SILVER SPRING, Md. — A funky underground dive bar and restaurant in Silver Spring will finally throw open its doors again on Sunday after being closed for nearly three years.
The Quarry House Tavern on Georgia Avenue is among the oldest in the D.C. area, dating back to at least the end of Prohibition and maybe earlier.
“It is commonly understood to have been a speak-easy during Prohibition,” said co-owner Jackie Greenbaum.
In 2015, the Quarry House suffered minor damage from a fire upstairs and reopened in a temporary location across the street while repairs could be made. But in 2016, before the original space could reopen, there was a massive water main break.
“A torrential river of mud-water came down the rear steps, and there was 4 feet of standing mud in here for about four days. After that, the entire place had to be gutted. We all cried when we walked in,” Greenbaum said.
The place, known for its quirks such as overhead pipes you could hit your head on and a step up to use the bathrooms, was stripped down to bare, gray cinder block walls.
“All the oddities of a really old place were all gone,” Greenbaum recalled.
But the decision was made to rebuild.
Back came knotty pine paneling, church pew seating, vintage beer posters and a stuffed boar’s head at the bar.
“We recreated it as close as possible, and where it wasn’t possible, we kept the same spirit,” Greenbaum said.
She even traveled to Pittsburgh to replace what she called the bar’s “legendary” CD jukebox with the exact same model. The music collection it held — including blues and old-school country — is back, along with some new additions.
The kitchen has been moved slightly and upgraded, but patrons will still find the burgers, tots and wings the Quarry House was known for on the menu. The bar now has 10 taps for draft beer instead of eight.
To get inside the tavern, you have to walk down a set of steps at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Bonifant Street. A wooden sign and flags bearing the initials “QH” hang above the stairs.
Greenbaum said in the past, the bar’s exterior divided people.
“They’d look down the stairs and they’d either be like, ‘I ain’t going down there,’ or they’d go down and fall in love.”
Before the fire, the bar had a small stage where rockabilly bands would play on Saturday nights.
“It used to be you had to walk through the band to get to the ladies’ room, and you had to have the nerve for that,” she said.
“That kind of character marked whether you were a Quarry House person or not. You just bore on through, walked right past the singer or around him,” Greenbaum said.
She’s not sure yet whether the bar will host live music again.
The Quarry House will reopen to the public at 4 p.m. Sunday. A ribbon-cutting with public officials is planned for later this month, with the details still being worked out.
