A glam cocktail bar just pulled into Union Station
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Continental Club overlooks Union Station's grand main hall. Photo: Albert Ting/Continental Club
Sip a Paper Plane before your train — a glam cocktail bar just pulled into Union Station.
Why it matters: After years when chains dominated the historic station, it's trying to become a dining and drinking destination again — harkening back to its early 20th-century heyday.
State of play: Continental Club, a lofty cocktail lounge in Union Station's soaring Beaux-Arts Main Hall, opens Thursday and is slated to pop-up through year’s end.
- Female-led catering and events group SHKR is behind the bar. Founder Rochelle Julich tells Axios the narrow rooms overlooking the station reminded her of train cars, inspiring a look modeled after vintage parlor cars and refreshments that nod to the "Golden Age of Rail."
- Think mahogany, brass and blue velvet, with Union Station's gilded architecture and historic Legionnaires statues as the backdrop.
Dig in: The cocktail list riffs on pre-Prohibition classics like Bee's Knees and Manhattans, alongside modern spins like a cucumber-basil Capitol Gimlet.
- Bar bites include fried chicken biscuit bites, truffle popcorn and "railway style" hot dogs with mustard, relish and onions.
The intrigue: Continental Club is a little hidden. Visitors can find an "All Aboard" stand in the Main Hall, press a button to print a ticket with directions, then take an elevator upstairs to the lounge.
- More practical: travelers can bring — and check — their luggage.
What's next: For the first few weeks, it's walk-in only, with reservations expected to follow.
- SHKR also plans live music, private events and an expanded food menu this fall. Plus, a martini happy hour for the Hill crowd.
Flashback: Union Station boasted destination dining since its early days.
- By the 1910s, a restaurant called Savarins in what’s now the East Hall billed itself as “Washington’s Best Restaurant.”
- Southern spot B. Smith’s, founded by Black lifestyle trailblazer Barbara B. Smith, closed in 2013 after 20 years.
Zoom out: The Union Station Redevelopment Corporation is investing millions to revamp the transit hub, which includes a slate of new restaurants and retail.