2020 Florida Ave, NW
Banana Leaves was closed for over a year after suffering a devastating fire in March 2011. They reopened in April 2012. Is the food just as good as it was before? You can see their menu here.
Restaurants
1414 9th St, NW
Back in June we saw that 1414 9th St, NW was getting renovated and changing hands, again. It has seemingly changed names about a half dozen times since its run as Vegetate. I ran into the new manager and owner (pictured above) who told me the switch to Secret Lounge and Sports Bar will take place in a couple of weeks. The first floor will remain a sports bar with about 6-8 tvs:
And the second and third floors will be home to Secret Lounge:
2nd floor
2nd floor bar
3rd floor
Menu after the jump. (more…)
Earlier in the month we learned that Trader Joe’s was really coming to the Louis project at 14th and U St, NW. Well, I just got more good news for the development. I hear that a restaurant from Boston called Tico is also planning on opening in the Louis retail space. From their Website:
A place that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Tico has a fun, sexy atmosphere, delicious and unpretentious food, amazing cocktails, cold beer, lots of tequila, cool music and great people watching.
Tico is all about your good time.
Conceived by Chef/Owner Michael Schlow, Tico is a new and exciting style of restaurant; American at its core, the menu is influenced by Schlow’s travels and love for Spain, Mexico and South America.
You can see their menus here.
Any Bostonian expats familiar with Tico?
3412 11th St, NW
Kangaroo Boxing Club opened up in the old Acuario space next to Meridian Pint about a month ago. What’s the early word – thumbs up or down?
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3162 Mt. Pleasant Street, NW
Back in March we learned that the temporary Mt. Pleasant library was for lease at 3162 Mt. Pleasant St, NW Rent was asking $10,080/mo. We have a winner – Beau Thai. We took a look at Beau Thai’s menu here.
From a press release:
Today, Beau Thai announced that it would open a location in the heart of the Mount Pleasant neighborhood’s commercial district in late 2012. The restaurant will be located at 3162 Mount Pleasant St., NW, a building that has housed the Mount Pleasant Interim Library since 2010.
Foundry Architects is overseeing the design and buildout of the space, which is nearly triple the size of the original Beau Thai. Foundry principal Will Couch says of the plans, “It’s going to be very cool and functional, engaging patrons and passersby alike with interesting finishes and unique lighting. It will both echo the feel of the Shaw location and also have its own personality and soul. Like the original, Beau Thai Mount Pleasant will feature large scale photographs of the Vigsittaboot family, from whom its recipes
originate.”Beau Thai Mount Pleasant will serve the same fresh, authentic Thai cuisine that has earned the Shaw eatery many accolades since its opening in August 2010. It will be open for lunch and dinner and will offer dine in, delivery, and takeaway. Additionally, the restaurant will offer the unique Thai Sunday Brunch that Beau Thai conceived earlier this year. An expansive bar will feature a craft cocktail, beer and wine list, as well as draught beers.
Sound like a good addition to Mt. Pleasant Street?
1326 Park Road, NW
Back in May I mentioned that El Rinconcito had an awesome outdoor dining area at 1326 Park Road, NW in Columbia Heights. More good news – they’re applying for longer hours. They are currently open until 12am and hope to extend their hours until 2am Sun-Thurs and 3am Fri-Sat though the outdoor area would still close at 12am.
9th and P St, NW
Mandalay currently has a location in Silver Spring. Their Website says:
Mandalay Restaurant and Café brings dishes from all over Burma to the DC area. Our chef (and our mom) is formerly the head chef of the Burma restaurant in Washington, DC.
We do not specialize in the cuisine of any particular area of Burma (Myanmar), instead we bring a mix of dishes from the seasides to the mountains, using fresh ingredients and time tested recipes. Any dish can be made as spicy as you like, but even without the “hot” every dish is full of flavor. It doesn’t have to be hot to be good, but if you like it that way just let us know and we’ll “light it up” for you.
We also offer a range of drinks and desserts to round out your meal. Our full service bar can serve up just about any cocktail and a wide range of beer and wine. Our vegan coconut “ice cream” served in the shell is very popular as is our traditional semolina cake or sticky rice cake.
You can see their menu here.
And here’s a rendering of the building:
Photo by PoPville flickr user mosley.brian
Big Mon. afternoon scuttlebutt for ya – I hear Shake Shack is gonna be moving into the cafe space of the spy museum at the corner of 9th and F St, NW in Penn Quarter.
Photo by PoPville flickr user Néstor Sánchez Cordero
PoPville commenter o2bncdg posts in the rant/revel this morning:
RANT: after years and years of joining 10-25 friends (depending on who’s in town or didn’t party too hard the night before)for breakfast at La Madeleine in Georgetown every Saturday morning, we showed up this past weekend at 0800 and it was CLOSED. Just some signs saying that they’re closed until further notice.
Apparently there is structural damage under the restaurant, in the hotel underground parking facility. The hotel has known about it for a while, but the city just recently forced them to close on Thursday to make structural corrections, thus forcing la Madeleine to close. Time frame for closure – 5-6 months. The Latham Hotel is also closed for that time frame.
RAVE: I sent a notice on La Madeleine’s web site to their corporate office in Dallas and lo and behold, I got a call from a District Manager who was most gracious in telling me what was going on. He is working feverishly to relocate their Georgetown staff to other La Madeleine locations. After all these years we have made friends with and feel close to quite a few of them.
La Madeleine is located at 3000 M Street, NW.
313 Pennsylvania Ave, SE
Washington Business Journal shares the news:
“Bernaise will open in October of this year at 313 Pennsylvania Ave. SE (on the same block as Mendelsohn’s Good Stuff Eatery and We The Pizza). The restaurant will occupy 3,000 square feet.”
Think a steak frites restaurant by Spike Mendelsohn will do well here? Were there any fans of Thai Roma?