901, a new, high-end restaurant debutting next spring at 901 9th St, NW

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by Prince Of Petworth November 11, 2010 at 11:28 pm 29 Comments

I’ve always thought this was an interesting property that has been vacant for a while at the corner of 9th and I St, NW. Well the Downtown BID shares some very interesting details about the space:

“The majority owner of the Capitol City Brewing Company (1100 New York Avenue) has signed a 10-year lease to open 901, a new, high-end restaurant debutting next spring at 901 9th Street, space previously occupied by Pearl Restaurant and Lounge. Entrepreneur David von Storch, whose holdings also include Vida Fitness (601 F Street), plans to serve keg beers brewed by Capitol City in the new establishment. As for the menu, expect to see ahi tuna tartar, Wagyu beef meatballs and All-American bison sliders.”

And let me tag on to this info with a quick Friday Question of the Day – where is your favorite place to simply grab a beer? Not best sports bar, not best bar food, not best anything else except for best beer options and atmosphere?

davidj

Best place to simply grab a beer? Strangely enough, for me it’s been Tunnicliff’s, across from Eastern Market on 7th SE. The places on Barracks Row and on Pennsylvania are just a couple blocks farther on and many are nicer with better beer selections, but Tunnicliff’s is okay and I always seem to get into conversations with the people sitting next to me at the bar there.
washingtonydc

Best places to just grab a beer would be Churchkey, Big Hunt, and Iron Horse.
jamie

Hands down — Meridian Pint. Fantastic beer selection with 4 oz. pours available (for those that like to taste a whole flight). Great food. Super friendly and knowledgeable staff. Walking distance from the house. Simply perfect.
Nice Marmot

My Local Home Brew Shop in Falls Church. Takes a little work, but you can get just about any beer you’re after.
Anonymous

Birreria Paradiso, gtown. It’s the coziest bar in the city and their selection is perfect.
- Anonymous
  
  that place is nice. wish is was closer to my house.
Bob

Debutting? or debuting?
- M
  
  Seriously. Fix the debutting. It’s ridiculous. I’m not one to point out spelling and grammatical errors but geez louise.
Jaynuze

Though their selection isn’t as good as it used to be; early afternoon 1-2 PM at the bar of St. Ex. Just you, your beer, and the barkeep. Well, there or my backyard.
Upshur Matt

Shelly’s Backroom Tavern; it is close to work, I know the bar staff well, they have a limited beer selection but it includes Guinness, Sierra seasonal, and you can smoke cigars.
Slightly less convenient, it would have to either be Church Key or Meridian Pint for the great selection, friendly staff, and decent food.
Upshur Matt

Also, high-end and Cap City beer don’t really belong in the same place.
- anan
  
  beat me to it. In fact the whole concept sounds pretty tired to me. Sliders?! Tuna tartar!? boooooring. The thought of having to wash it down with Cap City beer doesn’t help. I don’t think it’s going to last the life of their ten year lease.
fl

I am not a beer snob – for me its about the experience. In my opinion, I prefer divey bars like Duffy’s, Adams Mill and Solly’s. There are a plethora of more trendy bars to simply grab a beer at, and if I had to pick one of those I would say probably Bar Pilar.
Whitney

The Black Squirrel on 18th.
jburka

Can’t help but wonder if this isn’t just part of von Storch’s creepy, narcissistic attempt to get himself a reality tv show…
- Charle Nelson Reilly
  
  Yeah I don’t get that reality TV thing either, he is an extremely successful businessman and doesn’t need it.
WDC

I see this as representative of the overall DC restaurant problem. A ten year lease? If the the place was owned by a chef, instead of an investment group, it would never have a planned ten year lifespan. Check Philly… the great chefs come up with a concept, open a 12-table restaurant, serve amazing food to a packed house, and shutter after 2-3 years when the concept gets tired. Then they do it again. And because so many restaurants are BYOB, it feels more affordable to eat out often, even at high-quality restaurants.
Yes, there’s a place for “old standbys”, but in order to have a fresh and interesting restaurant scene, you have to plan for dynamism.
As someone said on the Social thread yesterday, the problem is that these big restaurants want to behave as if they’ve “arrived” without paying any of the dues. And DC has so many sheeple and so few options, that it stands a chance of working.
Final pile-on: tuna tartar? sliders? Whee! Exciting and new! Not.
Chris in Eckington

The Saloon or Bistro LaBonne.
Kev29

IMHO, Churchkey is the best place to grab a beer… in the entire country. Even better now that the crowds have abated a tiny bit and getting a seat at the bar around 5:30 after a day of work is pretty straightforward. Grab a seat, look over the day’s list and enjoy one of the 5 cask ales – or 50 other choices. And you can always get a good, properly kept and served beer for $5 or $6.
Anonymous

Looking Glass Lounge!
- Neighbor
  
  +1
hennessey

for me its the Saloon, the argonaut, or ellas.
good selections. comfortable places. awesome staffs.
- hennessey
  
  and rustik.
Anonymous

Does it depend on the season for anyone else? In the late spring and early fall I like a place with a nice outdoor area. Now we’re moving into the time of year when a divey tavern is perfect. In the summer when it’s hot and humid I prefer a cool trendy spot.
sheepprofessor

It’s hard to beat the patio at Wonderland Ballroom on a sunny summer afternoon, though it turns into a completely different place–that I avoid like the plague–after 8:00.
JBizzle

I agree with Black Squirrel and Looking Glass — by far my favorite spots in the city. Or the Derby too. Saloon just doesn’t work. Churchkey is great but too crowded. Argonaut would be a contender if it weren’t for that one bartender… Pourhouse makes the list if I’ve got some shuffleboard competition…
Shaw Sweetie

I was SO sad to move back to DC to a closed Pearl! I loved going there my last year at HU – had the best apple martini ever (no joke) at that place. Plus the crowd was nice (when it first opened up).

That’s a really nice space and location, so congrats to the company/people moving in.
Don

I have become more and more attached to the Commonwealth Gastropub in Columbia Heights as a favorite spot for a quick HH pint. Wonderland Ballroom and Looking Glass Lounge are faves to meet friends; Red Derby is an excellent Sunday afternoon bar and The Raven rocks for its retro-70/80s TV shows (i.e. A-Team, Magnum PI, etc) and fine dining selection of chips, chips and chips!
Michael

Looks like 901 Restaurant & Bar has their website up so that you can keep track of the launch schedule and submit your email to keep track of when the new Washington D.C. restaurant opens.

http://901dc.com/

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