Trouble for Spike Mendelsohn’s Restaurants. On Thursday, ANC6B Alcohol Beverage Control Committee voted unanimously to protest the liquor license renewals for Spike Mendelsohn’s three PA Ave restaurants: We the Pizza, Good Stuff Eatery, and Santa Rosa Tacquereia. Nearby residents raised a litany of concerns about trash, rodents, and noise and the indifference of restaurant management to their repeatedly expressed complaints. Members of the 6B’s ABC Committee noted longstanding concerns with similar issues with the Mendelsohn restaurants dating back to 2014. Representatives of the restaurants failed to show up at the meeting which one committee member took as an affront. The full ANC will take up the recommendation to protest the license renewal at its meeting on Tuesday, June 14.Likewise, the folks over at Paraíso Taquería y Mezcalería at 1101 PA Ave have alienated some of the owners of condos above the restaurant by what the latter claim are gross violations of the settlement agreement governing the restaurant’s operations. Residents complain about excessive noise from inebriated customers in the sidewalk café as well as noise from inside the restaurant. The restaurant management, they say, has dismissed their entreaties to install soundproofing and to find ways to ameliorate outdoor noise. Residents feel aggrieved that DCRA and ABRA have not been responsive to complaints they say have been filed. The restaurant, unwisely, failed to send a representative to the meeting. The Committee voted unanimously to protest renewal of the liquor license. The full ANC will take up the recommendation to protest at its meeting June 14.Barracks Row’s Ginza Karaoke and Barbeque Lounge – planning to open on the second floor at 526 8th Street, SE, took a step closer to that opening when the ANC6B Alcohol Beverage Committee gave preliminary support to the their request for a new Tavern liquor license (contingent on receipt of a signed settlement agreement governing operations). Total capacity is set at 157 people plus 49 at the rooftop summer garden. The karaoke will be confined to eight rooms inside. Congress Market, the been-there-forever mom and pop corner market at 421 East Capitol, will close its doors for good this week. According to staff, the move comes with the retirement of the owner. On Tuesday, June 7, the City Council gave its final approval to a Ward 7 ANC map which keeps the four single member ANC districts in Hill East, plus Kingman Park and Rosedale as part of a sprawling ten single-district-ANC7D stretching from the District line in Northeast to Potomac Avenue, SE, and includes RFK Stadium. The map also extends Ward 7 ANC7F west of the river to include Phase I and II of Reservation 13 (the Park Kennedy Apartments and low income housing at The Ethel) and the DC Jail. Here’s what early voting looked like at Capitol Hill’s Sherwood Recreation Center at 640 10th Street, NE, on Saturday afternoon. Early voting started on Friday and like other early voting centers around the city, Sherwood has experienced a light voter turnout. For the first time the city mailed a ballot to every registered voter for a primary election and those ballots may be dropped in ANY Ballot Drop Box at ANY time beginning Friday, May 27 until 8:00pm on Election Day, Tuesday, June 21. Here are the locations of Ballot Drop Boxes on Capitol Hill: Northeast Library, 330 7th Street, NE; Southwest Library, 900 Wesley Place, SW; Eastern Market, 225 7th Street, SE; and Payne Elementary School, 1445 C Street, SE. For more information, go here: https://earlyvoting.dcboe.org/ and here: https://www.dcboe.org/Voters/Where-to-Vote/Mail-Ballot-Drop-BoxesPupatella announced in September of 2021 they were opening a new pizza restaurant at 3rd and Massachusetts Avenue, NE, in the former Romeo & Juliet’s. For months, it appeared as though nothing was happening, but now the owners have filed a public space application for outdoor seating including an enclosed sidewalk café. Last week ANC6C considered the application and balked at supporting the request in response to concerns from neighbors about noise from outdoor seating affecting their quality of life. The plan would provide for additional new outdoor seating along 3rd Street. The ANC voted 4 – 0 with two abstentions to oppose the application but held off on filing a letter of opposition in order to encourage an agreement between the restaurant in the neighbors. The full ANC will resume consideration of the case at its meeting in July. Pupatella has five outlets locally. Here’s a link to the Dupont Circle restaurant’s menu: https://bit.ly/31mgIDy
Liquor license renewals: ZOCA & Crush by ZOCA, 319 Pennsylvania Ave SE; Newland, 327 7th Street SE; Harvest Tide Steak House; La Casina DC, 327 7th Street SE; Chiko Capitol Hill, 423 8th Street SE; Ambar, 523 8th Street SE; Las Placitas, 1100 8th Street SE; Belga Cafe, 514 8th Street SE.
1609 G Street, SE. Special Exception to construct a third story and three-story rear addition, with cellar, to an existing, attached, principal dwelling unit.
274 Kentucky Avenue SE. Variance to construct a second story rear addition, to an existing, attached, three-story principal dwelling unit.
Letter to DDOT in support of 17th Street/19th Street project.
Letter to DDOT on Southeast Blvd Design.
Presentation: DC Public Charter School Board – Executive Director, Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis – tentative.
Liquor license renewals: Taco City DC, 1102 8th Street, SE; Trattoria Alberto, 504 8th Street, SE; Little Pearl, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE; Ted’s Bulletin, 505 8th Sreet, SE; We, The Pizza, 305 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE; Good Stuff Eatery, 303 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE; Santa Rose Taqueria, 301 Pennsylvania Ave SE; Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street, SE; Joselito – Casa de Comidas, 660 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE; Bullfrog Bagels, Pesce, 317 7th Street, SE; Eat BRGZ, 250 7th Street, SE; The Duck and The Peach/The Wells/La Collina, 300 7th Street, SE; Tunnicliffs Tavern, 222 7th Street SE; Café 8, 424 8th Street, SE – and DDOT Public Space Request to Extend Outdoor Sidewalk Patio Space; Paraiso, 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue SE.
New liquor license applications: Fight Club Restaurant, 633 Pennsylvania Ave SE; Request for Stipulated and New License; Ginza BBQ Lounge and Karaoke Spot, 526 8th Street, SE, Request for a new Tavern license.
Appoint New Chair for Capitol Hill Business Interest Working Group
Letter to DC Council to Support Violence Interrupters and Similar Programs at Potomac Gardens and Hopkins – introduced by Commissioner Ryder.
Wednesday, June 15
ANC6A Economic Development & Zoning Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
647 16th Street, NE. Zoning Adjustment Application – request for special exception zoning relief to construct a third story and rear addition, and convert to a flat, an existing, attached, two-story with cellar, principal dwelling unit.
Friday, June 17
Friday Night Live Jazz at Eastern Market Metro Plaza, 5:00pm – 6:30pm, weather permitting. (Info on the featured artist was not available at press time.)
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 