An institution in the D.C. area adult entertainment scene is changing hands to a regional chain.
Crystal City Restaurant and Gentlemen’s Club (422 23rd Street S.) has been sold to Paper Moon, which operates other gentlemen’s clubs in Richmond, Northern Virginia and D.C. It’s only the second time the family-owned business has transferred ownership in its 62-year history.
Owner Billy Bayne — who has run the establishment since 1988 after taking over from his father — told ARLnow that industry-wide changes in adult entertainment drove him to sell.
“Business has just changed,” Bayne said. “It’s time for me to get out.”
The discreetly named “restaurant” — before the “gentlemen’s club” part was added to the outdoor signage, the name sometimes caused confusion and drew complaints — is open seven days a week. Cigars, champagne on ice and private dance rooms are all available, and it advertises services for bachelor parties, birthday parties and retirement parties.
The establishment also offers reasonably priced prime rib and $5.99 daily lunch specials.
CCR, as the club is known, opened under the name Arlington Luncheon in 1963 “with the intention of providing hot meals to the Arlington area,” according to its website. It later pivoted to its current business model “to spice things up a bit.”
It’s currently unknown if the name “Crystal City Restaurant and Gentlemen’s Club” will remain. Many of Paper Moon’s other clubs bear the name of the company, which also operates Good Guys Club and Platinum DC Club across the Potomac.
As for Bayne, he intends to spend more time working at the nearby Crystal City Sports Pub, which he co-owns, and getting it “back in perfect position.” Bayne, who formerly owned the Highlander motel near Clarendon, also plans to address some lingering health issues, he said.
