Bloomingdale’s Firehouse Plans on North Capitol St, NW – Big Bear Cafe Alcohol Application not supported by ANC5C

At the ANC5 meeting Tues. evening @Edgewooddc tweets about the Firehouse located at 1626 North Capitol Street, NW:

“Restaurant consist of 3 levels.
lounge, banquet hall and restaurant.
Late night menu will go until 2am, they will also offer Sunday brunch.”

Stay tuned for a liquor license application.

Also of interest was a vote about the Big Bear Cafe’s alcohol application.

@Edgewooddc and @BloomingdaleDC both note just before 9:30 pm:

“ANC5C will not support the @BigBearCafe liquor license application at this time.”

I’ll admit this whole process is very confusing. I’ve been speaking to folks in the know who seem to believe that Big Bear Cafe (First and R Streets, NW) will be able to get a liquor license even without ANC5C approval. Obviously not ideal but my understanding is that the approval is not 100% necessary. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot about this in the coming weeks. I’ll be sure to update when more info becomes available. Does anyone know if ANC approval is 100% necessary?