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Cates (DC)

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4200 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC

Owners Elliot Epstein and Ben Hiatt. Previous location was in Alexandria, VA. The DC location struggled with neighborhood resistance to a new nightclub, resulting in a legal dispute over the denial of a liquor license. As a result, it was mostly closed for more than a year, only open for brunch.

On March 22, 1990, the Cleveland Park-Woodley Park Advisory Neighborhood Commission voted to support the club’s application for a liquor license “on condition that the restaurant agrees to limit the number of shows and the hours of operation and provides free parking for its customers.” The American University Park-Friendship Heights ANC voted similarly, “on the conditions that it close at 11:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 12:30 a.m. Saturday; provide free parking for its customers; offer no happy hours featuring half-priced drinks, and limit the numbers of shows to one on Sunday through Thursday and two each on Friday and Saturday.”

Opened 1988; re-opened November 15, 1990; closed June 2?, 1991. Anita O’Day’s engagement in the first week of June did not take place.

Chicago room featured acoustic blues on Thursdays.

Artists

1988
Uncertain if any of these, listed as upcoming in Cadence Magazine, took place
Mark Murphy
Buddy DeFranco and Terry Gibbs
Mel Lewis
1990
Marshall Keys
Shirley Horn
Jamie Broumas
Dakota Staton
Arthur Prysock
Dave Frishberg
Jamie Broumas
David ‘Fathead’ Newman
Jamie Broumas
Paul Bollenback
Saffire
1991
Warren Vache
Ronnie Wells
Brooks Tegler
Jamie Broumas
John Eaton
Judy Roberts
Bucky Pizzarelli
Susannah McCorkle
Ruby Braff
Keter Betts
Urbie Green
Jay Leonhart & Roger Kellaway
Sue Raney
Lew Tabackin
Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison
Laurel Masse
Brooks Tegler
James Morrison
Harper Brothers
Buddy De Franco
Judy Carmichael
Michele Hendricks
James Moody
Red Rodney

Bibliography

Armstrong, Jenice, and Tom Bell. “ANC Actions.” Washington Post, April 5, 1990.
Bell, Thomas. “Concessions Squeezed From Firms Seeking to Sell Liquor.” Washington Post, March 29, 1990.
Conconi, Chuck. “Personalities.” Washington Post, June 6, 1990.
Conconi, Chuck. “Personalities.” Washington Post, April 13, 1989.
Conconi, Chuck. “Personalities.” Washington Post, May 3, 1989.
Harrington, Richard. “On the Beat: Cates’s Opening.” Washington Post, November 14, 1990.
Harrington, Richard. “Jazz Club Hits Its Final Note: Cates Closing Tied to Liquor License Battle.” Washington Post, June 5, 1991.
Lehfeldt, Richard. “Cates? No, Thanks.” Washington Post, April 22, 1989.
Lewis, Nancy. “Ruling Upholds ABC Practice in D.C.: Neighbors’ Blocking New Liquor Licenses Held Constitutional.” Washington Post, August 26, 1989.
Simpson, Anne. “Liquor Application Gives Jazz Club Owners the Blues.” Washington Post, March 16, 1989.
Simpson, Anne. “Planners Consider Zoning Limits on Restaurants.” Washington Post, May 25, 1989.
Zibart, Eve. “On the Town: Night and Day.” Washington Post, April 21, 1989.
Zibart, Eve. “Hear Saffire Later: Alligator.” Washington Post, January 12, 1990.

Wiki Tags: 1980s, 1990s

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