9th and H Street, NE
Thanks to a reader for sending last week. H Street Connection, H Street’s version of the old Nehemiah Strip Mall is starting to get demoed – stand by for:
Phil updates us on Sunday “Half of the H Street Connection is now gone”:
previously:
2339 18th Street, NW
Helluva run Little Fountain, Helluva run.
Ed. Note: Angles still open till July 31st.
courtesy Little Fountain Cafe
1401 Maryland Ave, NE
Whoa – another big end of an era this late afternoon. Thanks to a reader for sending. RIP Checkers. Now if they touch the H Street Popeyes were going to have a serious problem.
2011 S Street, NW
Farewell exploding signage? Thanks to a reader for the heads up. Looking forward to learning more about the new concept. Stay tuned for updates.
Big news from Thaiphoon:
2339 18th Street, NW
Last week I mentioned that no matter how hard you try you can not stop the winds of change. And sometimes that’s OK. Owners Patrick and Kim have been operating the bar and restaurant for coming on 23 years. And 23 years in Adams Morgan, surviving all the ups and downs is really 46 years. As I said last week, this place was really special to me. And it was really special to many others. It was a neighborhood bar for a neighborhood that didn’t really have a neighborhood bar (no offense to Millie & Al’s, RIP) when they opened in ’95 (Little Fountain opened a couple years earlier in ’93.) Anyway why was this spot so special to me and many others? Like any good neighborhood, it is because of the people. And the people came because of Patrick and Kim.
Patrick looking wistful remembering the good times and the tough times but mostly the good times
Now this may sound a bit ridiculous – but Patrick is a little bit like ‘the most interesting man in the world’ from those beer commercials. And when you’re incredibly interesting you attract an incredibly interesting clientele. And bike messengers. I kid, I kid. But seriously some of those bike messengers were crazy. Hell almost every regular in that place was a bit crazy. (more…)
1525 15th Street, NW
Stephanie Mencimer tweets us last night:
“US Marshals today evicted the venerable Volvo House, last auto shop in Logan Circle”
“84-yr-old owner had a stroke apparently, couldn’t keep the place up”
“Old Volvos from the Volvo House line Q St, where they’re quickly racking up tickets.”
2339 18th Street, NW
And so the wind continues to blow. Doesn’t make it any less sad to hear though. And this one stings a lot for me. When I first moved to the District in 1997 this was my very first home away from home. But more on that when this is finalized. Suffice it to say I and many others have had lots of fond, fuzzy and crazy memories at one of the best true, and not used tritely, neighborhood bars – Angles. And Little Fountain Cafe of course has been one of the best “hidden gems” for years. They’d be celebrating their 23rd anniversary next month. Welp, the rumors have been swirling for a while and all I can say is – it’s true. It’s not a done deal yet but the owners are indeed in very serious negotiations to sell the building. Nothing has been finalized as of today but I’ll be updating with more details when it is official.
I’m now going to listen to Tom Waits for a few hours and hopefully stop weeping by this evening…
18th Street looking northwest towards Columbia Road
1764 Columbia Rd, NW
“Dear PoPville,
O’Tasty has been closed for a few days and their phone is unanswered. This is one of my favorite spots for cheap and relatively good Chinese food! Would be super bummed to see it close. Any ideas? No signs up in the window…”
I stopped by yesterday and was told by a neighbor that they closed last week. It wasn’t exactly clear why it closed so abruptly but the neighbor thought there may have been a disagreement with the landlord. I will hold out some hope that perhaps the disagreement can be overcome and there will be a resurrection. Because, never mind the quality of the food, this was by far the greatest named Chinese restaurant, no scratch that, the greatest named restaurant period. And for that this is as deep a blow to Adams Morgan as the loss of Cashion’s, Millie & Al’s etc.
Columbia Road looking east towards 16th Street
727 8th Street, SE
A reader reports:
“The sports store on Barracks Row is actually empty! I’ve seen the “store closing” sign for years- but now it’s finally closed.”
“Dear PoPville,
Looks pretty certain La Fourchette’s last day will be June 12.
Their business has been pretty good this month. Even the weekday dinners are busy. Glad to see them going out on a high note.”
