Georgetown Time Machine: Little Tavern

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, GM is traveling not that long ago, and visiting a building that hardly looks that different, but it’s a fun visit anyhow.

The photo, from 1992 (and the DC Historical Society) is of the northeast corner of N and Wisconsin. It shows the building much as it looked when it was a Little Tavern burger shop.

GM has previously dug into the history of this location. It probably had just closed down the year prior to the photo above, when most of the chain’s locations closed. Here’s what it looked like when it was open:

The building has hardly changed in the years since, even though Paolo’s occupied the space for decades (after briefly being Stousey’s). The original green color of the burger shop is actually showing up as Paolo’s paint continues to peel.

There’s something about the jaunty colors and the sunlight in the top photo that gives the scene a bit of an Edward Hopper vibe. It’s no Nighthawks, but the artist would probably appreciate the scene nonetheless.