Kramers, the bookstore-restaurant hybrid that has anchored Dupont Circle since 1976, is turning 50 — and the man who now runs it says survival was never guaranteed. Owner Steve Salis, who has overseen the business for the past decade, says the shop has stayed afloat by sticking close to what made it work in the first place, even as it adapts retail, food and beverage operations to a changed city.
From Automobile Showroom to Literary Landmark
The store opened its doors on July 4, 1976, inside a 1920s building in Dupont Circle that originally served as an automobile showroom, according to Wikipedia. Founders Bill Kramer, David Tenney and Henry Posner launched what became known as Kramerbooks, with the attached Afterwords Cafe following two months later. Bill Kramer’s father, Sidney Kramer, had already made his mark on D.C. bookselling, having opened the specialty shop Sidney Kramer Books in the city back in 1946, a business that ran for five decades before closing in 1997. The original Kramerbooks is widely credited as one of the first bookstores in the country to pair full retail bookselling with a full-service cafe and bar, a hybrid model that Wikipedia notes went on to influence independent shops nationwide, including Harvard Book Store and Square Books.
As WTOP reports, Kramerbooks was the District’s first bookshop to combine a restaurant with its shelves, and the combination turned the storefront into something more than a place to buy books. Over the decades the shop has hosted U.S. presidents, diplomats, artists and award-winning authors, per WTOP’s account, with Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison among the literary figures who have walked through its doors. President Barack Obama made his own visit on November 26, 2011, stopping by with daughters Malia and Sasha on Small Business Saturday and buying several books, including The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever, according to WAMU/DCist.
The Starr Subpoena That Made National Headlines
Kramers’ most dramatic brush with history came in 1998, when Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr subpoenaed the store for records of Monica Lewinsky’s book purchases as part of his investigation into Bill Clinton’s affair, the station’s report states. Co-owner Bill Kramer, joined by First Amendment organizations including the American Booksellers Association, filed a federal court motion to quash the subpoena in defense of reader privacy — a fight that drew national attention during the impeachment saga. Lewinsky’s defense team ultimately released the purchase records voluntarily that June, per the same account.
Ownership changed hands in late 2016, when entrepreneur Steve Salis acquired Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe from original co-founders Bill Kramer and David Tenney, according to Washingtonian. Salis, who had previously co-founded the fast-casual chain &pizza, has now run the store for a decade — meaning the business itself is about eight years older than its current owner, WTOP notes. Salis told the outlet that Kramers has remained successful by staying true to its origins even while evolving, overseeing about 150 workers across the operation.
A Rebrand, a Lease Scare, and an Expanded Bar
In July 2020, Salis rebranded Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe simply as Kramers and renamed its restaurant All Day by Kramers, Washingtonian reported, later opening an expanded 26-seat craft cocktail and beer bar in December 2021 inside what had been book storage space. The changes came after a tense stretch in May 2020, when Salis announced plans to eventually move the bookstore out of its Dupont Circle space amid a landlord dispute over planned renovations — news that alarmed longtime patrons, per DCist. Salis clarified that July that Kramers would remain at 1517 Connecticut Avenue NW through the end of its current lease in 2026…