Teddy & the Bully Bar Is Next in a String of POTUS-Themed Restaurants

So, sure, this is the nation's capital, the place where presidents live and have things named after them all the time from monuments to airports. Why not have a whole ton of restaurants named after them, too? Or at least that's the plan from Alan Popovsky, the restaurateur behind Lincoln whose next project will be the Teddy Roosevelt-themed Teddy & the Bully Bar, according to Tom Sietsema. The Post critic reported last night that Popovsky is working on the new concept in the former Sam & Harry’s space in Dupont, with all kinds of Teddy Roosevelt-related kitsch and a menu of wild game.

But along with this move, the restaurateur is also starting up a company called the Presidential Restaurant Group — and, yes, this means that a whole crop of new presidentially themed restaurants are in your future, people of Washington.

A rep for the company tells Eater that the plan is to have a lot of restaurants named after U.S. presidents. Which ones? Well, that part is not to be revealed yet, but the unsurprising strategy is to pick presidents that were well-liked and "stood for something" so as not to alienate anyone — such as political partisans, perhaps? They're also likely to be picking presidents that would be interesting to design a restaurant around, a la the Lincoln penny floor and the planned "faux taxidermy" and forest diorama for the nature-loving Teddy restaurant.

Like everyone else these days, the restaurant will be serving small plates and, beyond the wild game aspect, dishes are likely to be based upon things that Teddy Roosevelt liked. The restaurant group has already embarked upon their historical research into this, per the rep. Early determinations: he maybe liked fried chicken?

Anyway, Sietsema notes that they haven't found a chef yet and expect to open right around the presidential inauguration in January because when else are you going to open your presidentially themed restaurant in Washington, DC, right?

· Alan Popovsky Salutes Another U.S. President With Teddy & the Bully Bar in Downtown Washington [WaPo]
· All Previous Lincoln Coverage [-EDC-]