If you spend even a few hours in one of more than 20 queer bars D.C. has to offer, chances are someone will wax nostalgic for the days of Town Danceboutique, which closed in 2018.

One of the major draws to Town was its Bear Happy Hour, where drink discounts, special DJs, and drag shows would draw in bears, their admirers, and anyone looking to start off their weekend with a party.  

Tony Castro, longtime Washington resident and a big fan of Town’s Bear Happy Hour, is attempting to bring back the drink discounts and special energy the happy hour provided to the city’s LGBTQ population to a new location for a new generation of queer people. This time at Crush Dance Bar at 2007 14th St., N.W. 

“Grizzly was something that I came up with just in conversations over the past couple years,” Castro said to the Blade in a recent interview. “Talking with numerous people, I’ve heard that there’s been kind of a gap since Town Bear Happy Hour. There’s been a kind of a gap in the Friday happy hour that everyone looked forward to. That was one of the special things about Town — it was something that everyone looked forward to on a Friday and it just wasn’t the bear community. It was kind of everybody.”

Grizzly (Bear) Happy Hour officially debuted on Valentine’s Day earlier this year, setting the tone with $8 pitchers of beer, free hot dogs, and a pop-up from fetish gear outlet Anubis Gear. That night, Castro got his first real sense of the event’s energy and was overwhelmed by the positive response.

“I think my favorite comment that I heard throughout the course of the night was people coming up to me or just saying to other people that ‘This feels like Town.’ That kind of gives me chills. That was sort of the idea, that kind of feeling of just inclusivity. It’s Friday and there’s cheap drink specials and it just felt like a good place to be. Just to hear that people say that Valentine’s reminded them of Town, was kind of what I was going for.”

The goal of Grizzly Happy Hour, Castro explained, was not to recreate the exact happy hour that he and much of the city’s LGBTQ population grew to love at Town but rather bring it into the 2020s. One part of that, Castro explained, is taking advantage of everything Crush has to offer.

Crush, which sits at the intersection of 14th and U streets, has quickly become a favorite drink and dance spot for the LGBTQ community in Washington. The bar hosts myriad events for multiple sub-communities within the LGBTQ community, including drag bingo with legendary local drag queens and Deep Cvnt Ball, one of only a handful of Black queer ballroom events in the city. The versatility Crush offers—along with the steady stream of patrons willing to wait up to 30 minutes at peak hours—makes the two-story bar an ideal home for Grizzly Happy Hour.  

“I look at this venue as an opportunity to be somewhat of a sensory overload,” Castro explained. “From things that you’re visually seeing, to vendors that are there, artists that are there, and the new people that you’re meeting, but also having great happy hour specials. One of the things that was attractive about Crush was it’s a dance bar, it has access to outdoor space, and it’s an inclusive environment. Those are the three things that to me, Grizzly and Crush come together on.”

For a happy hour to be successful, Castro explained creating drink deals “without breaking the wallet” was a major focus.

“One of the things that was so infamous about Town’s Bear Happy Hour was that they had pitchers of beer. There’s not many places where you can get a huge pitcher of beer for an inexpensive price. Having that was key to making some of this a success, and somewhat to make it feel more like the Town and Bear Happy Hour of the past.”

If beer isn’t your go-to, no worries, Castro assured. The vibes of the happy hour would be enjoyable to all — from those who prefer a cocktail, to people who’d rather throw back a shot before heading to the dance floor.

“There’s a couple other drinks that we brought on the menu that I’m excited about,” he said. “One is the ‘Bear Crush,’ which is a modified normal Crush. And then we have a shot called the ‘Sexual Teddy Bear’ shot, which was quite popular on Valentine’s Day.”

Another important element when planning an event is the music. 

“In terms of the music and the DJs, I think we’re going to mix it up every time. Sometimes it could be all pop. Sometimes it could be more dancy. The intent is that it’s feel-good music. And we really want to support the DJs in the community, especially a lot of the newer DJs who don’t get the opportunity to perform in spaces like this.”

Castro hopes that this happy hour can be more than friends grabbing some drinks to start the weekend, though. He wants Grizzly to become a safe space for all, including the many LGBTQ organizations that exist in the city.

“I think it’s going back to having organizations and different entrepreneurs within the community actively participate in Grizzly and just getting to spread their message and recruitment.”

One concern that Castro had was not stepping on anyone’s toes in planning the happy hour, specifically other bear-themed events. It’s true that other queer bars in the city do have more ‘bear centered’ events, like Uproar’s weekly “Bears, Brews, and Booze” on Sundays, Castro made it clear he, and the rest of Grizzly’s team are not here to take any other bar’s bear spot in the ever changing landscape of Washington’s queer nightlife scene. 

“It’s not trying to replace any other bear events or happy hours that are happening on different days of the week,” Castro said. 

He also wants it to be clear that this is not solely for the bears or bear lovers of D.C. Castro wants all in the LGBTQ community to feel comfortable at Grizzly, despite what its name implies. 

“We’re publicly promoting it,” Castro started. “It’s not like an elite club or anything. It’s on open social media. It’s on Crush’s website. It’s on Grizzly social media- it’s an open invite. I will say the name Grizzly, we struggled with the name for a bit. At Town, it was exclusively called ‘Bear Happy Hour.’ I struggled for a while … While the logo is a bear, Grizzly sort of implies a bear, it doesn’t say ‘bear.’ It was my subtle way of saying that this isn’t all for bears — everyone’s invited.”

Castro went on to explain that this inclusive spirit of Grizzly was what made him choose Crush over more bear-centric venues. 

“That was part of the intention of having it at Crush,” he said. “I would love it if someone walked into Crush for a happy hour and didn’t even know Grizzly was happening. They’re like, ‘Oh, wow! This event has really good drink specials. The music’s really great. The people are great. Let’s just stay here.’ That’s sort of what I’m hoping for. I think that’ll happen over time.”

Grizzly Bear Happy Hour will take place on Friday, March 7 at Crush Dance Bar (2007 14th St., N.W.) from 6-10 pm. For more details visit Grizzly’s Instagram page at grizzly_bhhdc.