Monthly Archives: April 2011

April 26, 2011 · 10:00 am

Georgetown Restaurants Still Very Independent

The other day a few of GM’s readers lamented that the new Paul Bakery restaurant that is to open next to the Banana Republic is a chain. While it’s fair to complain about the lack of genuinely exciting or even interesting restaurants in Georgetown, one of the things Georgetown’s definitely not is chain-dominated.

As of GM’s latest count, there are 126 restaurants in Georgetown. Of those, only 20 are part of a big chain. An additional 5 more are part of a regional chain (i.e. Five Guys). So even if you lump the regional chains in with the national chains, there are still only 25 chain restaurants in Georgetown. That’s less that 20%. (And the number of chains is unchanged from last year, while the number of independent restaurants has increased).

Is the Georgetown restaurant scene a little threadbare? Absolutely*. Does it seem like no new and interesting restaurants open here? You bet. But that’s a product of a lot of forces, only some of which are controllable. Continue reading →

9 Comments

Filed under Restaurants

Tagged as

April 26, 2011 · 8:00 am

The Morning Metropolitan

Photo by biberfan.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

  • Waterfront restaurants aim to be reopened by Mothers Day.
  • In the meantime, the office tenants are back. Sorry lawyers! No more billing hours on your couch.
  • GO VOTE! Polls are open now and will remain open until 8:00 pm. If you’re in the East Village, your voting location is the Library. If you’re in the West Village, it’s Duke Ellington School.

Leave a comment

Filed under The Morning Metropolitan

Tagged as ,

April 25, 2011 · 2:00 pm

The Georgetown Metropolis

3100 block of R St.

Leave a comment

Filed under The Georgetown Metropolis

Tagged as

April 25, 2011 · 10:00 am

Come Learn More About the Georgetown Village

Tomorrow night, organizers of the Georgetown Village will be holding reception at the Georgetown Presbyterian church on P St. at 7:00 pm.

GM has mentioned this before, but it’s probably worth repeating. The Georgetown Village is a proposed program modeled after other successful programs in the area (e.g. the Capitol Hill Village). The concept is to create a network of support for Georgetown senior residents so that they may live in their homes longer. For example, here are some of the services that the Georgetown Village would like to provide:

  • Transportation to the supermarket, doctor, etc.
  • Help around the house with simple tasks
  • Social events
  • Educational programs

You get all that for just a introductory yearly fee of $500 for an individual or $800 for a household. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Events

Tagged as

April 25, 2011 · 8:00 am

The Morning Metropolitan

Photo by M A E.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

  • Turns out Paul Bakery still has a ways to go until it opens in Georgetown.
  • A closer look at how the Washington Harbour’s walls are supposed to work.
  • The lines outside Dumbarton Oaks have gotten a lot longer in the last couple years. So GM was very happy to learn over the weekend that they now let you skip the line if you’ve got a season pass.

Leave a comment

Filed under The Morning Metropolitan

Tagged as ,

April 22, 2011 · 2:00 pm

The Georgetown Metropolis

3000 block of R St.

1 Comment

Filed under The Georgetown Metropolis

Tagged as

April 22, 2011 · 10:00 am

Paul Bakery Finally Opening

The other day, GM reported that Serendipity 3 was still full steam ahead, even though they have suffered some rather lengthy delays. Right across the street is another proposed restaurant that has been even longer in the offing: Paul Bakery.

Way back on March 2009, GM first reported that Capital Restaurant Concepts was planning on opening a bakery in the old City Tavern Club kitchen (the space just south of Banana Republic). Two years of starts and stops later, and the restaurant is finally ready to open. Specifically, next Tuesday. Continue reading →

13 Comments

Filed under Restaurants

Tagged as

April 22, 2011 · 8:00 am

The Morning Metropolitan

Blues Alley by Lnkyhack.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

Leave a comment

Filed under The Morning Metropolitan

Tagged as

April 21, 2011 · 2:00 pm

The Georgetown Metropolitan

Potomac River

Leave a comment

Filed under The Georgetown Metropolis

April 21, 2011 · 10:00 am

Georgetown to Get Two More Bikeshare Stations, But Locations Lacking

Photo by Jasonpier.

Yesterday, DDOT announced the proposed location of 25 more Capital Bikeshare locations. Of those, two are going to be in Georgetown. This is great news. What’s not so great is where DDOT is planning to put them.

In January, as a result of efforts mostly from Ken Archer, the ANC approved a resolution asking DDOT to consider putting Bikeshare stations at four locations: the sidewalk outside Hyde-Addison, the playground of the Jackson School (across from Montrose Park), the Georgetown Library, and the sidewalk of M St. just west of the Rock Creek bridge. Each of the first three of those locations was vetted with the stakeholders and even representatives of DDOT. So they weren’t merely idle wishes for locations. The last location was added by ANC commissioner Tom Birch because, hey, it’s probably a great location if a station could fit.

No one from DDOT promised that Georgetown would get any stations, let alone at these recommended locations. But it seemed reasonable to assume that if DDOT gave Georgetown more stations that they’d put them at locations specifically requested through a diligent process.

So it came as a surprise to see that DDOT is proposing putting two stations at locations not even previously considered. They recommend putting a station at the intersection of Reservoir and Wisconsin and a station along P St. near the Rock Creek Parkway exit.

Both these locations have significant problems. Continue reading →

10 Comments

Filed under Bikes

Tagged as