It so saddens me that often the sweetest city signs are for stores/restaurants now defunct. I have no doubt that Red’s Fish & Chicken was once a spot not to be reckoned with…
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U Street
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Greater Goods at 1626 U Street has a couple of awesome green roofs over its two bay windows. Ed. Note: I plan on doing a post on green roofs in the near future so stay tuned for more details. But in the meantime I thought these were worth noting. Can anyone explain the benefits? Check out another photo after the jump. (more…)
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I noticed this application for a liquor license this past weekend. It is located at 1013 U Street and the application lists the bar as “Lounge of Three” a new tavern with entertainment including live music and/or Karaoke. It’s hearing date is listed as June 25th. Looks like the building will need some serious renovations, which is good news that another run down storefront on U Street will be brought back to life. And how can you not love karaoke?
Speaking of U Street’s revival: I saw in today’s Post that Mr. Jeffrey Koenreich recently passed away. The Post says, “M. Jeffrey Koenreich, 54, who helped organize the Cardozo Shaw Neighborhood Association and led efforts to revitalize Washington’s U Street corridor in the 1980s and 1990s, died May 1 at his home in Miami after a heart attack.” Read the full obituary here. I think it’s important to remember those who have made positive contributions to our neighborhoods.
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Thanks to a reader for sending the news:
“I just wanted to send a note your way about a new restaurant at 14th & Florida. I believe it’s called LZ Restaurant, and it’s a nice little locally-owned spot. There is no decor to speak of (we’re talking white walls), but the quality of the food and the hospitality of the owners more than makes up for that. They serve Middle Eastern food, and it’s DELICIOUS. The owners even gave us a free serving of one of their appetizers. It seems to be owned by a husband and wife who do everything there. It’s a hard spot to have a business (several others have failed in recent years), and I would love to see them succeed.”
I went to check out the new LZ Restaurant today but for some reason, oh yeah – I’m a jackass, I had already eaten. Nevertheless like the reader suggests this seems like it is going to be a super cool spot. It is very unassuming but of course it is the unassuming places that often have the best food. I briefly spoke with coowner Ms Mahgouba from Morocco. The store opened last week and is located at 1406 Florida Ave. and you can call ahead for pick up. It is a bit spartan on the inside but Ms Mahgouba was super nice. Prices seem very reasonable: appetizers from $1.25 – $5.00, Kabobs from $10.99 – $13.99, Shawarma and gyro sandwiches from $5.99 – $6.99, and Shawarma platters from $8.00 -$9.00 and yes they also have a vegetarian platter of hummus, tabouleh, grape leaves, spinach pie, cheese pie, falafel and pita bread for $9.00. So I look forward to hearing more reports after you guys check it out. I’ll be sure to report back when I next visit…hungry. Photo of the inside after the jump. (more…)
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So a colleague of mine told me about this place a while ago but I still haven’t had a chance to check it out yet. She says it pretty fresh in a very unpretentious way. I can’t remember the name but that doesn’t matter because there is no signage only this red marking. It is located on 14th Street north of U Street a few storefronts down from Marvin’s. So I’m dying to know about this place. I’ll be checking it out soon but was wondering if any folks have already been?
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Lots of people I’ve spoken to have been pretty passionate about Creme located on U Street between 13th and 14th. And it certainly always seems to be jam packed. Actually it usually so crowded that I haven’t had a chance to eat there yet. So what’s the scoop is it great homestyle cooking? How’s the brunch?
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The U Street area’s newest fashion boutique, Profile, is located at 2003 11th Street, NW right next to Bohemian Caverns and officially opened on May 4th. The boutique is in a great building. There are two floors with fresh exposed brick. The first floor features men’s clothing while the second floor, which is a bit larger, features women’s clothing. I briefly chatted with founders Tala Raassi and Kourosh Chitsaz. They describe the store as a high end boutique with pieces from Sao Paolo, Milan, NY, LA and elsewhere. Tala is actually a designer herself and her pieces are currently being manufactured in Italy and will arrive in the store at the end of July. One of the reasons they opened the store was because they noticed that there was a void in the area of this type of boutique. While only open a short time the owners mention that they already have many folks coming in and expressing their approval. Actually while I was leaving the store two folks walked up to Kourosh and told him how much they love the store. Kourosh says that the shop caters to almost everyone but he is particularly keen on catering to the locals in the neighborhood.
The store had an opening party on May 4th (see poster after the jump) with DJs. I was happy to learn that they will continue to have events in the store with DJs probably around once a month. The store really reminded me of a cool spot in the village of New York City. It is definitely a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Even if I’ll stick to my track suits and t-shirts just knowing a place like this has come to 11th Street is great because it adds to the overall flavor of the neighborhood. Certainly worth checking out. See more photos after the jump, unfortunately there is still a tint but I got a new camera last night so I’ll try and go back and take some proper photos. (more…)
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Back in January I did a small post on Emma Mae’s Gallery by the Reeves Center on 14th Street because there was an awesome Thelonious Monk painting. So just recently I received an email from the owner, Rev. Sandra Butler-Truesdale. I stopped by this weekend to say hello in person and of course the gallery is as cool as ever, especially if you like jazz. Anyway, she mentioned that she had this photo and would love to identify all the personalities. Some are easy like Sonny and Cher and Sammy Davis Junior. But not all the folks are easily identifiable. I told the Rev. Truesdale that I’d be happy to post and see if the PoP and flickr communities could help. So if you know the others in the photo please leave their name in the comments but try and be as specific as possible ie second woman on the left.
Also starting tomorrow May 21st- Saturday, May 24 (12pm-8pm) the Gallery will be featuring ‘Anthony Phillips of Woodcrafts by O’Banion’.
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But I don’t think we’ve ever discussed how cool their “bricks for schools” program is. You pay $150 to get your name on a brick and the money goes to building/maintaining desperately needed schools in various countries. So despite all it’s quirks this in and of itself is a great reason to patronize the bar. It’s a personal favorite of mine to hit before catching a show at the 9:30 club.
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Thanks to a reader for sending me an update on what the 2200 block of 14th and W will look like. As usual DC MUD has the skinny including renderings.
They say: “Five buildings in the 2200 block of 14th Street (2203, 2205, 2207, 2209, 2211) were approved for demolition by the DC Historic Planning Board as part of the new Anthony Bowen YMCA and 14W project by DC-based developer Perseus Realty, LLC and YMCA of Metropolitan Washington.”
That’s going to be almost DC USA wild when it is completed.