ATOMIC BILLIARDS
ATOMIC BILLIARDS
“Like Bedrock, Atomic Billiards is a true neighborhood favorite lorded over by its regulars.”
With Bedrock Billiards up and running and earning a few bucks, my business partner Mark Handwerger and I found a second location in Cleveland Park, DC, the neighborhood where we grew up. Underneath the Brookville Market on a busy commercial stretch of Connecticut Avenue, Atomic Billiards was a bit smaller than Bedrock with six pool tables and two dart boards, but it was (and still is) just as cool.
While I was the majority owner and manager of Bedrock Billiards, Mark was Atomic's majority owner and operator. It was a great way to balance our partnership as we learned how to run these gutsy little bars. Designer Travis Smith again delivered with a Jetson’s design sense, painting space-themed murals and bringing in talented artist Daryl Dean to paint the killer mural that still commands the bar's back wall. A friend of ours from the Rock Creek Ravens baseball team, Jeff Bobeck (pictured in 2023), was one of our first bartenders, and Mark’s sister Sarah was Atomic Billiards’ manager. My brother Seth and brother-in-law Bobby helped with the construction. Atomic Billiards was indeed all in the family.
Like Bedrock Billiards, Atomic is a neighborhood favorite lorded over by its regulars. We created memberships at both Bedrock and Atomic that, for $50 a year, offered customers discounts of 15% off everything, all the time. We wanted to give something back to the people who supported us every day, and I’m certain this was a key piece of our 30+ year success at each spot. Both Bedrock and Atomic have over 1000 lifetime members.
