“Dear PoPville,
I live on 11th and Monroe St, NW and saw the industrial laundromat next to Columbia Heights Coffee get hosed down last night by DC firefighters. Props to my neighbor who saw the smoke and flames, flagged down a police officer, and got the firefighting team on the scene stat. Thankfully, no one was hurt to my knowledge. The owners have been assessing the damage and boarding up windows this morning.”
Nov. 2011
“Dear PoPville,
A while ago when you mentioned the opening of Domino’s Pizza on 14th St. [2701 14th St, NW] I was one of it’s supporters. Recently I noticed that by coincidence (?), the canopy and seat of the bus stop that was on the sidewalk in front of Domino’s Pizza, disappeared when the pizza place was built. While the Pizza place gets a lot more visibility from 14th Street, old people (and today a pregnant lady) have no choice but to sit on a fire connection while waiting for the bus. You can see the pregnant lady sitting on the connection and the difference in color of the sidewalk where the canopy was removed (by the man’s umbrella). I think this is unfair.”
June 2010 (You can see the Bench/shelter behind the bicyclist in the photo above
“Dear PoPville,
What is going in on 11th St in the space next door to Columbia Heights Coffee? I’ve seen someone working on the space but cannot determine from the work orders posted who is developing the space or for what purpose.”
This has been an enduring mystery for 11th Street in Columbia Heights. First Columbia Heights Coffee was going to expand, then it was going to become a furniture store, then it was going to become a tapas restaurant then…
Well, lots of folks have noticed renewed construction in the space at 3418 11th St, NW. A new building permit was issued at the end of October and I was finally able to briefly catch one of the managers at the space. By the by, the space is starting to look pretty sweet with exposed brick walls. I hope to grab some photos when the buildout gets a bit closer to finish. Anyway, not a lot of details but I was told it is going to be an Italian restaurant called Maple. They hope to open in about a month. Stay tuned for more updates.
Like others, I love Italian so I’m psyched for this and I’m psyched this long vacant storefront is finally coming back to life.
“Dear PoPville,
I live nearby and this just keeps running through my head every morning: why has no one cleaned up the rubble from the spire that partially crumbled during the earthquake on 8/24? Heck, if there was a dumpster bin nearby I would toss it in myself. Just seems odd.”
Checking it out on Saturday, it actually looks pretty unsafe:
I’ll alert DCRA Monday morning. But I do agree, it would be nice if the rubble was cleaned up as well.
Back in Oct. ’11 a reader asked what would happen to the Koi fish in Meridian Hill park during the winter months. I’m happy to report that they are being saved this morning by the Washington Humane Society!
They write:
“November 17, the Washington Humane Society will rescue the hundreds of koi fish that were dropped into the pond before it is drained for the winter season. We will collect the fish and give them to G and G Aquatics, a trusted organization that serves the mid-Atlantic region including the National Zoo and the National Aquarium, who will help to find them homes.”
Awesome!
Panda Express is located in DC USA at 14th and Irving St, NW (on Irving St.)
This is pretty odd, right?
“Dear PoPville,
I was picking up some Peruvian Chicken last night at Señor Chicken and the man who I believe is the owner was sitting there working on menu’s for “The People’s Noodle Bar” I believe was the name. I asked him about what has become kind of a cult hit, the noodle bar they’ve been doing on Saturday’s and he told me it looks like they might convert to doing that full time and ditch the Peruvian Chicken entirely. I asked him some questions and he said there is a much bigger demand for it and although they make enough money on chicken, it’s not nearly as much as they should be making. It looked like they were preparing the brand. The papers in front of him read “The People’s Noodle Bar: Yes You Can…Slurp.” Maybe it’s just around the corner?”
We spoke about the Secret Ramen Noodle Saturdays at Senor Chicken (14th and Park Rd, NW – on Park) back in Sept. ’11. I spoke with a worker who said for the moment noodles are still only available on Saturdays. He wasn’t aware of plans to switch full time. But this is what the utensil organizer looked like:
Back in early Oct. ’11 we learned that a Latino restaurant would be coming to the former Tegeste restaurant space at 3521 14th St, NW. A recent liquor license application sheds a few more details. It will be called Maranon Cafe and will be a:
“Full service restaurant serving American, Mexican, Salvadorian, and Dominican food.”
“Dear PoPville,
The fire alarm was going off when we walked in and we asked the staff if they were still serving or if there was a problem and they acted normal and seated us. We assumed all was fine because the rest of the restaurant was acting normal. We were seated and the alarm continued going off for about 10 minutes. The DCFD arrived and notified the staff that they were closing the kitchen for the rest of the evening, but I didn’t hear them specify damage.
We didn’t see or smell any smoke. The staff then told us we all needed to leave.”
Pho 14 is located at 1436 Park Road, NW. As of 7:25pm Sunday evening calls to the restaurant encounter a continuous busy signal. Whatever happened, let’s hope Pho 14 is able to reopen as soon as possible!
Well, it’s def unique for DC. What do you think so far? We first took a look at the construction on the 3600 block of Rock Creek Church Rd, NW (just off New Hampshire ave) in early Sept. ’11. I’m having a tough time getting past the tiny windows. At this point – thumbs up or down?
