Hidden on a side street in a residential area of west Capitol Hill is a little known gem called the Summit Public House. Public House is a britishism for tavern, and the Summit indeed qualifies as a neighborhood tavern.
"You really see about 70 percent regulars," guessed Sal Huerthas, one of the bartenders on a recent Friday night. He's been working there for a year, recruited from a barstool after being a regular customer himself for several years.
It couldn't have been very many years. The space was a tapas restaurant before 1998. A colorful column, coated in a glass mosaic, is an unusual conversation piece next to the bar. At the top, also in mosaic, it says, tapas.
In 1998 the space, located at the intersection of East Mercer Street and Summit Avenue East, opened as the Summit Tavern, featuring Washington craft beers and a quiet and relaxed atmosphere in a mere 900 square feet of space. In 2003, the interior was remodeled, expanded to 1,600 square feet and updated to include a full bar and pool table. It was also rebadged the Summit Public House.
The idea behind the remodel and the name change was to create the kind of atmosphere that prevails in English pubs, where the local watering hole is a combination living room, social hall and community center.
The entrance to the Summit is amidship, rather than on the corner, where an experienced bar fly might expect it to be. The bar is dead ahead against the far wall and the pool table is to the right. It is much roomier inside than you might expect.
The low ceiling, at about nine feet, clearly shows that this is not an old building, but the 2003 remodel retrofitted HVAC ducts, visible along the ceiling, and the dark wood furniture, bar, booths, tables, chairs and walls give the place an ancient feel that belies its modern provenance.
Seating is generous, with bar chairs (they have backs), tables, chairs, booths and even a short counter facing out to the windows with room for four stools. Outside, five picnic tables under cover offer bench seating in any weather. The Summit can easily seat 75 without undue crowding.
The view from the window counter, next to the door, is the intersection of Summit and Mercer. There is a food store diagonally across the intersection and considerable pedestrian traffic, as you might expect in a neighborhood densely populated with multi-story residential buildings. Some of the people walk into the Summit, looking like they have business there. They are clearly regulars, and the chatter at the bar reinforces that deduction.
Three televisions decorate the back wall. This Friday night the center screen was tuned to the Mariners bout with Oakland and the flanking screens were tuned to the Tour de France. Sports is catered to, but does not take over the place.
Josh Janicek and Samuel Munguia bought the Summit in 2005, declaring their intention to "preserve the home-away-from-home feeling" of the place and offer quality beverages "in a very chill atmosphere."
The clientele is mixed ages, tending toward 30-somethings, and it seems as though every kind of person from professional to wage earner is present. The bar offers 18 beers on tap and that is the favored beverage, though here and there is a Jaegermeister or a gin and tonic.
Toscana Pizzeria is right next door, and there is a symbiotic relationship. Huertha says that the pizzeria used to close at 11 p.m. every night, but Summit customers have convinced the little restaurant to stay open late Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
"You have no idea how many boxes I recycle," Huertha said, rolling his eyes.
The counter by the door is especially nice on a warm night when the picnic tables are full, because the windows open. This, I decide, is just the place to write my notes.
"Well, we know where you spend your mornings," says someone next to me. "Now we know where you spend your evenings."
It is a couple I know from my habitual lounging in a nearby coffee shop. I am impressed. Even I know someone here, and this is my first visit to the Summit. I guess we are all locals here.
The Summit Public House, 601 Summit Ave. E., is open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Visit the Web site at www.summitpublichouse.com.
Freelance writer Korte Brueckmann lives on the Hill and can be reached at editor@capitol hilltimes.com.
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