The Monocle Restaurant
Historic Photos — 1960-2025, 65 Years
With our upcoming 65th anniversary in October 2025, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back at some of the moments through the years that have helped shape and influence who we’ve become — both as people and as a restaurant. We invite you to scroll down and enjoy some of the photos we’ve collected over the years.
From left: The Monocle founder Constantine “Connie” Valanos; Miss Universe 1961, Marlene Schmidt from Germany; Eddie Gallaher, who was a radio personality in Washington, D.C., from 1946 until his retirement in 2000.; an unidentified woman.
Annette Funicello, American actress and singer, poses with John Valanos (right) and older brother George at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC, circa 1964, for the Congressional baseball game.
The couples: Valanos family photo of (from left) founder Connie and wife, Helen; current owner John and Vasiliki “Kiki” Valanos.
A young Connie Valanos with his father George Valanos in Athens Greece.
Before The Monocle became a restaurant, in its previous life it served as a boarding house for interns working on Capitol Hill.
A snowy day in DC outside The Monocle in the early 1970s.
Snowed in. A view of The Monocle from the early 1960s before we had our bay window installed. A young Senator John F. Kennedy would sit for dinner at a spot in that new bay window with his wife, Jackie. It was famously noted that he said The Monocle was the best pickup place in town — for his meals. He would call in his order from the White House when he was President and have his Presidential limo pick up his dinner at The Monocle.
A throwback scene. A shot of the decor of our interior early on. The dining room has come a long way.