A longtime purveyor of chicken and Latin-inspired cuisine is flying the coop near U Street.
Chix is shuttering its location at 2019 11th St. NW, the company announced today. The store’s final day will be this Friday, Dec. 23, according to a Chix employee.
The two other Chix locations in Thomas Circle and Navy Yard will remain open, and the company plans to widen its delivery radius to several new neighborhoods, including near U Street.
Chix first opened its 11th Street location in 2007. A Borderstan food reviewer praised the eatery’s “moist and subtle” chicken and “well seasoned” sweet potatoes in 2012.
Update at 9:23 a.m. Thursday — Cove sent us the following statement:
Yes, unfortunately I can confirm the sad news that cove K St has been closed. This summer, we made a series of improvements to coves across the city — upgraded workstations, more call boxes, and separate focused and social sections for different kinds of work styles — and ultimately decided that we didn’t think we could bring our K St location up to our standard for the best member experience possible.The good news is that cove members in the area are well-supported by our South Dupont location that sits just 3 blocks away, as well as our other locations in the 14th St, Chinatown, Columbia Heights and Eastern Market neighborhoods. We’ve learned a tremendous amount from operating our first downtown location and its closing will enable us to focus on future growth and locations that deliver the full member experience. We are excited to extend cove’s offering to new neighborhoods and communities in 2017.
Co-working startup Cove appears to be scaling back its operations in D.C.
The company abruptly closed its location at 1990 K St. NW Monday. A sign on the front door of the business read, “Cove K St. is closed.”
The co-working space also no longer appears on the company’s list of locations. Workers were spotted moving things out of the space earlier today, a reader told Borderstan.
Cove’s locations on 14th Street and in Dupont, Columbia Heights, Chinatown and Capitol Hill are still listed as open on the company’s website.
We were unable to reach a Cove representative for more infromation. We’ll update this story if we do.
Photo courtesy of Elayne Burke
A bar and restaurant in Columbia Heights is set to close its doors next month.
Kangaroo Boxing Club (3410 11th St. NW) is slated to close in January, according to owner Josh Saltzman. The bar, which is known for serving Moscow mules in copper mugs and screening Michigan University football games, opened about four years ago.
But the space won’t stay quiet for long. Saltzman is plotting a new neighborhood bar and restaurant to take the bar’s place.
“While we are devastated to have to close our doors at KBC, we remain dedicated to our wonderful staff and the neighborhood we still call home,” he said in an email to Borderstan. “With that in mind, we are working quickly to redevelop the space and plan to launch a new community focused bar and restaurant this summer.”
Saltzman added that “bartender and friend, Carrie Dzwil, along with the team from Ivy and Coney, will be the creative force behind the new project.”
Kangaroo Boxing Club is planning to celebrate its last days with a handful of events and a “drink-the-bar-dry all-out New Years Eve bash,” Saltzman said.
“We would like to thank our incredible staff, many of whom have been with us from the beginning, as well our family of regulars who allowed us to keep the lights on and pursue our passion since we opened our doors in 2012,” he said. “We look forward to seeing you all together again in 2017”
Photo via Facebook / Kangaroo Boxing Club
Has this late-night cheesesteak joint near the intersection of 14th and U streets NW served its last sandwich?
J’s Steaks (1939 14th St. NW) was closed last night and earlier this afternoon when a Borderstan reporter visited the shop.
The business is also listed as “permanently closed” on its Google listing. Additionally, the eatery’s main phone line was disconnected when we called today.
Though it’s unclear when the business may have shuttered, an employee at next-door Boss Burger said the late-night restaurant has been closed for about two months.
We’ll update this story if we can confirm the closure.
Photo by Andrew Ramonas
Red Robin’s fast-casual concept on 19th Street is no more.
The burger chain announced this week it was closing nine of its Burger Works locations across the U.S., apparently including the one at 1028 19th St. NW. An eagle-eyed PoPville reader first spotted the closure of the 19th Street store earlier today.
“We’re sorry,” reads a sign on the front door of the former burger joint. “This location has closed.”
The closure is the latest in a long list of restaurants to leave 19th Street over the past year. Other recently shuttered businesses along the corridor include Olivia’s Diner, Sophie’s Cuban, Science Club, Protein Bar, Noodles and Company, Smith and Wollensky, Melt Shop and others.
You have until Tuesday to buy a blended drink at Dupont’s Smoothie King. The national chain’s location at 1621 Connecticut Ave. NW is closing up shop.
“It is with heavy hearts to let you know that Smoothie King Dupont location will be closing its doors,” a sign in front of the business reads. “Our last day of operation ends on the 27th of September at 12:00 a.m. midnight.”
When asked why the location is closing, an employee at the store uttered one word: “rent.”
The smoothie shop opened its doors seven years ago. A PoPville reader first spotted the closure.
A Dupont deli may have served its last sandwich after its landlord forced it out this morning.
My Way Gourmet Deli (1730 Connecticut Ave. NW) closed its doors some time before 9:30 a.m. today after an eviction from the shop’s landlord, DL Management.
