A look at what's going on in Trinidad, on H Street, and in the larger area north of Capitol Hill.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Updated Show Bar Photos
They are obviously still in the process, but you get the idea. The vibe I get is definitely circus, without it feeling too cheesey. What do you think?
19 comments:
Anonymous
said...
It's OK, but I'm morally opposed to applying coats of paint to unpainted brick. It's an historical preservationist thing...this is why Georgetown is so lovely, many, many building are unpainted brick.
funny, that was my immediate reaction also to the first photo when I saw it. i totally support joe englert's endeavors, but i'd be for getting the historical elements historic.
Actually after seing the Red and the Black in person yesterday it's not so bad. I'm withholding judgement on the Show Bar. The blue of the Rock & Roll hotel is ok...actually met the guy who's partnering w/ Mr. Englert on that one and told him to check out this blog. I still think the Argonaut and that black/yellow building are eyesores, though. Stopped into R&B yesterday and also stopped into the Martini Bar, where they were busy getting ready for the grand opening. Now, *that's* a classy looking place.
I think the "newness" of the paint is really what's needed on H, where everything else is dirty, run down, or rusty.
I personally love all the brick houses painted in different colors--that's one of the things I love about DC.
I probably wouldn't have picked such a green for the Argonaut, but whatever.
Finally, can anyone tell me specifically where rock-n-roll hotel is? I looked this weekend for a blue-painted building with no luck. As a vegetarian, I'm pretty excited for the middle eastern cuisine (and was very happy to see that the argonaut had added veggie burgers to their menu).
Hey Joe Englert I hear ya. Big applause to you for investing in H street. You are doing a great job-and I think we can handle a little red paint. Any word on other interested investments that may be coming to H street? There has to be some interest with your bars, Abdo and the upcoming street cars?
Joe -- your comments really put some of the posts on here in perspective. Thanks for the thoughts, and keep up the good work.
As soon as you get another bar or two open, I am going to organize an office happy hour and drive folks to your bars myself, and I encourage all Frozen Topics fans to do likewise. Maybe we should even do a Frozen Topics night and see how many people we can bring in. Let's face it, businesses on H street don't need painting advice, they need customers.
Thanks for posting your perspective. I think a lot of the plans that people have for the area are a little pie in the sky. I've noticed that I tend to do most of retail purchases either in other parts of the city or in the suburbs. Is the area going to be able to support a coop food market? I'm not sure. There was one on the Columbia Pike corridor and they closed down. The Columbia Pike corridor in Arlington is a bit more prosperous than H street and has more people likely to be into that kind of thing.
How is Phish Tea doing? I walked by on my way home from the Argonaut around 8:00 and it looked pretty empty.
Joe's honest and frank assessment of H Street is a welcome change. I admire the big bet on H and hope it eventually yields profits for him and gives us a destination rather than an eyesore.
I am sorry to hear of the beverage license protests by the Linden Neighborhood Association, also known as the Robert Pittman Association. Robert Pittman took over a once proud neighborhood association, stopped holding meetings, eliminated elections, and now uses it as his personal vehicle to further his own interests. It in no way reflects the views of the neighborhood.
Joe and others-how do you think the Abdo development and supposed Harris Teeter will affect things? Also, isn't Clark realty supposed to be building residential units at the old Hechinger mall?
Joe you are awesome for believing in H street. I just wonder, with all of the barriers to financing your ventures over there though, what was it that really made you see potential in H street?
I could not agree more, Mr. Pittman does not speak for our community. Mr. Pittman is in my single member district – much to my chagrin. Outside of a handfull of people on Linden Place, I do not see where he finds his support. However, he does use Linden Neighborhood Association has the primary vehicle to represent the larger community. It is true that he will not release who are the members or officers of the organization – many on his street have asked.
I strongly believe that this is a nuisance protest. My hope is the Alcohol Beverage Control Board will dismiss these frivolous protests as soon as possible. The city provides residents a powerful tool to review liquor licenses; however, Mr. Pittman is grossly abusing that privilege.
To underline my frustration, I am posting the letter our ANC unanimously (all eight commissioners!) approved to send to the Alcohol Beverage Control Board regarding the taverns and restaurants that Mr. Englert proposes to open. This letter details the public community meetings our Commission held before making the decision to enter into voluntary agreements – again a unanimous agreement of all eight Commissioners.
The signed voluntary agreements can be found on our website: www.anc6a.org
Text of letter:
September 19, 2005
Charles Burger Chairman, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Suite 700 941 North Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20002
Mr. Burger:
On September 8, 2005, at our regularly scheduled and properly noticed Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A (ANC 6A) public meeting, and with all eight commissioners present, the commission voted unanimously to approve the following voluntary agreements:
(1) The Pug, 1234 H Street, NE
(2) The Beehive, 1224 H Street, NE
(3) Granville Moore’s Brickyard, 1238 H Street, NE
(4) The Red and Black, 1212 H Street, NE
(5) The Argonaut, 1433 H Street, NE
(6) The Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H Street, NE
These agreements were negotiated at the following seven public meetings over the last six months:
(1) April 19, 2005. Mr. Englert’s initial presentation to ANC 6A Alcohol Beverage Licensing Committee (ABL) outlining proposed establishments and operations.
