Category Archives: Uncategorized

Dumbarton Oaks

Photo from Eater DC.

New and hip restaurants never open up in Georgetown anymore. At least that’s the common refrain. And there is a lot of truth to it. Even the well regarded restaurants that have opened in Georgetown, like Chez Billy Sud or Fiola Mare, are far from hip. But maybe that’s a good thing?

Recently in Shaw–the epicenter of recently opened hip restaurants in DC–there have been a spate of closings. They’ve even come up with a clever name for it: the Ninth Street Massacre.

While that is (hopefully) a tongue-in-cheek expression, the closings have been a great disappointment. They include Chao Ku, A&D, Table, and the somewhat infamous (and infamously short-lived) Shaw Bijou. The local ANC rep, and unofficial “mayor of Shaw”, chalks up the losses to the “normal course of business” and to bad leases. But there’s also just more risk involved in trying to open an adventurous restaurant in a gentrifying neighborhood. Continue reading →

Photo by J. Maughn.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• New beer director (and first woman to serve in the role) at Pizza Paradiso.
• Speaking of Pizza Paradiso, they will be closed on Thursday in acknowledgement of the Day Without Immigrants protest strike across the country.

Potomac River

Love them or hate them, we can all agree that the 1400 block of Wisconsin Ave. has long been defined by the stretch of shops selling cheap suits, and other somewhat gaudy sundries. It has inspired unproven conspiracy theories about drug dealing and money laundering and angst about why these blocks are being  “held back”. But the reality is that we are probably in the twilight days of these shops.

Spurred on by Robert Bell’s redevelopment of the old Georgetown Theater building, a row of the stores on the east side of Wisconsin has already been vacated and partially renovated. Now change is coming to the west side.

Well actually change came to the west side a while ago. Three of the store fronts of the “old style” were renovated years ago. Now an M & T Bank and the new Boulangerie Christophe operate in two of them (the third is still vacant). Continue reading →

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM decided not to leave it up to fate and went ahead and bought the Old Georgetown sign he discussed yesterday and donate it to the Peabody Room. It’s already there if you want to check it out!
• NPS approves the plans for new boathouses on the Potomac (but they still have a long, long way to go before they get built).

Dumbarton Oaks

Right now for sale at the Opportunity Shop at Wisconsin and P, is a precious piece of Georgetown history. It’s one of the signs that once graced the street signs across Georgetown marking what what the old names were. In this case, it is for Third Street, which was the name of P St. west of Wisconsin (which was then known as High St.). Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Dean and Deluca closed temporarily for health violations.
• 20 GU students affected by Trump’s Muslim ban.

3200 block of Grace St.