Holy Smokes, The Old Ax Throwing Spot (and Murry’s Grocery) is becoming Hook Hall – “Café by day. Tavern by night. Really cool venue for special events.”

3400 Georgia Ave, NW

Wowza. I’ve been getting lots of inquiries about what’s going on at the old Kraken Axes (RIP Murry’s) space on Georgia. Well, holy cow. They should be soft opening as early as tomorrow or possibly this weekend with a grand opening coming later this month. Stay tuned for confirmation on that but in the meantime, lots of info from a press release:

“HOOK HALL, named in salute of a legendary pirate, this new venue is inspired by the same pull of the sea and sense of adventure buccaneers are known to embrace. Enhanced with design elements and accents reminiscent of the oceans on which he sailed, Hook Hall has reimagined an industrial 13,500 square-foot venue to offer a unique, multi-flex space in the burgeoning Park View/Petworth community. By day it serves as a neighborhood gathering place serving coffee and pastries and affording comfortable meeting and working space. By evening its 40-foot long bar, with a 32-tap system, turns into a tavern ready to serve as a local watering hole and celebration spot.

For meetings, corporate events, weddings/rehearsal dinners, any-kind-of-party-you-want, Hook Hall provides a 7,500 square-foot indoor space accommodating 700 with an additional 5,000 square-foot outdoor pavilion that holds 675 guests.

LOCATION: 3400 Georgia Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20010, 3 blocks south from the Georgia Avenue/Petworth Metro and just north of the U Street Corridor and three blocks east of the 11th Street Columbia Heights community. In a neighborhood quickly becoming known for its up-and-coming food scene, Hook Hall serves as a place for morning coffee, midday meetings and late day happy hour. Hook Hall’s building has stood as a mainstay in Park View for decades having begun more than 60 years ago as a People’s Drug store, and most recently stood for years as one of the last Murray’s Steakhouses in the District.

EVENTS: Hook Hall is beyond comparison as a flexible event space with five main areas that may be used together, separately, combined or however the client can imagine. Designed with an event planner’s eye for details – there are NO columns within its space to block views – Hook Hall has an in-house team that curates events and a preferred list of catering, audio-visual, lighting, security, valet parking, furniture rental and tenting companies gleaned from the region’s top vendors.

DESIGN/SPACE: Hook Hall is a multi-flex space with five main areas of congregation – or the entire space, The Full Ship encompassing the entire front patio, indoor hall and outdoor deck, can be rented. Throughout the venue are design elements that offer a lounge-in-cheek nod to the seas sailed by Captain Hook. Upon entering Hook Hall one sees The Gangplank, or front patio, with a capacity of 50 for private gatherings. At the entrance are large windows salvaged from Baltimore’s Second Chance known for its reuse of antique and vintage building materials.
The Main Hall boasts a 40′ bar, backed by what has affectionately become known as “The Algae Wall” for its green and gold mural which shimmers in different colors as if under the sea. This was created by Claudia Mendez of Baltimore’s visual design firm, The Lost Herd. The Algae Wall’s copper shelving was designed and installed by Andy Gruver, former Baltimore restaurateur who now helms Gruver Design, specializing in restaurant projects. The shelving is a creative reuse of copper bar railing from the now closed 14th and U Street’s District Distillery.
At the far end of Hook Hall is a multi-use wall. It is known as the “Dark & Stormy” wall with its 15 by 9-foot ombre shaded mural that looks like tumultuous seas. This wall transforms into a projector wall ideal for corporate presentations, movies or family slide presentations. This mural is the work of Elisha Rowe of Rowe House Design. Adjacent to this is a massive wall of custom metalwork storage and display space designed by Sam Acuff of Two Bolts Studios.

Outside Hook Hall is an upscale beer garden with a huge deck, ten custom designed private cabanas, accommodating 10 in comfortable seating, plus a pavilion with its own bar offering a perfect cocktail hour outdoor space for social events or simply a gathering of friends.

HOOK HALL

Open at 7 am, 7 days; Sun – Wed 7 am – 10 pm; Thurs-Sat 7 am -midnight“