(2) May 17, 2005. ANC 6A ABL committee discusses agreements with community.
(3) June 21, 2005. ANC 6A ABL committee holds a public forum in which over 75 members of the community attended to discuss these voluntary agreements. Mr. Englert answered questions for more than an hour about the proposed business operations. The ABL committee voted unanimously to recommend the Commission accepts the voluntary agreements.
(4) July 14, 2005. ANC 6A adopts voluntary agreements. There were concerns expressed that some elements of the agreement do not reflect the recently adopted liquor laws. The Commission asked the ABL committee to review agreements with staff at Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) to determine and identify the specific elements that do not comport with the new regulations.
(5) July 19, 2005. ANC 6A ABL committee discusses potential changes to the ANC 6A Standard Voluntary agreement in order to reflect Entertainment Endorsement application regarding live music.
(6) August 16, 2005. ANC 6A ABL c committee voted unanimously to recommend that ANC 6A adopt eight changes to the standard restaurant/tavern voluntary agreement that reflect the input and comments from ABRA in order to comport the ANC 6A voluntary agreement with the current regulations. Furthermore, the committee recommended that ANC 6A accept and update the recently signed six voluntary agreements with Mr. Englert with the new voluntary agreements.
(7) September 8, 2005. ANC 6A unanimously adopts the committee’s recommendations to accept and update the standard voluntary agreements for restaurants and taverns as well as to re-sign six new voluntary agreements with Mr. Englert (The Beehive, Granville Moore’s Brickyard, The Red and Black, the Argonaut, and the Rock and Roll Hotel) and Mr. Tomelden (The Pug).
All of these meetings were advertised in both local Capitol Hill newspapers – The Hill Rag and the Voice of the Hill. The meeting notices were also posted on our website – www.anc6a.org. The minutes and public record for both the ANC 6A ABL meetings as well as the monthly commission meetings were posted on the website after each meeting. Hard copies of these minutes were included in our ANC 6A meeting agenda packages and made available at monthly commission meetings for the community to review. The July 14, 2005, ANC 6A Commission’s minutes included the complete text of the proposed voluntary agreements for each establishment.
In close, these six voluntary agreements have undergone a through public and deliberate examination as well as extensive review by the ABRA staff. Our Commission continues to strive to implement the best voluntary agreements in the city. The unanimous vote by our Commission indicates that Mr. Englert and Mr. Tomelden have addressed the community’s concerns regarding these establishments.
On behalf of the Commission,
Joseph Fengler Chair, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A
I would also like to applaud Mr. Engler for really putting his money and faith into H St. In addition, the paint jobs are absolutely necessary. Can you imagine someone coming to H St. from another part of the area and trying to find these bars amongst all the boarded up buildings? The green of the Argonaut and the red of the Showbar make it clear to everyone that these establishments are part of the new growth, instead of the continued decay. That being stated, does anyone know which of these bars might open next, and when that might be? Being a Belgian beer fan, I'm especially looking forward to Dr. Granville's.
Why is most of the development towards the end of H street rather than the part which would be closer to Metro? I'm not complaining since I live pretty close to where everything will go, but it seems counterintuitive to me.
Most of the development is further down on H Street because that area was designated (back a few years ago) as an arts & entertainment area. Closer to Union Station we are supposed to see more housing/mixed-use places, followed by retail. Placing the entertainment at the far end of H had to do with the location of the Atlas (that project has been in the works for a while, even if we are only seeing it recently).
19 comments:
It's OK, but I'm morally opposed to applying coats of paint to unpainted brick. It's an historical preservationist thing...this is why Georgetown is so lovely, many, many building are unpainted brick.
funny, that was my immediate reaction also to the first photo when I saw it. i totally support joe englert's endeavors, but i'd be for getting the historical elements historic.
It's a different dynamic on H Street. Everyone that lives over there is desperate for development so they accept a little paint on the brick.
The real question is whether Joe is going to spring for some central A/C (note the window units).
i think it looks great!
I can't imagine the margins in running these kind of joints allows for the expense of preserving the brick unpainted -- at least not yet.
It is just blankin' garishly ugly. I quess it's that hip anti yuppy look to make us fell like we are keepin' it real on H.
Actually after seing the Red and the Black in person yesterday it's not so bad. I'm withholding judgement on the Show Bar. The blue of the Rock & Roll hotel is ok...actually met the guy who's partnering w/ Mr. Englert on that one and told him to check out this blog. I still think the Argonaut and that black/yellow building are eyesores, though.
Stopped into R&B yesterday and also stopped into the Martini Bar, where they were busy getting ready for the grand opening. Now, *that's* a classy looking place.
