Columbia Heights

The Hero From the Incident at 14th and Irving Gives His Account

By Prince Of Petworth

Back on March 30th a reader had written in to ask about an apparent mugging that was broken up by a nameless hero. I have no doubt that the hero would not consider himself one but he certainly did act courageously and I think warrants the title.  At any rate, he wrote in to clear up what actually happened that evening. Here it is:

“A friend of mine sent me a link to your post about the assault that took place on 14th and Irving last Monday. I’m the “random dude” from the story. I wanted to drop you a line to clear up a couple of errors from the original post and give you a quick update. The main point that I want to correct is that the lady who was assaulted, or I should say, the lady who I witnessed being assaulted (there was a second lady assaulted earlier) would probably be quite upset to see herself described as old. She couldn’t have been older than 40 or so, though as a rule I really try to avoid speculating on women’s ages. The other correction that I would offer is that I don’t believe that the man was mugging her. Here is the quick version of my story:

I was taking the 14th street bus home from the office and got off at 14th and Irving. As soon as I stepped off the bus I heard shouting. I turned to look. About 10 feet away from me a young man was screaming at a woman. He was inches away from her. I couldn’t make out any words but the woman looked terrified. I had a beat to take this in when, suddenly, the man drew back and punched the woman in the face. The next thing I knew I was on top of him. I wish I could tell you exactly how I got there. I just remember my body hitting his and then his body hitting the ground with me on top. I’m a pretty big guy and I used to wrestle in high school, so at that point keeping him pinned down wasn’t too difficult, though he was trying to get me off him the whole time.  Continues after the jump (more…)

Uh – Oh Julia’s in Columbia Heights Robbed and/or Vandalized?

By Prince Of Petworth

Yikes, a reader sent me this photo that clearly shows Julia’s front door smashed (14th and Park). I don’t know which makes me angrier – if it were vandalism or a robbery. Two steps forward one step back. Anyone talk to the owners (I’m actually in Austin, TX until Thursday)?

In sorta related news, the plaza in front of Julia’s is getting another facelift. I really do believe this plaza has the potential to be an amazing people watching/hanging out spot.

Get Ready For the News That Will Overjoy Half the Readers and Infuriate the Other Half – Chipotle Coming to Columbia Heights!

By Prince Of Petworth

Back in February we learned that the restaurant, Royal Blue, would not be coming to 3113 14th Street across the street from the DC USA mall.

Well, Chipotle has signed a letter of intent to take over the spot and details are being worked out with the lease. I’m not sure when they’ll be able to open but hopefully in a few months. I think this is great news. I seem to recall there are lots of Chipotle fans out there. I know the Chipotle in Woodley Park always seems to be crowded. So what do you guys think – do you like the addition of Chipotle to Columbia Heights? Man, I can’t hide it, I’m pretty psyched!

UPDATE: This location will be serving beer.

Good Deal or Not? Livin Large in Columbia Heights Condo Style Edition

By Prince Of Petworth

This condo is located at 1309 Park Road, NW:


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The flier says:

“Gorgeous Open Spaces. Gas Fireplace, granite countertops, kitchen island. Pantry in Kitchen. Spacious Living w/ Open Dining area. Wall of windows drenches living w/ light. Master Bath w/ WIC & Spacious full Bath. W/ D in unit. 2nd BR used as nursery can fit Full Bed. All Dogs Allowed. Seller Reserves the Right to Accept/Reject All Offers.”

More info and a virtual tour found here.

I’ve always been curious about these condos because I walk by this building nearly everyday. I think the location is phenomenal. After checking out the virtual tour the condo itself is also top notch. Though, I’m curious to know what people think of open kitchens like this? The asking price is $529,555. I really dislike ridiculous prices like this but do you think the market can support this asking price? What do you think of the condo itself?

PoP Pho Patrol – Reader Submitted First Impression

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

Thought I’d chime in with a review of Pho 14 (Park Road west of 14th Street). I had dinner there tonight (Thursday).

I’ll start with the good news: the pho itself is quite good. I don’t think it’s quite on par with Pho 75, but it’s not far off, either. The broth is a tad saltier than I’m used to, and a little lacking in onion (green and white) and cilantro. The beef (I got the pho tai, which is just the eye of round beef) was okay, although I prefer getting it when it’s blood-red rare in the bowl, so that the broth cooks it until it’s just done. The beef here was a little more done than I like, but that’s a small matter. We also ordered the three types of spring rolls (fried, fresh w/shrimp and pork, fresh veggie), which were all pleasant, if unremarkable. The only negative I’d note was that the peanut dipping sauce was really thin and watery; its much thicker, and deeper in flavor, at most other Vietnamese places I’ve been to.

