Owner of The Coupe in Columbia Heights Responds to Your Comments

3415 11th Street, NW

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on PoPville the other day. Your comments, though painful to read, were heartfelt and thoughtful – my entire Management Team and I are truly grateful. I got the sense that for many of you, your words were just as painful to write as they were for us to read! It’s that sincere desire you have for us to succeed that drives us and motivates us to work (24/7) to address ALL your concerns.

We opened The Coupe just over two months ago, giving Columbia Heights its own (and long anticipated) community gathering place – similar to what Tryst and The Diner are for Adams Morgan or Open City is for Woodley Park. Like The Coupe, all of my places had their share of opening problems and growing pains. We overcame many of those problems by changing and growing in response to the needs of the communities we serve. That is the common thread in all my places and what I believe has helped make us successful – an unwavering commitment to servicing the needs of the community by listening to what you have to say and taking whatever action is needed to make it right.

Many of the concerns and comments you expressed became evident to us soon after we opened. Throughout all of October and November, we tried to tackle what we could, knowing all the while that the affects of our efforts were being outpaced by the growing perceptions and the simple reality that more needed to be done. Just this last week we quietly launched a new menu that’s been in the works since early November and we completed a four week period of intense staff training – but much more is needed if we’re hoping to make The Coupe the place you, me and my staff want it to be.

Call it coincidence (maybe bad or good timing), but just as PoP’s blog was posting at 12pm on Tuesday, I was an hour into a major planning session with the Coupe Management Team over how we could tackle many of the very things you identified in your comments. Over the next two weeks, and the first week of January, we are making some much needed changes to our layout, service, consistency, signage, kids menu, pricing and a host of other things that you helped identify – and we would welcome more feedback. While we can be contacted through our website, I’ve setup another email for anyone in our community wishing to provide us with specific feedback, ideas or thoughts – [email protected].

We know that during these first two months we have not lived up to the expectations and standards you have come to expect from us, and for that we are deeply sorry. And you didn’t have to express it in words, we saw the expressions on your faces. We are working to make sure we see those faces again – -and again, and again!

Thank you for your support and patience, and on behalf of the entire Coupe family – Happy Holidays.

Constantine Stavropoulos

Owner

Tryst, The Diner, Open City
Tryst at The Phillips, The Coupe