Five years after the popular sports bar, dance club and restaurant closed, Mr. Day's Sports Rock Cafe is returning to the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, and will open in the coming weeks, WTOP has learned.
Mr. Day's Sports Rock Cafe will be returning to the Clarendon area of Arlington, Virginia in the coming weeks. It's been five years since the popular sports bar, dance club and restaurant closed its doors, WTOP has learned.
Bobby Lee opened the original Mr. Day's in 1977 south of Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. The lunch counter only offered roast beef sandwiches. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Days relocated to his 18th Street location between L and M Streets in the Northwest, and eventually he relocated to Clarendon in 1999.
Lee said he currently has the proper permits in place and hopes to open at 1101 N. Highland Street in May.
“It's across the street from the old Mr. Day's,” Lee said.
“The reason we were called Mr. Days was because we were only open during the day,” he said.
Over the next few years, the alley where Mr. Day's was located became home to other businesses owned by Lee, Captain Day's Seafood Restaurant and Happy Day's Diner, which operated at night as the Back Alley Cafe.
In 1999, Mr. Day's moved to Clarendon at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Highland Street. Mr. Day's Sports Rock Cafe, nestled near the Courthouse Metro and surrounded by the blossoming Clarendon neighborhood, was a popular place for people to watch sporting events, eat, drink and dance.
Lee told WTOP that health reasons were part of the reason for the decision to close the Clarendon operation in April 2019. “We are very excited.”
“I hit that one back and I’m ready,” he said.
Why go back to a demanding business?
“I'm old enough to collect Social Security, but I'm not ready to die,” Lee joked. “And now that we have some space, we thought, why not?”
Alley moving to Clarendon
During Mr. Days' stay in the District, Lee introduced concepts he would bring to the newly opened location.
“Originally, there was live music in the alley on St. Patrick's Day, and people loved it. But when the band stopped and the spinners started playing recorded music, people realized they were dancing. ” Lee said.
He realized that the idea of dancing in an alley could become popular even without the St. Patrick's Day crowd.
“So, depending on the calendar each year, we decided to hold the Rally in the Alley on the weekends around St. Patrick’s Day,” Lee said.
He said the new Mr. Day's Sports Rock Cafe in Clarendon will occupy two floors and include a section called The Alley. After opening, he envisions obtaining permits for outdoor alley events.
“We didn't do a lot of renovations, it's mostly lipstick and rouge,” Lee said, but he said the sports viewing experience will be state-of-the-art.
“The giant screen we got just cleared customs and could be the largest in Northern Virginia.”
Lee said the menu at the new location will include new touches. “But we're not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We're still going to serve great bar food.”
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