(Updated Wednesday at 7:52 p.m.) Several of the owners behind Chaplin’s are plotting to open a new diner about a block away from the Shaw ramen restaurant.
Ari Wilder said during a meeting of Logan Circle’s ANC 2F earlier this month he intends to help open a new restaurant called “Shaw Shank Diner” at 906 P St. NW. Chaplin’s co-owner Adrian Williams is also attached to the project.
If all goes according to plan, the restaurant would serve diner fare and include outdoor seating, Borderstan learned during the meeting.
Though it’s unclear when Shaw Shank Diner would open (the forthcoming eatery is still in its early stages, the Wilders said) a sample menu designed by local company KTD Creative seems to reveal what it might serve.
According to the sample menu, the diner would serve fried egg sandwiches, breakfast burritos, egg skillets, fried chicken sandwiches and “small chow” like smoked beef brisket, mac and cheese and burgers.
Shaw Shank may also have cocktails, beer, wine and soda, according to an unfinished drink list.
Additionally, Anne Alfano, co-founder and executive chef at Little Red Fox, appears to be attached to the new eatery.
A representative for the eatery declined to comment but said more information would be available soon.
A business once planned to be a 24-hour diner on 19th St. NW is no more.
Olivia’s Diner (1120 19th St. NW) has closed its doors for good, according to a sign on the front door of the business. A PoPville reader first spotted the closure.
“It is with our deepest regret, but Olivia’s Diner is now permanently closed,” the sign reads. “We will miss being a part of this neighborhood and the friends we’ve made along the way.”
Though we were unable to reach owner Thomas Marr for comment, it’s possible the restaurant fell victim to the same sagging sales that felled other nearby eateries Sophie’s Cuban, Science Club, Protein Bar, Noodles and Company, Smith and Wollensky, Melt Shop and others.
The property in question at the southwest corner of 14th and T Streets NW. (Photo: Washington City Paper, Housing Complex blog.)
The Housing Complex blog at Washington City Paper has the story… plans by the furniture chain, Room & Board, to open a store at the southwest corner of 14th and T NW have collapsed, apparently due to the chain’s inability to get financing:
Southwest corner of 14th and T Streets NW. (Photo by Luis Gomez.)
It appears that plans for turning the large building at the southwest corner of 14th and T NW–including a 24-hour diner, theater, yoga center and comedy club –may be dead. Seems a large furntiture retailer has come along and made an offer to the owner. Two accounts of the matter, at Greater Greater Washington and Washington City Paper.
From Greater Greater Washington:
Prospects for the Tryst/Diner/ comedy club /yoga studio/dance company plan for 14th and T, which has become a major campaign issue in 2B09 are looking dim. The City Paper found out that the owners have decided to sell to a big-box furniture store, Room and Board, instead.
The deal isn’t totally done, and some neighborhood activists including 2B09 candidate Doug Rogers are already pushing Room and Board to pull out of the deal (which they have the option to do).
We learned today that Dave Chappelle, yes the Dave Chappelle, has signed on as a potential investor with the Diner/Tryst/ comedy club planned for the old Church of the Reformer at 14th and T Streets NW, the development plan we wrote about in July.
The bad news? That plan is close to imploding. Sources close to the deal say that the earlier agreement to lease the space from the current owner fell through. Rather than let their dream die, Diner/Tryst/Open City owner Constantine Stavropoulos and DC-Improv and Riot Act comedy impresario John Xereas, along with a few others–including Chappelle, a Xereas acquaintance who has D.C. roots–worked to get a deal together to buy the building. The bid is in the neighborhood of $9 million. The problem? They’re not the only ones interested.
