Georgetown’s J. Paul’s is closing after four decades

WASHINGTON — One of Georgetown’s longest-running restaurants is calling it quits.

J. Paul’s, which has occupied its dark-paneled, two-story home at 3218 M St. since 1983, announced on Instagram it would close for good at the end of the year.

J. Paul’s did not say why it was closing, but posted this message on Instagram:

J. Paul’s, known as much for its 1889 Amber Ale as it is for its street-front window full of oysters on ice, has one of the oldest existing bars in D.C.; a 100-year-old mahogany shotgun bar built by the Brunswick Balke Coolander Co., which came from a saloon in the Chicago stockyards.

Its brass elevator doors also have a history, coming from New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

J. Paul’s is part of Capital Restaurant Concepts, a restaurant group that also includes Georgia Brown’s.

Earlier this year, Capital Restaurants closed its Old Glory barbecue restaurant on Georgetown’s M Street. It has been replaced by America Eats Tavern by Jose Andres.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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