A Secretary of War, Supreme Court Justice, and FBI Director walk into a bar… and if you watched Saturday Night Live this weekend, that bar is none other than Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown.
In the cold open, Pete Hegseth (played by Colin Jost) orders his usual shot of beer with a pint of whiskey—a “reverse Irish car bomb”—at the 93-year-old tavern. He tells the bartender: “It’s nice to have my sneaky bar here where I’m not going to run into anyone at work, because none of Trump’s people like drinking as much as I do.”
He’s immediately joined by Matt Damon as Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Aziz Ansari as FBI Director Kash Patel. Kavanaugh orders six Bud Lights and three shots of Jameson (“a six-three decision”), while Patel brings his own personalized FBI-branded bourbon bottle (“I bring my own alcohol to bars, because sometimes they think I am a kid with a fake ID”).
A Secretary of War, a Supreme Court Justice, and an FBI Director walk into a bar pic.twitter.com/yGACw2vf4e
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) May 10, 2026
“I thought it was funny as can be,” says Martin’s Tavern owner Billy Martin. He had no idea his restaurant would be featured on the late-night show and woke up Sunday morning to an avalanche of text messages.
Martin says he was impressed with how SNL‘s set designers replicated Martin’s style of windows and the type of art on its walls, right down to a portrait of John F. Kennedy, who famously proposed to Jackie at the restaurant. The real Martin’s Tavern, however, does not have a jukebox. He sent an email to the show to see if he could get them to send the Martin’s plaque they had hanging on the set wall. He’s hoping the cast could sign it.
Many years ago, when Damon began starring in the Jason Bourne series, Martin says he had a friend who knew the actor and his manager, and so he’d tried to get Damon to visit the restaurant when he was in DC. But it never happened.
“I guess we can say Matt’s been to Martin’s now,” Martin says.
Patel, however, has actually been to the real Martin’s Tavern. But Martin says he’s never witnessed the kind of heavy drinking that was played up on SNL. “I’ve never seen any of that with any of those guys. They’re all business, at least at Martin’s,” he says.
In real life, other Trump cabinet secretaries including Scott Bessent, Pam Bondi, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have also frequented the restaurant.
As for the establishment being portrayed as a hangout for top MAGA brass?
“We are the most bipartisan place ever,” Martin says. “When my great grandfather and my grandfather opened Martin’s in the ’30s, they were friends with everybody on Capitol Hill, with the Kennedys, Sam Rayburn, Lyndon Johnson on… Martin’s is like the modern day Cheers. Everybody’s welcome.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind DC’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
