An Update on the Raven Renovations
04 June 2009 10:05 PM | By Prince Of Petworth in Bars, Mt. Pleasant, Neighborhoods - Mt. Pleasant
Thanks to Gabbie for following up and snapping some photos of the inside:
“The deal is they are trying to return to the original old look with booths from an old restaurant and neat retro light fixtures according to Merid. I ran into him out front he let me snap a few pics and said they would complete with the “oldfurb” in a couple days!”
I think returning to the original look with booths is going to be sweet. You? Check out this gem found on the wall:
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04 June 2009 10:57 PM | Former Patron Said:
This is not a good thing at all. I don’t want “neat retro light fixtures”. I want a shot and a beer in my favorite old haunt. What a tragedy.
05 June 2009 9:49 AM | rockcreek Said:
The Raven’s lack of calculation and retro self-consciousness made it the perfect place to go when I needed to turn off my own brain – Former Patron has it: they should have left well enough alone.
05 June 2009 10:33 AM | Anonymous Said:
so a great local business wants to spiffy up. stop griping and buy a shot, good lord.
05 June 2009 11:12 AM | Anonymous Said:
Is that a roll of Romex I see? I didn’t think that was used in commercial electric work…noramlly, you see armored (MC) cable. odd.
05 June 2009 11:52 AM | Irving St. Jon Said:
Maybe the place will now attract people beyond angry, unfriendly hipsters like Former Patron (doubt it). The world isn’t going to hell, dudes. They’ll still have plenty of grunge and the best music box in the city. And cheap beer. And you will still go. And you will still complain about how much it sucks.
05 June 2009 3:06 PM | David LoPan Said:
“Spiffy up” and “sweet” – who are you people? I got a bar for you. It’s called Gazuza. Lots of shiny shoes there.
05 June 2009 4:01 PM | B Said:
It could use a few touches…namely a ceiling that isn’t falling down, floors that aren’t peeling and seats that don’t collapse. Anything beyond that is just bonus.
05 June 2009 4:16 PM | ontarioroader Said:
I just pray to sweet baby jesus that they didn’t paint over all the graffiti in the bathrooms. Some of the most clever and wise words ever written on those walls. I always wanted to document it, but felt too weird to whip out a camera and start taking pictures in a bathroom.
05 June 2009 6:18 PM | IHeartShaw Said:
Ditto on the bathroom graffiti, pretty sure my name is all over those walls.
05 June 2009 11:53 PM | Anonymous Said:
Would be nice if there were facade improvements too.
07 June 2009 2:46 PM | Alex Said:
Replacing actual retro, with artificial retro? That’’s a shame.
07 June 2009 3:13 PM | casper bangs Said:
Please don’t mess with the jukebox.
07 June 2009 9:51 PM | jules Said:
as long as they continue to mix the strongest drinks at the best price in the city…i will drink here. also: they mix drinks using 20 ounce bottles of soda, most likely purchased at the bodega next door. so awesome.
09 June 2009 3:58 PM | Ravenite Said:
If it needs addressing, here it is:
The new booths are from a restaurant in leesburg that recently closed down. The booths, like the former restaurant, are over 50 years old. We feel they are more authentic yadda yadda, but really the old vinyl 70s style booths were dilapitated and getting ready to sprout legs. Anyway, it’s hardly a sprucing or spiffying up. Really, it’s like getting cosmetic surgery by getting punched in the face. Still the same drink prices and jukebox, and now with sturdier seating and more standing room. Why should anything else really matter?
10 June 2009 9:04 AM | Lenore Said:
Every fresh batch of Raven Regulars imagines that they have discovered one of the last real dive bars in DC, and bless their hearts, they are correct. The mistake comes when the latest version of the T-Shirt Mafia confuse a few seasons of patronage with a proprietary obligation to share their antiestablishment vagaries and magic-marker journalism with the rest of the private, imbibing public. Relax kids, The Raven is not “The Man”; you will still find a cheap, warm glass of bourbon waiting for you at the bar after kickball practice.
17 June 2009 11:08 AM | Disco Stu Said:
Word, Lenore.