The crypto bars are invading Washington
In a true sign of a vibe shift in Washington, a DC bar beloved by Republican staffers announced that it was shuttering its doors — and will reportedly be replaced by a bar that famously accepts Bitcoin as payment.
Local news site PoPville first reported on Thursday that a DC outpost of Pubkey, a bar located in Greenwich Village that describes itself as a “vibrant bitcoin community,†had taken over the lease of Hill Country, a popular barbecue restaurant and music venue. Hill Country recently announced that it was closing its doors in Penn Quarter after 14 years.
It’s part of a trend of crypto-centric social venues opening up across the country in the past several years. Pubkey, which opened in 2022 near New York University’s Manhattan campus, has a notably casual atmosphere: a subterranean dive bar-slash-podcast recording studio, with a pub grub menu designed by an Eleven Madison Park alum, where anyone could hang out and close their tab with cash, credit or Bitcoin. (When Eater visited in 2022, they observed “a variety of regional styles†of hot dogs on the menu, as well as a stuffed raccoon next to “a television that appeared to be playing A Christmas Storyâ€. …