I once wondered if the name Oriental Deli was a bit insensitive. Now, I think it’s just a bit nonsensical…
Oriental Deli is located on 14th St, NW in north Columbia Heights. And coincidentally PoPville flickr user Blinkofanaye also caught a great shot:
I wonder how many other Oriental Pupuserias exist?
“Dear PoP,
A new cafe is trying to open at 6th & R St NW, which would be amazing. It will be a middle eastern cafe called Toque Cafe. They are struggling to get a permit to allow a few outdoor tables, and I wondered if you would put out the word that there is a petition folks can sign to support them getting a permit. I attached an email below with all of the details:
The Convention Center Community Association (CCCA-online.org) supports the application for outdoor seating submitted by the Toque Café located at 1701 6th Street NW, Washington DC 20001. We believe that outdoor seating will not only enhance the restaurant’s business operations but will likely become a popular neighborhood amenity. We also urge you to facilitate the proper and timely approval of permits and licenses for the restaurant to open and begin operations.
Toque Café also needs your and broader community support.”
You can sign the Petition here.
Cafe Salsa was open for just over a year at 1712 14th Street, NW (near Cork Wine Bar). Thanks to a reader for the heads up on this one. The few times I ate here I thought the food was quite good. So when I went to follow up on the tip I was surprised to see all these signs saying “restaurant closed”:
At first it was unclear if this was just a temporary thing but when I looked in the window:
Well the restaurant is definitely closed. So for the Friday Question of the Day: Why do you think Cafe Salsa closed? Is this an indication that the economy is still pretty rough or a problem with this particular location or a problem with the restaurant itself?
We learned back in December that Seafood & Crab one of my favorite names had closed at 1936 14th Street, NW (just south of U St.) Thursday evening I saw an alcohol application license go up:
It says:
“New restaurant serving Italian beef/hot dogs…” Ok.
“Dear PoP,
While checking out Ted’s Bullentin (which is great), I had to run to the Capitol Hill Vet clinic and noticed they had a permit up for an Oyster bar with seating for 22. I mentioned this to the vet lady and she confirmed they are looking for a new building on the hill, but had no updates.”
Sweet, mark some more scuttlebutt that turned out to be true! The space is located at 520 8 Street, SE and the alcohol application says:
“New Old fashioned oyster restaurant & bar featuring seafood and American cuisine. Occupancy load of 80. Request a sidewalk café with a seating capacity of 22.”
Cuba Libre will be located at 9th and H Streets, NW across from the old Convention Center. They have a few locations in other cities and describe themselves:
“The tantalizing tastes of Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar are based upon the culinary traditions of this storied island paradise. Inspired by the cuisines of various Latin regions, Cuban cuisine offers a mix of robust and soul-satisfying dishes. Cuba Libre’s carefully created menu combines beef, poultry, pork and seafood with exotic fruits and vegetables, herbs and seasonings. The contemporary cuisine is flavorful and savory, but only occasionally spicy. In keeping with the gracious social character of Cuba, some dishes are designed for sharing. Concept Chef Guillermo Pernot regularly updates the menus, making seasonal changes while maintaining signature items.”
The are opening in Spring 2010. Think they’ll succeed at this location?
Earlier this week I wrote that Leftbank had become a new Eastern European restaurant, Slaviya on 18th St, NW in Adams Morgan. At the time I only saw a brunch menu which didn’t have too many eastern European selections. The folks from Slaviya were kind enough to send me over their dinner menus which have lots of good looking eastern European fare.
You can see their Facebook page here.
Note: 2 Daily Specials are offered each week.
Full Menu continues after the jump. (more…)
Freshii is located at 2001 M St. NW. They say:
“Through our vision of Fresh Food, Custom Built, Fast, Freshii is focused on becoming the most convenient choice for healthy and fresh meals and snacks served quickly in a cool, clean, and environmentally sustainable setting for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between.”
You can build menu items here with a cool nutrition counter. I think this location is relatively new…anyone check them out yet?
Last week it looked like Biergarten haus, located at 1355 H Street, NE was going to open up at the end of this week. While they are now shooting for May 14th for an official opening date, they are still awaiting some final permits before officially announcing an opening date. I was, however, able to take a sneak peek on Tuesday and all I can say is that the hype we’ve been hearing is warranted. The inside feels like a ski lodge with tons of wood and a warm feeling despite some finishing touches still ongoing. The inside actually takes up two floors with a nice bar on the first floor and 5 big flat screen tvs upstairs that will show European soccer matches.
But no matter how good the inside looks the real gem of this place is the outdoor beer garden. It is far larger than I originally anticipated and I’m gonna be bold for a second because I love Wonderland’s patio and I’m even quite fond of Red Rock’s patio but this beer garden (even in its slightly unfinished state) is by far the coolest outdoor restaurant/bar space in the city. It even has an outside bar. The section closer to the building will be mostly standing room/first come first served and the tables in the back will seat 4 tops and larger parties. As I’ve heard a few people say, the only fear is that this place is going to be insanely crowded when they open. Stay tuned for when a final opening date is selected.
Lots more photos after the jump. (more…)
Thanks to @capitolhilldc for sharing the news from @CHNorm on twitter. Norm writes:
“Talked briefly with Perry Smith, co-owner of Matchbox, who confirmed the rumor that he and his partners will open another place on Barracks row (i.e. in addition to Ted’s Bulletin, opening in a few days). It’ll be located opposite the Fire House, will be a deli, and will be called DC-3”