Annie's Paramount Steakhouse has been a pillar of Washington, D.C.’s, LGBTQ+ community for more than 75 years – so much so that a street was named after the restaurant’s namesake, Annie Kaylor.
But there’s one issue: The street sign was never hung after lawmakers passed a law designating Annie’s Way in 2013.
The official designation for Annie’s Way was listed at the restaurant’s original location, a block and a half from where Annie’s is now. Since that first location is now home to JR's Bar, Annie’s wants the sign outside their current location.
So, The Scene and the News4 I-Team paired up to see when the D.C. institution might be able to take the sign off one of the restaurant’s tables and display it for all to see.
Recognizing an institution near and dear to D.C.’s LGBTQ+ community
With or without the street sign, the restaurant on 17th Street NW near Dupont Circle has long held the banner for LGBTQ+ acceptance.
“Back when D.C. was a very segregated, discriminatory city, restaurants wouldn’t serve openly gay and lesbian people,” Vincent Slatt of Rainbow History Project told News4 as the restaurant celebrated its 75th anniversary in spring.
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Annie served drinks, sass and love from behind the bar. She remains the spirit of the place a decade after her passing. Her love and the restaurant’s love for D.C.’s gay community as it was stigmatized during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s will never be forgotten.
After Annie passed away, then-mayor Vincent Gray suggested naming a street after her.
The D.C. City Council agreed. Employees, the community, neighbors: Everyone was so excited. In February 2014 – nine years and eight months ago – Gray and the D.C. Council first designated Annie's Way.
“It was so recently after Annie's passing that it just meant so much to not only our family, but everyone who's a part of the Annie's community,” general manager Georgia Katinas said.
It’s now 2023, and no sign has been mounted. People will be flocking to the area on Tuesday for the annual 17th Street High Heel Race – which started with a race between JR's Bar and Annie's Paramount Steakhouse in the 1980s. But no sign reading "Annie's Way" will be officially displayed.
“I think it would be really cool to show that there was, in fact, a street named after her. And that's so rare. How many people get that kind of recognition?” Katinas said.
What's the holdup? We asked the News4 I-Team
The D.C. Council and the mayor can bestow honorary names on streets any time they want to recognize people and places. It's part of their special powers. But the name changes must go through the legislative process.
"This is a D.C. law, and everything in D.C. is complicated, so the law needs to change the name of the road outside the current restaurant," I-Team Reporter Ted Oberg said.
Oberg has been asking about the sign for months.
Just two weeks ago, Councilmember Brooke Pinto and four of her colleagues introduced the Annie’s Way Designation Amendment Act of 2023, which would allow the sign to be put up where Annie’s family wants it.
We're told it could get a hearing in December, then a vote.
Then, maybe – just maybe – the sign can be placed somewhere other than a table inside the restaurant it recognizes.
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