The Week Ahead…(Awakenings Bar & Grill Comes To Barracks Row) & Some Photos from the Past Week
by Larry Janezich
Posted September 1, 2025
Extreme Pizza on Barracks Row has closed permanently at 520 8th Street after dropping hints for a couple of months. But a new venue named Awaken Bar & Grill has stepped up and filed a stipulated liquor license with ANC6B’s Alcohol Beverage Committee. If the Committee and the full ANC supports the license it could allow them to open quickly pending approval of a permanent license. The ANC is still waiting to find out more about the new business. Details are likely to be forthcoming at Tuesday night’s (September 2) virtual meeting of the Committee. See below.
Last Sunday afternoon at 3:30pm, the National Symphony Orchestra held a dress rehearsal for Sunday night’s nationally broadcast Labor Day Concert on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. The rehearsal was open to the public. Access wasn’t easy – you had to enter security at 3rd Street SW and hike back up the hill to the East Front.
But it you wanted a front row seat it was there for the taking.
Dos Torros Tacqueria at 205 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, has made progress on its buildout…
…as it inches closer to opening.
Over at the Supreme Court, protective screening has gone up while cleaning and restoration work takes place. The screens will be up until December.
On Sunday, August 24, the Friends of Lincoln Park (FOLP) hosted a community event in the park featuring the Abracadabra Alex Magic Show. FOLP is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that works to put on events for the community and invest in the upkeep of the park. They conduct their activities in partnership with the National Park Service which manages Lincoln Park. You can join the listserv here: https://lincolnparkdc.net/about/ Bert Wyman, representing FOLP said the show drew several hundred – the biggest turnout for a FOLP event yet. Photo credit: Bert Wyman
The Week Ahead…
Highlights:
- List of FreeDC Events scheduled for the coming week. See “Capitol Hill Corner Would Also Like You to Know About.”
Tuesday, September 2
ANC6B ABC Committee will hold a hybrid meeting at 7:00pm.
The meeting location will be 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE; Second Floor, Conference Room 1 (entry adjacent to Trader Joe’s).
- For info on how to join the virtual meeting, go here: https://anc6b.org/
Among items on the draft agenda:
New Applications
- [LATE BREAKING] Request for stipulated license – Awakening Bar & Grill, 520 8th Street, SE.
Protests/Other Updates
- Balkan Concepts t/a Ambar (Currently Protesting) (6B03)
- [LATE BREAKING] Aloha/Tobacco King Re-Application
- Recommendations on encouraging commercial variety in ANC6B (Repeat from July 2025)
ANC6D will hold a virtual Administrative Meeting at 7:00pm.
- To view meeting contact 6D@anc.dc.gov
Agenda: The commission will discuss the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the full commission on September 15.
Wednesday, September 3
ANC6B Transportation Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
- For info on how to join the meeting, go here: https://anc6b.org/
Among items on the draft agenda:
- Update from DDOT on Phase II construction at the new Pennsylvania/Potomac Avenue traffic circle (invited, TBC).
- Discussion of National Guard accident at 8th and North Carolina Avenue on August 20 and the current situation with the federal takeover.
- Continuation of Discussion on Zone Only Parking for Ives Place (and potential other blocks).
ANC C Planning, Zoning & Economic Development Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 6:30pn.
- For info on how to join the meeting, go here: https://anc6c.org/hot-topics/
Among items on the draft agenda: TBA
Thursday, September 4
ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
- For info on how to join the meeting, go here: https://anc6b.org/
Among items on the draft agenda:
- 624 C Street, SE. Historic Preservation Application.
- 1341 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. Zoning Adjustment Application.
- 409 E Cap Street, SE. Zoning Adjustment and Historic Preservation Applications.
- 730 Rear 11th Street, SE, Historic Preservation Application.
- 418 4th Street, SE. Historic Preservation Application.
- Recommendations on encouraging commercial variety in ANC6B.
ANC6C Transportation & Public Space Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
- For info on how to join the meeting, go here: https://anc6b.org/
Among items on the draft agenda: TBA
Capitol Hill Corner Would Also Like You To Know About:
Saturday, September 6
Opening reception for ABSTRACT Exhibit at the Frame of Mine shop and gallery at 545 Eighth Street, SE, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. The show will feature the works of Capitol Hill Art League members who were invited to delve into the abstract by sharing artwork that does not attempt to represent external reality, but seeks to achieve effects using shapes, forms, lines, colors, and textures.
Thursday, September 4
Death Cafe at Congressional Cemetery 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Historic Congressional Cemetery Chapel 1801 E Street, SE.
Death Cafe is a global movement to encourage discussion about the often-taboo subject of death. These are intimate informal gatherings where we discuss death while eating cake and drinking tea to remind us of comfort and sweetness even in difficult times.
FreeDC project list of events for the coming week:
Federal Forces Out Now: Visits to Congress with Free DC
Thursday, September 4, 2025
9:00am 4:00pm
Rayburn House Office Building
45 Independence Avenue, SE.
https://freedcproject.org/event-list/federal-forces-out-now-visits-to-congress-sept-4
Communications Working Group monthly meeting
Thursday, September 4, 2025
6:00pm 7:30pm
https://freedcproject.org/event-list/communications-working-group-monthly-meeting-lf7zh
We Are All DC – A National March
Saturday, September 6, 2025
11:00am 4:00pm
Malcolm X Park
16th Stree, NW
https://freedcproject.org/event-list/we-are-all-dc-a-national-march
Refuse, Resist, Rebuild Town Hall
Thursday, September 4, 2025
6:00 PM 9:00 PM
John Wesley AME Zion Church
1615 14th Street, NW
https://freedcproject.org/event-list/save-the-date-refuse-resist-rebuild-town-hall
“The Last Battlefront” film screening
Thursday, September 4, 2025
6:00am 8:00pm
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 4th Floor Auditorium
901 G Street NorthwestWashington, DC, 20001United States (map)
https://freedcproject.org/event-list/the-last-battlefront-sept-4
For more, go here: https://freedcproject.org/event-list
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 