Shakers. 2014 Ninth St NW.
Daniel Honeycutt and Justin Parker debut Shakers, their new LGBTQ+ bar, on the crowded U Street corridor Thursday, July 20. The gathering place joins other queer bars around the one-block area, including Kiki, Nellies, and, the duo’s other bar, Dirty Goose. For Honeycutt and Parker, the more, the merrier.
“I think [we’re] creating a kind of hub on that block where the community can say, ‘I can go to this block, and I can be there for the night that I want to be there,” Parker says.
On weekends, the pair hope to create the feel of a neighborhood bar. On weeknights, Shakers will host events geared toward the local LGBTQ+ community, including talks, drag shows, family nights for parents and kids, and drag queen story hours. The bar already hosted a panel with CapitalPrideDC earlier this month, where experts discussed anti-drag legislation around the country.
The bar is named after the scarlet-red imperial shaker—a hand-cranked machine that mixes cocktails—propped on the bar counter. The old-timey replica will churn out a quartet of $13 drinks, including a mix of light and dark rums, lime, Cointreau, and orgeat syrup, or a strawberry-vodka-and-limoncello refresher. And bartenders will also serve classics ($11 to $14) like margaritas, cosmos, old fashioneds, and martinis.
The space lacks an in-house kitchen, but Whitlow’s—the Arlington-born watering hole that has been resurrected around the corner–is supplying made-to-order carryout food, which guests order via QR code and get delivered to their table.
The pine-green-accented interior holds a number of booths, but most of the seating is hightop tables. There’s a stage near the entrance, and a windowed patio and bar space in the back, fitted with a brick fireplace and hanging plants.
Shakers also has a courtyard space, not unlike the rooftop bar at sister spot Dirty Goose. But Parker and Honeycutt aren’t too worried about crossover. They’ve already established a “community within the community,” they say. “Shakers actually gives [us] the opportunity to be a part of the community that we haven’t quite tapped into,” Parker says.