Many of the deli’s belongings were piled up on the sidewalk in front of the business and a worker was busy changing the shop’s locks when a Borderstan reporter visited earlier today. Several U.S. Marshals Service officers were also spotted aiding in the eviction.
“They’ve been here about a year, a little bit over, and I guess they just ran into financial troubles,” said Ana Pedroso, an employee of DL Management.
Pedroso explained that the deli will stay closed until it at least pays its back rent, but she added that’s not likely to happen.
“The landlord still has a choice on if she wants to [allow them to reopen],” Pedroso said. “We don’t really want to go through this same process a second time.”
An Italian eatery and its “restaurant within a restaurant” are closed on U Street.
Alphonse Italian Market and Osteria (1212 U St. NW) and its upscale sister eatery, Nonna’s Kitchen, appear to have shuttered on Monday, according to signs posted to the front door of the business.
“We wish to thank you for your patronage and support and we will miss serving the U Street neighborhood,” the signs read.
Both restaurants opened two years ago.
We were unable to reach the owners of the restaurants to confirm the closure. We’ll update this story if we hear back from them.
A downtown restaurant known for Mediterranean-style tapas has closed its doors, for now.
Panache (1725 Desales St. NW) shuttered Wednesday, Aug. 31, according to a sign on its door. The restaurant operated in that location for more than 12 years.
“We are so thankful to our co-workers, local partners, family and our friends who have made the experience of running Panache so memorable,” the sign reads. “To everyone who has become part of the Panache family — don’t think of this as a goodbye. Think of it as see you later.”
But eatery may not stay closed for long, the sign continues:
“Join us again this fall for a fresh idea on DeSales Street to serve you.”
We were unable to reach the owners of Panache for more information on what’s in store. We’ll update this story if we hear back from them.
A longtime camera shop and photo supply store will leave Dupont Circle later this month.
District Camera — also known as Embassy Camera — is set to close its location at 1735 Connecticut Ave. NW by Aug. 20, according to store employee AJ Glover. He added that the store will reopen at another address in the District, but the store’s owner, Saed Taliverdi, has not yet decided where.
The shop will sell much of its merchandise at a discount until Aug. 20, Glover said. Cameras, lighting equipment, memory cards and flashes are all included in the storewide sale.
According to District Camera’s website, the family-owned company was founded in 1978 “on a foundation of excellent customer service and even better prices.”
The camera shop also has an outpost in Burke, Va.
It looks as though a national sandwich chain has closed its store on U Street.
Paper now covers the windows at the Subway sandwich shop at 1115 U St. NW. Additionally, its doors were locked when a Borderstan reporter visited the business earlier this morning.
The eatery’s phone number has also been disconnected and the location no longer appears on Subway’s website.
Despite the possible closure, fans of the national chain’s sandwiches still have two options nearby: at the intersection of 14th and U streets and at 2301 Georgia Ave. NW.
A German restaurant and bar will say “auf wiedersehen” to Adams Morgan at the end of the month, but not before one last party.
Doner Bistro (1654 Columbia Rd. NW) will shut its doors on Aug. 1, the restaurant announced on Facebook today.
In memory of its four years in Adams Morgan, the beer house will throw an “Astra La Vista Party” with dollar Astra beers on Sunday, July 31.
Naturally, the business reassured its longtime fans with a German saying. “Everything has an end,” the company wrote on Facebook. “only the sausage has two.”
More information from Doner Bistro:
A cobbler who has mended and shined shoes on the U Street corridor for more than 50 years apparently has called it quits.
Irving “Duke” Johnson, 95, seems to have shut down his Duke’s Shoe Repair shop in the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center building at 2000 14th St. NW.
A Borderstan reporter who walked by the business this weekend found the store closed, with brown paper covering all its windows.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the paper went up. A phone number for the shop was disconnected.
A decades-old auto shop in Logan Circle has apparently closed its doors for good.
Mercedes & Volvo House, the longtime garage located at 1525 15th St. NW, appears to have shuttered recently. Several readers wrote to us last night and this morning to report that the auto shop had closed its doors, possibly due to an eviction:
Old Volvos from the Volvo House line Q St, where they're quickly racking up tickets. @popville @borderstan pic.twitter.com/3YGDxX0niG
— Stephanie Mencimer (@smencimer) June 8, 2016
The shop appeared empty when a Borderstan reporter visited earlier today. Likewise, phone calls to the shop went unanswered earlier this morning.
We’ll update this story if we learn more about why the business may have closed.
(Updated at 10:54 a.m.) The U Street corridor apparently now has one less rooftop deck.
Dunya Restaurant (801 Florida Ave. NW) appears to have closed its doors for good last weekend, according to a somewhat cryptic Facebook post. A PoPville reader first spotted the possible closure.
“It’s time to say goodbye… FAREWELL weekend at our bar,” the post reads. “We want to say thank You all for supporting us and enjoying with our service, staff and DJs.”
Dunya, which served Mediterranean fare and cocktails in the space, opened in 2013.
Photo via Google Street View
