in, the oldest saloon in our Nations Capital is still the best invitation to sit down, stay a while, and get to know your city.