The Georgetown Metropolitan

Dumbarton Oaks

The Subway restaurant on Wisconsin just south of O St. has been abandoned. GM learned that the operator simply left the shop. Apparently his business has plummeted since the new 7-11 opened across the street. The suspicion is that they both offer similar food, it’s just that 7-11 offers even more. (GM doesn’t eat at either, but would probably settle for a Subway sandwich way before eating the junk from 7-11).

Restaurant tenants that just walk away are more common than you’d think. Just down the block, the family running the Pink Smile frozen yogurt shop simply abandoned the property last year. They had already broken away from the IceBerry franchise to become Pink Smile. Avoiding the franchise fees helped, but it didn’t stave closure. Continue reading →

Photo by Anakwa Dwamena.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Reminder: Cather Lanier at the Q & A Cafe at the George Town Club this friday.
• El Centro: One fine bathroom.

Dumbarton Oaks

Yesterday GM proposed the adoption of new street signs to indicate the Georgetown Historic District as well as the old name of the street. GM got an email afterwards from the BID reminding him that Georgetown actually used to have signs that did just that.

Above you can see a photo from a 1953 National Geographic article about the neighborhood. It shows the signs, in this case it was on 31st St. It also shows the cool old street signs that DC used to us at the top of the lamp post (they were made of glass so at night the light would illuminate the letters and numbers). GM should have remembered these signs as he has mentioned them before. Continue reading →

Photo by Lindsay Maizland.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Fancy variant of Tom Haverford’s Rent-a-Swag coming to Cady’s Alley.
• Mr. Smith’s auctioning off all its interior fixtures.
• Gypsy Sally’s reaches one year anniversary.

Dumbarton Oaks

Courtesy of the New York Times.

GM was recently in New York, and spending a lot of time in and around SoHo. One thing that caught his eye is how New York City uses different street signs for historic districts. Why not bring something like that here?

Above you’ll see an example of normal New York street signs on the left and historic district street signs on the right. In this case, it’s for the Cast Iron Historic District, which encompasses SoHo and Tribeca. It’s a small difference, but it does help signify the neighborhood. This comes in handy especially in New York, where there are tons of historic districts, large and small (there are dozens in Manhattan alone). Continue reading →

Photo by Michael Cisneros.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM heard through the grapevine that Macaron Bee is closing. That was always a tough location, GM’s not terribly surprised. What is surprising is the rumor that yet another Vietnamese restaurant is planning to move in (which would be the third one on the block).
• The BID’s Georgetown 2028 plan receives award!

2700 block of P St.