Sometimes the answer is right in front of you if you just know where to look.

Case in point: As you walk down the north side of U Street in Northwest D.C., the space that houses D.C.’s newest gay bar features a small, unassuming storefront — blink, and you’ll miss it. A “Lucky Pollo Peruvian Chicken” logo consisting of LED lights, with a cartoon chicken wearing a leather cap and boots, serves as an “Easter egg” to those in the know — the rare external clue that more than what meets the eye lies beneath the exterior of the takeout chicken eatery.

Once inside the restaurant, which, despite being under construction, is already equipped with an ATM and three tablets mounted to the wall, and where late-night revelers will eventually place their orders, your eyes inevitably drift to the right, almost by instinct, as you survey the space. 

Scanning over the bright yellow and white walls and beyond the main service counter, you’ll notice a mid-20th century candy vending machine, a row of candy bars in its display windows. A small note attached to the front of the machine reads, “Out of Order.”

But it is this vintage machine that is the starting point for your journey.

Grab hold of any of the machine’s vending levers, and give a tug. The machine swings open, revealing behind it a passageway — a dark, black corridor emblazoned with flashing LED lights. A sense of anticipation, urgency, and curiosity drives you forward. The door shuts behind you, leaving you ensconced in near-darkness, peering down the dimly-lit hall.

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With each step further away from the vending portal that transported you into this world, you can almost imagine a little voice in your head.

Come with me,

And you’ll be

In a world of pure imagination.

Reach out, touch what was once

Just in your imagination…

Heading down the leather-padded hallway, to your right, you’ll encounter a small shop featuring merchandise for sale, tucked away into a caged area. During peak hours, patrons will be able to purchase gear and other adult store items.

“Our establishment is a speakeasy,” says Zach Renovátes, the primary managing partner of the new District Eagle. “There’s no external signage. So you have to know about the space and know about the location to enter. It plays toward the past and the history of gay establishments while allowing us to create an entirely new concept for the D.C. community.”

Renovátes says it was important to “create a bar that honors the history of gay and LGBT spaces, which, by necessity, needed to remain a hidden secret, tucked away.”

The bar will open to the public on Wednesday, January 22, launching a five-day grand opening “kickoff celebration.”

Just past the merchandise cage is a bootblack chair. And then, the hallway expands into a much larger room. To the left is a bar, heavy metal chains suspended from the ceiling into its countertop. Music flows from concealed speakers, while videos play on two screens located at either end of the bar.

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To the right, against the wall, is a long couch with a leather-padded seat back, the area illuminated by LED lights branching up the wall to the ceiling and across to the bar area. A DJ booth occupies the far corner surrounded by hundred-year-old foundry patterns once used to cast machine parts in Connecticut factories. The design is meticulous and immaculate, courtesy Jasin Cadic, who also designed District Eagle’s neighboring establishment, the LGBTQ dance club Bunker. 

The dim lighting, mixed with the foundry patterns jutting out from the walls and the booth, creates from a distance the illusion of massive speakers from far away. A metronome-shaped cast is perched in the top center of the DJ booth.

Beyond the dance floor, to the right, lies another long passageway with huge Tom of Finland murals lining the walls. To the left are two bathrooms, featuring five novel water-saving “sink-urinals.” The second bathroom has an opening to allow curious cruisers a glimpse of who’s inside. There are additional nooks, with walls lined with black padding, where patrons can congregate.

Patrons who come for District Eagle’s five-day “kickoff weekend” will be able to see how the bar employs its occasional expansion into an upstairs space — a straight bar called Alice, only open on Friday and Saturday nights — which features a lounge area, a bar, and a rooftop garden. When upstairs is in use, a red LED sign pointing to a staircase will light up: “Eagle XL Open.”

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Renovátes says that the capacity for District Eagle on any given night is about 116 patrons, while on “Eagle XL” nights, the full building capacity is about 300. Typically, there will be no cover charge, except for special events or on those occasions where the bar may need to pay outside groups or performers, such as an out-of-town, high-profile DJ or performer.

So far, Renovátes is planning to use the upstairs for a monthly Sunday tea dance and during the upcoming WorldPride 2025.

Because Renovátes is also a managing partner at Bunker, there are plans to allow District Eagle patrons to use their receipts from the Eagle to gain free admission to Bunker on select weekends.

“By having an establishment next door, we can use the District Eagle as the first stop in a customer’s journey before they end up at Bunker later on,” he says.

Perhaps the most confusing part of District Eagle’s launch is the perception that they are somehow tied to the long-shuttered DC Eagle, the iconic leather bar in D.C.’s Benning neighborhood, which permanently closed during the COVID pandemic.

“District Eagle bar is a brand new establishment focused on creating a safe haven for our kink and alternative lifestyle communities,” Renovátes says. “That said, it shares in the tradition of ‘Eagles’ throughout the world.” According to Wikipedia, roughly 30 “Eagle” bars are currently operating in countries including the United States, Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands, Austria, Japan, and New Zealand.

“The name Eagle has many connotations in gay nightlife culture,” says Renovátes. “When you are in an Eagle space, there are certain expectations you might have or features you’d like to find. So the name Eagle was used by us to allow for a sexually-liberated mindset. And we are proud to take on a new role in the community, one that has been missing for quite some time.”

Renovátes says the District Eagle is “specifically designed for the LGBTQ community,” and is hoping to work with LGBTQ kink or fetish groups to coordinate events.

“We will be sharing with our customers the unique programming that we will offer, where you will see different types of nights or events on different days of the week,” he says. “We hope that in the naming of certain events, it allows for customers to recognize and appreciate that we are curating different experiences for different communities.”

The space will be welcoming to all members of the LGBTQ community, albeit with an emphasis on promoting a cruisy, kink-friendly space.

“We want everyone to be able to find a safe space within the District Eagle that’s within our community,” says Renovátes. “So if you’re a person who loves Latin music, we might host a Latin night, but it will be our unique twist on a Latin night, for example. And we’re going to see how our customers respond to those different offerings.”

While there’s no specific dress code for entry, Renovátes says the bar is discouraging potential customers from wearing open-toed shoes or sandals due to safety concerns. Some of the bar’s special nights may feature a particular style of dress that is recommended, although not required, such as a jockstrap night or a gear night, where the bar will offer discounts to patrons in various types of apparel.

“We are strongly encouraging customers to show off their uniqueness, to show off what their kink is, and bring that scene into our space,” he says, shying away from characterizing District Eagle as strictly a leather bar.

“Leather is just one subset,” he says. “There are many elements under the ‘kink’ umbrella, and we want to be inclusive of all kink communities.”

At heart, says Renovátes, District Eagle is “first and foremost a cruising bar — D.C.’s only cruising bar — designed for and by our LGBTQ community. This is not an establishment for the faint of heart. We want people to understand what they’re walking into — and getting into — when they enter our space. We will not be policing customer sexuality. We want customers to be free to express themselves.

“Certain communities will immediately get that and want to be in this space,” he concludes. “Others may not find it to be the space for them. That is okay. It is okay in our community to create and curate spaces that elevate specific experiences for our customers. We want this to be something for the curious, those with a cruising mindset, those who want to experience a sexually forward environment. We don’t want to shy away from that concept.”

The District Eagle will open its doors at 1357-B U St. NW, on Wednesday, January 22 at 6 p.m. Hours of operation over the launch will be 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday; 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday; and 2 p.m. to midnight on Sunday. For more information, email info@districteagle.com or follow the bar on Instagram at @districteagle.

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