Photo courtesy of Canva
Fruity cocktail with mint.
The HomeGrown Restaurant Group has done it again — come up with an intriguing pop-up bar idea at their 2312 Mount Vernon Ave. location in Del Ray that is sure to appeal to anyone looking for a pick-me-up (think spring!) during the dreary winter months — a bar with a botanical theme they've dubbed BARtanical.
Fans of the pop-ups have already been clamoring to find out what's coming up next. "It's going to be called BARtanical and will be plant, herbal and botanical themed on both decor and the beverage program," said Bill Blackburn, a co-owner with "Mango" Mike Anderson, of the HomeGrown Restaurant Group, on Twitter in response to a customer's recent question online.
We're hoping the botanical-theme decor will transport patrons from the bleak grays of winter to the more uplifting greens of springtime and take the concept a step beyond a few Bostern ferns of the "fern bar" craze that got its start in the 1970s. InsideHook describes fern bars, something most Baby Boomers are familiar with, this way:
"The saloon, the pub, the sports bar, the speakeasy, Hooters: most of the past couple centuries’ worth of drinking establishments were created with the male customer in mind. Fern bars were the exception. The first among them was possibly — depending on whether your source is from the East or West Coast — the inaugural location of T.G.I. Friday’s in 1965, described by Nicola Twilley in the New Yorker as engineered to attract a clientele featuring primarily flight attendants, and benefiting from a design brief of “dainty bentwood chairs, framed photos, Tiffany lamps, and, of course, the signature ferns.” Most of all, it had sugar-sweet drinks tailored for late-mid-century women’s tastes; Harvey Wallbangers came in top of the list."
The HomeGrown Restaurant Group began to experiment with pop-up bar ideas at its 2312 Mount Vernon Ave. location after a successful run (eight years) as The Sushi Bar. After they closed their doors in early December 2021, it wasn't long before they reopened the space as a pop-up bar, called Joy on the Avenue.
The place was decorated to the hilt for the holidays and featured a Christmas theme complete with a holiday menu ("Nachos Navidad" anyone? White Christmas Chili Bowl?), complete with a "Gettin' Lit" bar menu with drinks like "Prancer's Painkiller" and "Noggy or Nice?"
To keep the fun going last year after the holidays, the space transformed itself yet again into a Tiki bar, with the owners describing it as "a throwback to the Polynesian Fantasy of Island Culture. Featuring our take on a few Trader Vic's classics, a few Tiki-inspired craft cocktails of our own, island apps and imported island lagers."
In late September, the Tiki bar closed. The location then morphed into a Halloween-themed bar in early October with equally creative themes: the newly dubbed pop-up, Nightmare on the Avenue, featured Halloween-themed cocktails such as "Vampire Kiss" and "Candy Corn Old Fashioned."
In November, Joy on the Avenue was back and after a holiday run that included a pajama party for New Year's Eve, it closed its doors in early January, and is soon to unveil its latest and perhaps most creative theme.
We're eagerly awaiting the arrival of BARtanical!
