Help me find this 1980's Club (LBJ Club)...Trying to recreate my grandparent's first date.

Submitted by PickleStarMan t3_10fdxmk in washingtondc

Hey guys!

I'm trying to find pictures/information of this old club in DC called the LBJ Club. My grandparents met there in 1981. I want to surprise them for Valentine's Day by building a set that looks identical to the one they met at...

The only problem is: there are no pictures, and no information on this place on the internet!! The only record that I found is that The Cramps played at this club in 1979.

It clearly doesn't exist anymore, and my grandparents don't have any pictures of it. If anyone could help me find out more about this, my grandparents and I would be eternally grateful.

UPDATE: Still no luck on finding a picture yet. Thanks to y’all’s help, we now know that the address to this restaurant was 500 1st st NW. I called the realtor business that owns the building now, and they’re trying to get me more info on when they acquired it. I also reached out to the writer of that WaPo article found, waiting response

If anyone has any more info, I’m not giving up until I find a picture of this place. 😭

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Comments

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phuhqueue t1_j4wir9m wrote

I see an ad for "LBJ Restaurant" in this Georgetown Law Weekly from Sept 1979 (PDF). See page 7.

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lettuce-be-cereal t1_j4wkrdh wrote

I think it's likely you're looking for LBJ Restaurant (500 First St. NW), which is referred to as a jazz club in this WaPo article from 1980. This old DC directory also has LBJ's listed under "Bars and Clubs."

If correct, the club's location is now an office building owned by Georgetown University.

(Edit - links)

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PickleStarMan OP t1_j4yu2tc wrote

Thank you! I reached out to the building + writer of that WaPo article to hopefully drive me closer to someone who has a picture.

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thetruthstrikes t1_j4z1hy4 wrote

If you don't get a reply, tag username for the WaPo reporter/columnist in here/any other way to reach out and amplify your message here!

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PanAmargo t1_j4yk8sv wrote

Grandparents … met in 1981

Making me feel old 😟

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indiedaytona t1_j4ym1pf wrote

I thought it was pretty recent lol. Their parents and possibly grandparents are young.

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XeniaOrchidacea t1_j4wpwqu wrote

There’s a Facebook group called ‘Historic Restaurants of Washington, DC’. Reach out to them, maybe they can help.

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PickleStarMan OP t1_j4ypz77 wrote

I sent them a message. Really praying I can get this photo. 😭

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omartinez1492 t1_j4wbhbc wrote

I did a bit of searching and it is so odd that the only instances of this club existing is related to The Cramps (as you have said). Staying tuned to see if anyone else has better luck.

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bageloclock t1_j4wv3t9 wrote

Does...does it stand for Lyndon B. Johnson?

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PickleStarMan OP t1_j4yu5ls wrote

This is what makes this internet search even my difficult.

A restaurant named LBJ in DC. LOL

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Malnurtured_Snay t1_j4x7etq wrote

I mean, if it doesn't stand for Lyndon B. Johnson, it probably stands for Limerick Blow Jobs.

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arwai t1_j4yi8w9 wrote

DC public library has a department called "People's Archive", all about DC history, including a lot of digitized photographs. The search engine is not the greatest, but u can check it out. U may have some luck calling or emailing them and they may know which collections to search for the images u seek.

https://www.dclibrary.org/thepeoplesarchive

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ManitouWakinyan t1_j4xq2ku wrote

I have a DC guidebook from 1969 - I'll check there!

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