About Public Bar

Public Bar is a multi-faceted restaurant/lounge and sports bar that offers guests a different and an entertaining menu of traditional American savories served with an aesthetic flair. We combine superior service and quality with the casual vibe and high energy of a neighborhood hotspot all while having the same comfort and amenities of you would love to have in your favorite viewing room. Public bar’s size features a variety of options – from the main floor with common tables, extra large booth seating and one of the largest u-shaped bar tops in the city; to the upstairs lounge with comfortable couches; and finally the roof top bar. On all levels we have offer and assortment of cocktails, domestic and import beers by the bottle, and top level draughts.

Public Bar is the reincarnation of the old Club Five. Club Five had an illustrious career among club goers, as one the few afterhours venues that catered to the best DJs and the most fervent dance maniacs. Now with the expert help of architects Jim Cronenberg and Jose Toha, collectively Grupo 7, the space has perched itself atop Midtown as not only the innovative leader in the new nightlife scene but also as the crown jewel of the Golden Triangle. With Grupo 7’s help, former nightclub new comers Tony Hudgins and Sherif Abdalla joined Club Five’s original builder Edwin Villegas of Winmar Construction, commercial property expert Paul DeFilippes of Summit Commercial Real Estate, and Contractor James “Tru” Redding in giving the space not only a new look, but also new meaning in the industry.

Keeping with the history of the space at 1214 B, where Club Five previously existed as the Roxy and the Garage before it, the partners used the place as pallet for their vision of the newest of the resto-lounges in DC. Grupo 7 continued fulfilled that vision executing on it with exquisite detail and the highest quality.

The vision of Public Bar grew out several lines of thought based on business common sense and a new passion by the partners to bring a broader, more appealing nightlife experience to more people as opposed to less. With the recent experience of Hudgins and Abdalla from Play Lounge, and the past experience of Villegas’ keen understanding of the space’s history, the partners set out to do the unthinkable – combine their respective love of sports, an upscale casual lounge experience and good, simple food. The result is a visually stunning venue that merges the building’s old rustic character with the modern twist commonplace to a Grupo 7 design while managing to playfully weave a sports undercurrent throughout the entire space.

Patrons notice the sports theme immediately when they enter as they see the first nearly 40+ HD flat panel TVs. It continues as they walk up the stairs and are greeted by hand-painted murals of famous sports quotes from the likes of Yogi Berra, Muhammad Ali, Shaquille O’Neal and more. Once you enter the main bar, five large booths line the north wall fitted with football brown leather seats and basketball orange leather. Each comes with its own 26 inch flat panel TV for private and customizable viewing of up 27 different channels for at least 8 persons. As you move to the bar itself, patrons are easily invited to sit at one of the two 8 person common tables or to get a draught beer or a mixed drink at the marble topped U-shaped bar flanked by brushed aluminum high chairs.

Public Bar is the newest addition to DC nightlife and to the first of the SET Entertainment portfolio managed by Sherif, Tony and Edwin.
The concept is designed to take advantage of the evolving and maturing nightlife market in the Washington, DC region. For many years the market has been very limited and lacked diversity in the sense that the only venues that existed were bars or pubs. In the late eighties and in the nineties, a shift change took place as the European influence of nightlife abroad took hold and entrenched itself not only around country in major markets but particularly in DC. That evolution lead to the creation of lounges and large nightclub venues that catered to a heavily liquor conscious crowd that paid top dollar for entry, real estate and experience. In these venues, opulence was the goal and the norm.

Today the evolution has to lead to the hybrid, the mix of the bar and the lounge, the desire for comfort in an upscale environment. At Public Bar what we believe that we created the only venue existing in DC to date that provides the ability to enjoy simple things in an environment that still caters to the customer’s needs while displaying at least a modest sense of opulence. For Public Bar that means the ability to lounge within two stories of beautifully rustic environs with just the right touches of modern amenities, all while being able to enjoy your favorite sports on any one, or all, of the 30+ flat panel TVs.

With its two floors and roof top providing 6420 square feet and 1420 square feet respectively, Public Bar has the ability to be one large venue catering to over 420+ patrons. Or, it can be divided for private events allowing for wholly separate events within the venue first floor is without encroachment on the patrons within the space that is not contracted for private use.

The first floor is an open layout with five large 6-8 person booths for dining and/or cocktailing. Each booth has its own dedicated 27 inch flat panel TV that can be tuned the customer’s choice of channels. At the front of the venue on the first floor, the large rectangular bar provides the focal point of that level. It is adorned on each side by a 40 foot wall of 42 inch TVs, 16 in total. The TVs can be tuned in unison or individually to show separate and distinct channels. At the front of the bar are a set of community table to create additional dining and cocktail seating for customers. In keeping with the name, Public Bar, the community tables are meant to encourage patrons to mix, mingle and meet one another as they enjoy not only the venue and the sights and sounds, but also each other. Below the bar is the first demonstration of the hybrid. The lower mezzanine positioned behind and beneath the bar is a lounge style seating for patrons who want to relax on banquettes as the view one or both of the two 42 inch flat panel TVs dedicated to that area. This area provides lower cocktail tables among the seating that is perched above the street with a floor to ceiling window view of business district in the Golden Triangle of Connecticut Avenue, 18th Street and M Street. In this area the venue is not only on display but the city is as well. The last amenity of the first floor is two dedicated TVs for Wii gaming, the only in the region to date. Here patrons can rent Wii controllers and play a panoply of Wii games together or individually. The final marquis of the first floor is the ticker running above the bar displaying stock scores, sports lines, scores and any customized information necessary to enhance the patron’s experience at Public Bar. Again the juxtaposition of simplicity and comfort is evident. Gaming and sports provided amongst superior comfort and experiential scenery inside and outside the Bar.

The juxtaposition continues on the second floor as large comfortable couches provide increased comfort for group seating while dining and cocktailing on low lounge tables. This upper mezzanine-like level floats over the first floor as it overlooks the first floor bar and provides a secondary view of the Golden Triangle outside the bar. This level caters to patron with its own dedicated 42 inch TVs, four in total, that are suspended at the edge of the mezzanine that is secured by a railing of glass. Patrons on this level are also privy to their own bar with two more 42 inch TVs as the backdrop. Further cocktail seating exists along the wall opposite the bar as patrons in this area are playfully notified of where to find the restrooms by the dark blue and off-white tiled wall with an arrow leading them to the “Public Baths.” At the point of entering the restrooms, patrons coming to and from have one more 42 inch TV to view just in case they need to update themselves quickly on the event that were watching before they left their seat or space.

Finally, the roof top provides the remaining TVs and lounge for private events or to simply drink amongst the stars, literally. It is one of the largest and most dynamic rooftop bar/lounges in the city. There patrons have access to two bars as they take in the sun and the moon from built in banquette seating or any one of 6 high tops in the rear. On the weekends this level is privy to its own DJ.

<Back to FreedomFest Home>