As for the service, well… it was opening night, they were slammed with people, so I don’t want to be too hard on them. But there are definitely huge kinks that they need to work out. Our party was seated for about 25 minutes before we had our order taken, and that was only because we finally flagged someone down (I noticed a couple of parties got up and left after getting seated because no one had taken their order). We had to flag someone down again to bring us utensils for the spring rolls, and again for spoons and chopsticks after the pho was brought out. Of the five of us, they missed one order of pho (which was brought out within a couple minutes thereafter), and got two others slightly wrong. One person ordered a drink that never came (although they did bring it to us at the end of the meal, after we got the bill and asked about it).

The staff was very apologetic, and were sincere in trying to fix things for us, so that’s a big plus. Like I said, it was opening night, so some snafus are to be expected… I think there were probably more than I (and probably they) had hoped for, however. Of course, I’m used to the well-oiled machine of Pho 75, which seats you, takes your order, and serves you within a space of about 90 seconds. I’ll definitely come back to Pho 14 — I’m a huge pho fan, and having a place that is so close, and pretty close in quality to other Pho places is awesome — but I’m going to wait a few weeks until they (hoepfully) have the service issues a bit more worked out.”

I have heard that they were super crowded so considering they just opened I wouldn’t judge them too harshly on the service. As the reader mentioned, there are always kinks to be worked out on opening night. But I am curious to know what you guys thought of the food. So let us know which Pho you ordered and your first impression.

GDoN Revisited by Hipchickindc

By Prince Of Petworth

In real life, hipchickindc is licensed as a real estate broker in the District of Columbia and Virginia, and as a real estate salesperson in Maryland. Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 1025 Kenyon St NW

Original List Price: $425,000. prior to completion of full gut renovation

List Price at Contract: $420,000.

List Date: 11/16/2008

Days on Market: 73

Settled Sales Price: $420,000.

Settlement Date: 03/23/2009

Seller Subsidy: 10,000.

Bank Owned?: No

Type Of Financing: Conventional

Recent Purchase and Re-Sale?: Not according to MRIS or Public Records. Reader comments suggest that the property may have been an estate-owned property

Original GDoN Post is: Here

Pics and details: Click here.

Based on comments to the original Good Deal or Not? (GDoN) post, I’m guessing that a few people are going to be shocked to see that this sold at list price less a subsidy toward closing costs. Continues after the jump. (more…)

Dear PoP – What’s Up With These Trailers?

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

Every day I walk on Irving St NW, and at the cross section with Hiatt Street (in between 14th & 16th st) there is a fenced in area, almost always with a security guard, and a few trailers inside. There are people walking in and out at all times, and the place seems rather busy at night. Any clue what this is?”

A cop once told me that this is a (temporary?) homeless shelter. The trailers look like they might be for (temporary?) housing. I’m pretty sure this is what he was talking about. Can anyone confirm this or know specifically what the trailers are for?

Dear PoP – What Happened at Irving and 14th Last Night?

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

Do you know what happened on Irving and 14th Street, just in front of the Columbia Heights Metro around 7:00 pm last night? I didn’t see everything but I pieced it together from the other people standing there and was hoping you might have the full story. I guess a guy was trying to mug an older lady or something and when she didn’t give up her purse, he cold punched her in the face and started to walk away. The mugger took about two steps and then got drilled by some random dude who just laid him out like a linebacker – just form tackled the dude and put him on the ground. The mugger kept yelling and trying to get up, but the dude had the mugger pinned down with his face in the sidewalk, holding him until the cops got there. It was pretty awesome. Anyway, the cops came and took the mugger in. I didn’t stick around to see what else happened. Wondered if you have the rest of the story.”

Sounds like you got the whole story! Wild. I’m just glad they caught the would be mugger. Did anyone else witness this incident?

PoP Pho Patrol – It’s Official Grand Opening Thursday!!!

By Prince Of Petworth

Great news – they passed their inspection! Pho 14 (Park Road just west of 14th Street) will have their grand opening this Thursday (they’ll be doing some final training on Wed. but you might be able to convince them to let you dine in if you can’t wait until Thursday)! They will be open from 10am – 10pm. For the grand opening on Thursday they will be serving free egg rolls with your order. I’ll do a post on Friday/Monday to see what folks think. Bon appetit!

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