lunch

1901 L Street, NW

wdc wrote in the Juice Joint closing post:

“Speaking of closed… Did I miss an announcement about the Sweetgreen at 19th and L? That place was ALWAYS packed, lines out the door. What happened?”

jcd responds:

“The grilled cheese place next to it closed a few months ago. Reportedly, the whole building is going to be re-skinned, presumably with glass walls, the same way that many other downtown office buildings are. The Staples will probably be next to close.”

LG replies:

“Uh, I’m literally eating a salad that I picked up from the Sweetgreen on 19th and L a half hour ago. It’s still open! Or at least, if it’s closing for construction, it hasn’t closed yet.”

dolf hears:

“This location has always been a trouble spot for sweetgreen. Golden Triangle is a drain and rent is crazy. No weekend traffic, no dinner traffic. It’s consistently been one of their worst performing locations. With winter coming, lunch traffic will drop in half (if not more). This is a long time coming from what I’ve heard. One other DMV location may also be on the chopping block.”

The official word from Sweetgreen around lunch time is that they are:

“open with a line currently out the door.”

1018 Vermont Ave, NW

More good news for the downtown lunch crowd – Ramen, Donburi, Bento is coming to the 3rd floor above DC Thai and next door to Ton Ton Chicken.

Also next door, on the other side, to the coming Modern Market just north of K Street.

1010 Vermont Ave, NW

Another lunch option for the downtown crowd – from Modern Market’s liquor license placard:

“A restaurant offering a variety of menu items such as salads, soups, and breakfast items and serving alcohol on-premise only. Total number of seats: 45. Total Occupancy Load: 63.”

Hours will be Sunday through Saturday 7 am – 9 pm.

They’ll be located near the new Chipotle on Vermont. Updates when they get closer to opening.

Check out their Bethesda menus here.

Modern Market’s website says:

“Hello and welcome to Modern Market. We want to change what people eat.

Did you ever notice that when you eat great food, you feel good? We did.

We also noticed how hard it is to find places that serve great tasting, healthy food made from ingredients you can trust for a reasonable price. Eating out seems to be a lot like voting – choose the least worst option and get on with it. We wanted to change that.

So in 2009, we quit our jobs and opened a restaurant in Boulder, Colo. We built a neighborhood spot where we could eat every day and doing so would make us happier and healthier.

We serve artisan fare without all the pomp – simple counter service with amazing, scratch-made food that nourishes your mind and body. Priced low enough that you can afford (around $10), but high enough that true high quality sources can be used and our team members can be fairly compensated.

We cook our food using simple, whole ingredients purchased from farmers, ranchers and suppliers we know and trust; who love and respect the planet as much as we do. (more…)