No one likes to have to take their clothes to the laundromat. But a new bar in Brooklyn, called Pearl Lee’s Washtub, is spicing up the chore by creating a laundromat that's also a full bar. 



<div class="block">No one likes to have to take their clothes to the laundromat. But a new bar in Brooklyn, called Pearl Lee’s Washtub, is spicing up the chore by creating a laundromat that&#39;s also a full bar. </div>

Wake Up With Cheddar

Pearl Lee’s Washtub in Brooklyn Combines Laundromat and Bar 

And welcome back, everyone to wake and bake. No one likes to have to take their clothes to the laundromat. But a new bar in Brooklyn is spicing up the chore by creating a laundromat. That's also a full bar. You don't know how much I love this. Our very own Chloe A was on the scene to find out more about this new hotspot. I'm in Crown Heights, Brooklyn at Pearlie's wash tub. A new Laro bar that aims to upgrade your typical New York City laundromat with music, food and drinks. And I'm here with owner Theo to learn more about this amazing concept. Hey, Theo, thanks for having us. Where did you get the idea to combine a bar with a laundromat? Well, the Laro bar concept is not uh new. It's been around since the eighties. It's popular in Europe. I wanted to create a space where people can come and do laundry, pair it with beer, wine food to make the experience more enjoyable. Absolutely. How does the space change when you go from day to night? Well, in the mornings we do uh coffee and pastries during the afternoon, people who are working from home in the neighborhood they'll come by, we have wifi, they access the wi Fi, uh, so that they can work. Instead of working in their apartment, they come here and they can knock off a load of laundry. So, and then as the evening comes, uh, we get our evening crew, people have come after work to, uh, because we open up until our last wash is at 9 30. So people come after work to do their laundry. And, um, so it fluctuates throughout the day. Yeah, absolutely. And of course, you don't just have your typical coin operated laundry machine here. What do you, what have you got that? We, uh, we use a card system. So you're not, uh, lugging around a bag of quarters to, uh, access the machines. Um, the card system you just laid on the machine, it tells you your balance. Uh, you can add, uh, money to your card as you know, you go. Um, what's, what's unique about the card also is that if you say leave the card behind inside of the, the Laund bar and we find it, we can put it in the machine and if you register the card, your name will pop up with your contact information. You can say, hey, you left your card behind, come and get it. New York City mayor Eric Adams actually stopped by, got behind the bar. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Well, I gotta admit I, that was a surprise. Um, we, I was working with the New York City, uh, Business Solutions, uh, and, uh, they helped out a lot as far as getting the permits, you know, get cutting through the red tape, the forms and filling it out. And, um, the uniqueness I think of the, the laundry bar grabbed their attention and I believe they bumped it up to the mayor's office. So that's when I got a call that, uh, uh Mayor Adams would be coming through to check us out. So that, that definitely was a shot in the arm for us. Now, the, it's an interesting concept but you have an even more special back story to go along. Yes. This bar. What can you tell me about it? Well, uh this bar is basically a homage to my maternal aunt, uh Aunt Pearl. Um, she was a nurture of the family. She prepared our meals, she laundered our clothes. Um We have a sign above the dryers that spell out dry, but it uses the actual clothes pins that she used to use to dry our clothes. So this is a sort of a homage to her. And coincidentally, uh her birthday was in April, which is when we uh had our grand opening and if she had lived, she would have been 100 and one years old. Wow, that's such a special story for such a special business. The thank you so much. When we come back, we're gonna get behind the bar and try some of these awesome food and drinks. Don't laugh at me. I'm blown away by this. It's sometimes the most simple concept ever. That seems to be the most groundbreaking like going to laundromat until now and coming up, see a few of the signature drinks and dishes at the menu at Pearl Lee's wash tub and la. The last time I was at a laundromat, it was in Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Dominic West was in it. And yes, and that was the last time I was in one and I was like, wow, they should have a laundromat where only celebrities go to. Now, I'm like, why don't they just have one with a bar? One for singles? Yes. Oh, my God. That's actually I did too. You and I have another business venture. Meanwhile, as we welcome back, everyone to wake up with chatter, I wake up a chat. We are live in Manhattan and no one likes having to take their clothes to the laundromat. No one, not a single person but a new bar in Brooklyn is spicing up the chore by creating a laundromat. That's also a full bar. Well, maybe now I do want to get my laundry here. Our very own Chloe A was on the scene to find out more. Check it out. I'm behind the bar here at Pearl Lee's wash tub, which is not only one of the best new bars in Crown Heights. Brooklyn, but also a fully functional laundromat. And I have owner Theo Dupri here with us to talk all about food and drinks. You have a signature cocktail, the pearl, what goes into it? Well, the Pearl is a homage to my um pearl and uh it uses so which is a Korean spirit derived from sweet potato. It's about half the strength of vodka and it does have a vodka ish type of taste. It's one of our popular drinks and we give it a shake to chill it. And we use two olives and a cocktail pearl to make it the pearl teenie. Try it. Let me know what you think. Oh gosh. I'm excited. Oh, hey. Oh, it's delicious. It really tastes like routine. All right. Now you also have some incredible food options. Yes, we do. We do, we do. We have um we have uh fish and chips and we do our tartar sauce which is uh made in house. It's a time tartar sauce with the seasoned waffle fries. Then we have the uh salmon burger with a jerk aioli and then we have the bacon cheese burger. And then we have the uh jerky turkey burger which we also use with the uh and then we have the Brooklyn Glizzy, which is uh a hot dog that we season the sauerkraut with thyme and all spice berries. And then we put spicy mustard and green onions on top. Now, theo this is such a dynamic space. You have the beautiful outdoor area. Do people ever just come by to hang out instead of doing laundry? Yes, I do have people that are very adamant about not doing laundry. But I also wanted to also be a local bar where people can come grab a drink, watch the game and just, you know, hang out and enjoy themselves. So they don't have to do laundry. You can come grab a bite to eat and grab a drink and enjoy out uh outdoor space. Yeah. Now, speaking of the local bar, how has this helped to build community in the neighborhood? Well, I think, um people that come here because everybody has to do laundry. So, uh I find that people are making connections. Oh, you live in the neighbor? Oh, yeah, I live in the neighborhood and they're making new friends as they come here to do laundry. You also have only been open since April, as you mentioned, but you've already gone viral. How important has social media been for a new business like yours? Well, it's been very, very, very helpful. I have people that are just coming by out of curiosity to see what the space is like. So that was a big shot. Me on with the social media. Incredible. And now it's summer time coming up here. What new things do you have planned for? Pele was? Well, uh we're gonna start doing brunch on the weekends on Saturdays. And Sundays. And also we may have uh an event where we'll do a barbecue of uh fried turkey, uh fried fish. And we may even roast a pig, a whole pig. And you have a state of the art coffee machine coming, which I am so excited for personally owner of Pearl Lee's wash tub. If you're ever in Crown Heights. Definitely stop by and check it out. Thanks so much and our thanks to Chloe A and of course, you can visit Pearl Lee's wash tub and Lara Bar over in Crown Heights. Brooklyn. Smart idea.