Anthony Brundidge Cibel

Anthony, known to all his friends and family as Tony is survived by his wife of 40 years, Lynn Kraft Cibel of Washington and three sons, Theodore J Cibel of Maryland, Nicholas J Cibel of Washington DC and Dean A Cibel of Maryland, and their mother Patsy Cokinos of Maryland, two sisters, Marthann Secrist of Massachusetts and Nancy Conway of Washington DC and Ft Lauderdale, and five grandchildren – all of whom he adored. Tony also had a brother, Irving James Cibel Jr. who passed in 2019.

Tony, who considered himself a lifelong Washingtonian, was born on June 5, 1937 in Cambridge, Mass, to Martha Worden and Irving J Cibel, and moved to Washington DC in the 6th grade. Tony attended Woodrow Wilson High school. He was a volunteer for the Bethesda Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. Tony loved living life to its fullest and had many wonderful friends and famous business’s, some of which remain Washington Icons today! Tony was proud of being a 65 year Washington DC based businessman and loved the restaurant business. Besides his family, there was nothing Tony enjoyed more than “rubbing elbows” with his patrons and friends.

After working in the family dry cleaning business – Golden Bell, whose main warehouse was the building where Le Diplomat Restaurant sits today, Tony began selling Dance and Karate lessons for Arthur Linkletter. From there he knew he wanted to be his own boss and this along with advice from famous restauranter, and the best man at his first wedding, Blackie Auger led to a partnership with Joe Rinaldi when they opened the Soul Palace on 17th St NE DC. This is where his real career began as he discovered his love of putting people and food together and having a night of laughs and song and merriment.

Tony really enjoyed his friends. Among others, he counted Frank Sinatra, Ted Williams and Frank Howard as friends. He lived a glamorous life and never missed an opportunity to say hello to anyone – interaction was his favorite thing! And the people loved him for it.

This showed through his successful businesses which include:

The historic Barrell House Liquors, where his good friend Fishbait Miller, renowned Doorkeeper of the US House of Representatives, purchased all of the Capital liquor;

He and Joes Rinaldi bought The Dancing Crab in 1981, a Washington Institution, where Red Auberbach would spend every Thursday for Willie Joe James’ famous Fried Chicken. Tony, Sonny Jurgenson, John Riggins and the late Glen Brenner enjoyed one another’s stories at the secret bar upstairs Malt Shop which was the scene of the famous Monday Night Football segment with Howard Cosell (Skins-Giants1983) or celebrated the making of “A Few Good Men with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Rob Reiner;

He and Joe teamed up again at Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place, where his self-named “Wall of Fame Wall” is filled with pictures of his guests with Ambassadors, Presidents, Movie Stars, and Local Legends: Guest included a long list of stars including Clint Eastwood, William Shatner, Andy Garcia, Lilly Tomlin, Magic Johnson, Bob Geldoff, Graham Nash, Dave Chappelle, Mike Tyson, and so many sports players from the DC area teams (He was especially friendly with Norv Turner often traveling on the team plane to games during his tenure).

Working with visionary developer Herb Miller, Tony was instrumental in the transition of Georgetown’s waterfront to what it is today All of this showed Tony’s guts as, when no one believed a cement plant could be the site of a great restaurant, Tony saw the opportunity and executed TWO restaurants that remain Washington Icons after 35 years.

Then, with beloved son Nick, he opened Nick’s Riverside Grill, a family endeavor that has been booming for over 30 years.

Tony was courageous, once defending his by shooting a would be robber who was holding his cashier at gunpoint. He partnered with nephew Greg Casten opening ProFish and Ivy City Smokehouse in a neglected neighborhood. Their most recent venture, The Point DC is another example of such business guts, strategically located in the burgeoning DC neighborhood at Buzzard’s Point. And he wasn’t afraid of a crowd, grabbing a mic whenever he could as he was the ring announcer for Joe Robert’s 1992 Fight Night.

Tony was a passionate golfer. A fifty year member of Woodmont Country Club who played into his 80’s. Growing up, Tony played bridge and golf with neighbor Dean Beeman well before he became PGA Commissioner, and was Winner Johnny Miller’s roommate during play of 1973 US Open Champion at Oakmont PA.

He enjoyed eating dinner at other restaurants and favored the Prime Rib, The Pines of Rome, Blackie’s Steak House and La Perla. He never missed the Wheel of Fortune, once hosting the Show at Tony and Joe’s. Tony maintained a flamboyant lifestyle, being chauffeured to boxing championships in his Limousine with DC plate 66. Tony was a lifelong boxing fan attending several prominent boxing championship fights. In 1990, along with his good friend Chuck Sloan, they sponsored the third Championship Match between Simon Brown and Tyrone Trice -an epic match where both fighters training in a tent outside his Georgetown Restaurants.

He enjoyed being around powerful people and he knew every Washington DC Mayor from Marion Barry to Muriel Bowser (a personal favorite), and he met with Presidents including Ronald Reagan, both George Bush 41&43, both Bill and Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Barrack Obama.

Tony maintained a home in Fort Lauderdale, where he would spend his winters basking in the ocean. He loved Chinese Food, but only if it was from Boston.

Services will be held Friday January 12, from 4 to 7 at Gawler’s Funeral Home, 5130 Wisconsin Ave NW Washington DC. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Makom, formerly the JFGH, at 1500 E. Jefferson St. Rockville, Maryland 20852, 240-283-6000.