Zeibert, Duke, 1911-1997

David George "Duke" Zeibert (1911-1997), was the owner of the popular downtown Washington establishment Duke Zeibert?s Restaurant. A native of Troy, N.Y., he began his lifelong career in the restaurant business as a dishwasher in the resorts of the Catskill Mountains. He then went on to bus tables and worked his way up to the position of headwaiter. In the 1940s, he worked at a number of Fan & Bill?s restaurants in upstate New York, Miami, and Washington. He earned his nickname "Duke" because of the white silk pants he would wear to work while he was in Miami. He first opened Duke Zeibert?s Restaurant in 1950 in Washington, D.C. It was located in the LaSalle Building at 17th and L Streets NW, just off of Connecticut Ave. The restaurant become a local hub for thousands of lunch and dinner meetings, and boasted numerous politicians, sports figures, media celebrities, and business executives as clientele. When the LaSalle Building was torn down in 1980, Zeibert retired to play golf and bet on horse races. However, he soon found himself bored with retirement and, in 1983, he opened a new Duke Zeibert?s Restaurant on the second floor of the new Washington Square Building, located at L Street and Connecticut Ave. He remained at that location until he retired for good in 1994. Duke Zeibert died in Aug. 1997 of cancer and heart ailments.