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. 😭

Comments

omartinez1492 t1_j4wbhbc wrote on January 18, 2023 at 6:36 PM

#1,398,134

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.

phuhqueue t1_j4wir9m wrote on January 18, 2023 at 7:20 PM

#1,398,635

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

PickleStarMan OP t1_j4wj9h2 wrote on January 18, 2023 at 7:24 PM

#1,398,690

Replying to phuhqueue (#1,398,635)

Wowww!! Thank you so much!

PickleStarMan OP t1_j4wjbh9 wrote on January 18, 2023 at 7:24 PM

#1,398,696

Replying to EC_dwtn (#1,398,330)

This is the best lead so far, I'm going to give them a call now!

lettuce-be-cereal t1_j4wkrdh wrote on January 18, 2023 at 7:33 PM

#1,398,814

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)

XeniaOrchidacea t1_j4wpwqu wrote on January 18, 2023 at 8:05 PM

#1,399,166

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

bageloclock t1_j4wv3t9 wrote on January 18, 2023 at 8:36 PM

#1,399,487

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

[deleted] t1_j4x0mge wrote on January 18, 2023 at 9:12 PM

#1,399,790

[removed]

Malnurtured_Snay t1_j4x7etq wrote on January 18, 2023 at 10:02 PM

#1,400,173

Replying to bageloclock (#1,399,487)

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

ManitouWakinyan t1_j4xq2ku wrote on January 19, 2023 at 12:07 AM

#1,401,280

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

arwai t1_j4yi8w9 wrote on January 19, 2023 at 3:32 AM

#1,402,812

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