Diamond Head, Washington, DC (restaurant)

Name:Diamond Head
Type:restaurant
Street:1010 Wisconsin Avenue
City:Washington
State:DC
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:333-3940
Status:defunct

Description:
This Diamond Head restaurant was located 1010 Wisconsin Avenue, Dodge Center, Georgetown, Washington DC and also there was a second location at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland.

here is the drink menu front

drink menu back

drink menu inside

dinner menu front

first two pgs inside

next two pgs inside

nest two pgs inside

back of dinner menu

matchbook covers front and back strike

Ah, the Diamond Head! A place close to my heart; a place that figures in the years from childhood to my early post-college days.

I went to the Wisconsin Avenue location a number of times (forget it Tikiphiles, they razed the whole block years ago). It was my first true exposure to Tiki, although I did not know it at the time. Whenever we would pass it in the car, I would gaze at it and think of Hawaii 5-0.

Furthermore, I grew up next door to the owner- Mr Shao. A very hardworking, nice man. He previously owned the Seven Seas which was at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Military Road/Missouri Avenue. That building is still there. I call it the Omega Man building because it looked like where Heston lived in the movie.

Anyway, my fondest memory is when my parents took me there after landing my first job out of college. Sure enough, there was Mr Shao with a smile, congratulatory handshake and a Tiki Grog on the house. That place was class all the way.

Mr Shao passed away around 10 years ago and his wife moved out to the burbs. But his sons stil run a couple of pretty good restaurants, sadly not Tiki. They carry on the tradition of a smile and a drink on the house.

I toy with the idea of naming my home Tiki bar after the Diamond Head. Although its a "typical" name, it would honor a great place owned by a class act.

hey JackLord, you might dig this article from 1977:

Family Out
A Weekly Guide to Family Dining
By Susan Crowley
The Washington Post; Dec 22, 1977;

The Diamond Head
6900 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. 656-3161.
Atmosphere: Friendly and informal.
Price range: Dinners from $3.95 to $16.
Sunday buffet at bargain basement prices -- $2.50 for children, $4.85 for adults.
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to midnight on Fridays; noon to midnight Saturdays; 3 to 11 p.m. Sundays, with buffet ending at 8 p.m.
Credit cards: Ammerican Express, Master Charge, Visa, Diners Club.
Special facilities: Free parking. Accessible by wheelchair.
Reservations: Not necessary except on weekends.

“Sunday family buffet, all you can eat at reasonable prices,” the ad had said. Within half an hour, we had plastic leis draped around our necks and were sipping rum potions and Shirley Temples in the Luau Room of the Diamond Head Restaurant in Bethesda.

This cheerful establishment has everything but Dorothy Lamour in her sarong in the way of South Seas atmosphere – rooms are divided into little grass, hut-type walls and roofs, pastel-colored waters flow from fountains and the ceilings are “starlit.” In deference to the Yuletide season, strings of lights and evergreens are mixed in among the palms.

Few children can resist all this, but the best part for them is the paper fans stuck in the liquid refreshments, and the mugs they can take home if they can talk their parents into buying the right drinks. And our youngest daughter now has dangling from her bed post more than a dozen leis, most abandoned by grownup diners.

Despite the Polynesian trappings, the food is mostly Northern Chinese, or to be precise, Sze Chuan. The advertising for the buffet lived up to it claims – no one cared how many times we had refills and our bill for everything, including drinks, tip and leis, came to what must have been for the proprietor an unprofitable $22.80.

While my husband and I pondered the list of drinks, which ranged in potency from volcanic to subdued and had names like Beachcomber, $1.95 and Waikiki Passion, $1.25, the girls inspected the buffet.

Four main dishes, which are varied from week to week but always include one each of chicken, pork, beef and shrimp, were offered, as well as soup, fried rice and egg rolls.

Our children loaded up on the rice and the egg rolls, taking roughly a teaspoon of the other offerings. They liked the idea of limitless egg rolls and each had three. This was a puny showing compared to a 14-year-old boy who, according to Alfred, the manager, ate 16 at one sitting recently.

The Peking shrimp with bamboo shoots and broccoli was satisfying, but the beef with peppers and tomatoes suffered from stewing over a pan of hot water for a couple of hours. (The egg rolls also go soggy but this clearly is no obstacle to true aficionados.)

The sweet and sour pork was a good sticky concoction of meat, pineapple and maraschino cherries. The addition of the cherries was imaginative and colorful, but I prefer them in my Waikiki Passions.

I thought the best dish was the Kang Pao chicken, a fiery zinger made with chicken, obviously, onions and peanuts. My husband bit into a hot pepper and went into a frenzy. Nevertheless, in combination with the other blander dishes, the Kang Pao (pronounced pow) made the meal more interesting.

Tea was served, and ice cream and fortune cookies were part of the package.

Since we were among the last to arrive for the buffet, things were winding down. We had to remind the young waiters that we had no plates, napkins etc. Once prodded, they were willing and polite.

The Diamond Head serves regular dinners, too, including spicy Yu Shang pork for $4.95, Sze Chuan vegetables for $5.95 and chicken Teriyaki for $4.95. The highest priced item is the Peking duck, $16, but it can feed from two to four people.

American and continental dishes include steaks and seafood. If you’re feeling ostentatious, order the cognac-soaked lobster or king crab, which the management will set on fire for you at tableside.

Despite the delectable delights of the regular menu, we’ll save our Alohas for the Sunday luau.

I do indeed.

Thanks Johnny!

:D

online scan of ad from August 1980 "Washington Dossier" magazine.

Interesting. I never knew there was a Georgetown location.

yeah, it was in that red brick waterfront center building - google maps street view - i know for a fact that i went by that building in the 80s; with the businesses being set so far back from the street i guess it was easy to miss.

more diamond head-y goodness, this time from an ad in the WaPo, march 3, 1978. and who is the neighbor to the far left?

ok, this is a weird one from april 21 1977.

trying to sell it as an eqyptian fern bar - ??!?
perhaps the graphics at the bottom are intended to evoke diamond head, but it sure looks like pyramids to me.

waiiittt... i was 6 years old at the time, and i remember going to the king tut exhibit at the national gallery of art at the time... ha! zeitgeist marketing! that rules :D

from wikipedia:

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (November 17, 1976 – March 15, 1977) – 836,000 visitors in over 117 days

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treasures_of_Tutankhamun#Other_museums_to_host_the_exhibition_2

Great research. Here is a plate posted on the restaurant china collecting thread that may be for this location.

On 2013-06-02 10:49, Johnny Dollar wrote:
ok, this is a weird one from april 21 1977.

trying to sell it as an eqyptian fern bar - ??!?
perhaps the graphics at the bottom are intended to evoke diamond head, but it sure looks like pyramids to me.

waiiittt... i was 6 years old at the time, and i remember going to the king tut exhibit at the national gallery of art at the time... ha! zeitgeist marketing! that rules :D

from wikipedia:

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (November 17, 1976 – March 15, 1977) – 836,000 visitors in over 117 days

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treasures_of_Tutankhamun#Other_museums_to_host_the_exhibition_2

I think you are correct. King Tut was in town and the whole region was smitten with pyramids, mummies, and gold treasures.

I myself waited for 1 1/2 hours to see it.

one last one - september 21, 1975.