Twisted Horn cocktail bar opening soon on Upshur Street

Twisted Horn cocktail bar opening soon on Upshur Street

I spoke with Sabrina Zahid who works for Twisted Horn, and she told me that work on the building has progressed pretty far. At this point, they're looking to open... 

Read more, after the break:

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Upshur restaurants: It's going to be a full menu of options in 2016

Upshur restaurants: It's going to be a full menu of options in 2016


Upshur Street along the 800 block is becoming restaurant row. We already have the critically and customer acclaimed Crane & Turtle, the long-standing neighborhood favorite Domku, and the local hangout Petworth Citizen. There's Dannie's and Cuzzin's for quicker take-out, and on the non-food side, Town & Country convenience store, Bentley's Antiques, Phillips Shoe Repair, Willow Fashion, Fia's Fabulous Finds and the hair care storefronts. 

Coming in late Spring and early Summer 2016, Upshur Street will see the opening of four new restaurants.  Read more about the new restaurants, after the break:

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Riyad closed, neighborhood looks forward to new restaurant

Riyad closed, neighborhood looks forward to new restaurant

The Riyad market closed due to the efforts by concerned residents in the neighborhood, good work by MPD on busting the Riyad for selling synthetic drugs and the outstanding work of Assistant Attorney General Michael Aniton on partnering with the community and the building owners to turn this from a neighborhood problem into a neighborhood opportunity

Read the full article, after the break:

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KSDA gets a win, Kennedy Street hopefully gets new development

KSDA gets a win, Kennedy Street hopefully gets new development

Kudos to the Kennedy Street Development Association for their hard work on getting properties owners of vacant and blighted homes to step up and respect the neighborhood.

929-931 Kennedy Street NW is now up for sale after the city was pushed to place a new tax lien on the properties. 

Read more, after the break:

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Park View follow-up on parking issue at 3701 New Hampshire

Park View follow-up on parking issue at 3701 New Hampshire

ANC 1A Chair and Park View blogger Kent Boese wrote a follow-up article about the parking issues around 3701 New Hampshire Avenue. I think it's a good explanation of the current parking situation. Kent walked around the area looking at where people are parking and what options were available.

The article is a good in-depth look at the issue. Ultimately, residents along 7th, Quincy, Rock Creek Church and other nearby streets will feel the stress from any new development, be it a restaurant or an apartment building. 

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Quick update on plans for Ruta del Vino

Quick update on plans for Ruta del Vino

The Riyad is set to close in a month, and coming up is a wine bar to replace it. I sat down with Justin Logan for coffee the other day to chat about Ruta del Vino, the wine bar coming to 800 Upshur St NW.

Read more about the new restaurant >

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DC Treasure preview party & gumbo contest

DC Treasure preview party & gumbo contest

DC Treasure store owner Noah David is having an early "preview" party for the store on Monday, Oct 12th. The new antique store at 205 Upshur St NW is next to the Slash Run restaurant and was previously the Louisiana Gumbo Express restaurant

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Fighting to clean up vacant properties, one house at a time

Fighting to clean up vacant properties, one house at a time

Walk around Petworth and you'll see houses being renovated on block after block, dumpsters parked on the street with duct-taped "no parking" signs on the trees. Inside you'll hear tools and men's voices as walls go up, floors are redone, new landscaping put in. 

Walk around Petworth, and you'll see many examples of houses that are sitting untouched and empty, slowly falling apart with trash strewn yards and a construction permit on the window -- with no signs of construction.  

Neighbors are fed up with developers buying properties and leaving them to rot while waiting for housing prices to rise. The city loses out on taxes, and everyone loses out when those properties attract rats and illegal activity. 

But KSDA and ANC 4D Commissioner David Sheon are working to fix it.

Read more about the plan to fix the problem of vacant and blighted properties >

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Goodbye Riyad, hello Ruta del Vino

Goodbye Riyad, hello Ruta del Vino

Riyad Market, the inconvenience store at 800 Upshur St busted for selling synthetic drugs, is supposed to close by November 13th, according to the Office of the Attorney General. To replace it? A new Latin-inspired wine bar and restaurant

Read more about the new wine bar after the break:

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KSDA keeps up the pressure on vacant properties (updated)

KSDA keeps up the pressure on vacant properties (updated)

Here's some good investigative work by neighbors in the Kennedy Street Development Association on vacant and blighted property in the area. It's bad enough that good homes are sitting vacant and are unsafe (or being used by squatters or for other uses), but the city is losing millions in taxable revenue that could be used for good purposes, like homelessness and affordable housing, perhaps? Good job to the KSDA folks for their tenacity on this issue... Read more >

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Renovation Tips: Eat, bathe and relax in style

Renovation Tips: Eat, bathe and relax in style

Are you considering updates and renovations at your house? This is the second in a short series written with my friend and local real estate agent Ryan DaSilva about renovation ideas that are “worth it.” Obviously, “worthiness” is always up to the homeowner. Whether you’re planning on moving in a year or living in your house for the next 50 years, there’s always something to update and improve the house to make it more enjoyable for you. 

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Meeting about 3701 Georgia Ave redevelopment (Sweet Mango Cafe)

Meeting about 3701 Georgia Ave redevelopment (Sweet Mango Cafe)

ANC 4C Commissioner Timothy Jones is holding a Single Member District meeting (SMD) tonight at 801 Shepherd St NW at 7pm along with Rooney Properties, the new owner and developer of 3701 Georgia Avenue, which used to be Sweet Mango Cafe.

Read more about the meeting and links to the backstory, after the break:

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The opposite of a Slim chance: an interview with Paul Ruppert

The opposite of a Slim chance: an interview with Paul Ruppert

You can’t talk about the recent resurgence along Upshur Street in Petworth without mentioning Paul Ruppert. The Ruppert family has lived and owned businesses in DC since the 1890s when his great-grandfather opened up a hardware store. An entrepreneur at heart, Paul has run several successful restaurants in DC since he opened his first one on 7th Street with his mother in 1992. Paul has made a career of opening businesses in areas of DC that are on the cusp of change, and then lending support to those communities. It’s no different with Petworth.  Read more about Slim's Diner and Paul Ruppert, after the break...

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Thai restaurant at 845 Upshur Street gets a name

Thai restaurant at 845 Upshur Street gets a name

The southeast Asian / Thai-inspired restaurant coming to 845 Upshur Street NW is going to be named after a friend of Chef Alex McCoy (well, a friend's nickname, really). It's going to be called Alfie's

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