A speakeasy-style bar on K Street that shut down after allegedly operating without a valid liquor license last November has reopened, this time seemingly within the letter of the law.
The Speak reopened its doors at 1413 K St. NW on Tuesday, a representative with the bar told us yesterday afternoon.
A visit to the bar last night revealed it’s operating much as it did before it closed last year. The bar’s menu includes nine cocktails and an assortment of beer and wine only accessible to patrons who step through a “hidden” door made to look like a mirror.
Though it remains unclear how the bar got its new liquor license, regulators approved an alcohol license for The Speak’s upstairs neighbor, Vieux Carre, last week.
A representative for The Speak declined to comment on the record but said they would share more information with us soon.
Someone plans to open a new barbecue restaurant and live music venue in the space once intended to house a luxurious caviar lounge.
The owners of a new eatery called “Vieux Carre” have applied to serve alcohol at 1413 K St. NW, according to a recent filing with D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA).
Odessa, the caviar-centric lounge planned to open at 1413 K St. NW, won’t serve champagne to lobbyists or lawyers anytime soon.
That’s because the company behind the bar, Boyemarketing LLC, withdrew its application for a liquor license earlier this month, according to an Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) board order. (more…)
The future of a “caviar fusion lounge” planned for K Street seems to be in jeopardy, according to a recent order from D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
The panel has ordered a representative from Odessa to appear at a special January hearing meant to demonstrate whether the bar’s owners are qualified to receive the liquor license they sought to obtain for the lounge in September.
The hearing appears to stem from the closure of faux-speakeasy The Speak, which investigators say operated without a valid liquor license underneath Odessa’s space at 1413 K St. NW. Odessa’s owner, Ajiboye Laosebikan, also owned The Speak and helped sell alcohol without a liquor license in the months between May and November, according to D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration.