I think the "newness" of the paint is really what's needed on H, where everything else is dirty, run down, or rusty.
I personally love all the brick houses painted in different colors--that's one of the things I love about DC.
I probably wouldn't have picked such a green for the Argonaut, but whatever.
Finally, can anyone tell me specifically where rock-n-roll hotel is? I looked this weekend for a blue-painted building with no luck. As a vegetarian, I'm pretty excited for the middle eastern cuisine (and was very happy to see that the argonaut had added veggie burgers to their menu).
Hey Joe Englert I hear ya. Big applause to you for investing in H street. You are doing a great job-and I think we can handle a little red paint. Any word on other interested investments that may be coming to H street? There has to be some interest with your bars, Abdo and the upcoming street cars?
Joe -- your comments really put some of the posts on here in perspective. Thanks for the thoughts, and keep up the good work.
As soon as you get another bar or two open, I am going to organize an office happy hour and drive folks to your bars myself, and I encourage all Frozen Topics fans to do likewise. Maybe we should even do a Frozen Topics night and see how many people we can bring in. Let's face it, businesses on H street don't need painting advice, they need customers.
Thanks for posting your perspective. I think a lot of the plans that people have for the area are a little pie in the sky. I've noticed that I tend to do most of retail purchases either in other parts of the city or in the suburbs. Is the area going to be able to support a coop food market? I'm not sure. There was one on the Columbia Pike corridor and they closed down. The Columbia Pike corridor in Arlington is a bit more prosperous than H street and has more people likely to be into that kind of thing.
How is Phish Tea doing? I walked by on my way home from the Argonaut around 8:00 and it looked pretty empty.
Joe's honest and frank assessment of H Street is a welcome change. I admire the big bet on H and hope it eventually yields profits for him and gives us a destination rather than an eyesore.
I am sorry to hear of the beverage license protests by the Linden Neighborhood Association, also known as the Robert Pittman Association. Robert Pittman took over a once proud neighborhood association, stopped holding meetings, eliminated elections, and now uses it as his personal vehicle to further his own interests. It in no way reflects the views of the neighborhood.
Joe and others-how do you think the Abdo development and supposed Harris Teeter will affect things? Also, isn't Clark realty supposed to be building residential units at the old Hechinger mall?
Joe you are awesome for believing in H street. I just wonder, with all of the barriers to financing your ventures over there though, what was it that really made you see potential in H street?
I could not agree more, Mr. Pittman does not speak for our community. Mr. Pittman is in my single member district – much to my chagrin. Outside of a handfull of people on Linden Place, I do not see where he finds his support. However, he does use Linden Neighborhood Association has the primary vehicle to represent the larger community. It is true that he will not release who are the members or officers of the organization – many on his street have asked.
I strongly believe that this is a nuisance protest. My hope is the Alcohol Beverage Control Board will dismiss these frivolous protests as soon as possible. The city provides residents a powerful tool to review liquor licenses; however, Mr. Pittman is grossly abusing that privilege.
To underline my frustration, I am posting the letter our ANC unanimously (all eight commissioners!) approved to send to the Alcohol Beverage Control Board regarding the taverns and restaurants that Mr. Englert proposes to open. This letter details the public community meetings our Commission held before making the decision to enter into voluntary agreements – again a unanimous agreement of all eight Commissioners.
The signed voluntary agreements can be found on our website: www.anc6a.org
Text of letter:
September 19, 2005
Charles Burger
Chairman, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Suite 700
941 North Capitol Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Mr. Burger:
On September 8, 2005, at our regularly scheduled and properly noticed Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A (ANC 6A) public meeting, and with all eight commissioners present, the commission voted unanimously to approve the following voluntary agreements:
(1) The Pug, 1234 H Street, NE
(2) The Beehive, 1224 H Street, NE
(3) Granville Moore’s Brickyard, 1238 H Street, NE
(4) The Red and Black, 1212 H Street, NE
(5) The Argonaut, 1433 H Street, NE
(6) The Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H Street, NE
These agreements were negotiated at the following seven public meetings over the last six months:
(1) April 19, 2005. Mr. Englert’s initial presentation to ANC 6A Alcohol Beverage Licensing Committee (ABL) outlining proposed establishments and operations.
(2) May 17, 2005. ANC 6A ABL committee discusses agreements with community.
(3) June 21, 2005. ANC 6A ABL committee holds a public forum in which over 75 members of the community attended to discuss these voluntary agreements. Mr. Englert answered questions for more than an hour about the proposed business operations. The ABL committee voted unanimously to recommend the Commission accepts the voluntary agreements.
(4) July 14, 2005. ANC 6A adopts voluntary agreements. There were concerns expressed that some elements of the agreement do not reflect the recently adopted liquor laws. The Commission asked the ABL committee to review agreements with staff at Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) to determine and identify the specific elements that do not comport with the new regulations.
(5) July 19, 2005. ANC 6A ABL committee discusses potential changes to the ANC 6A Standard Voluntary agreement in order to reflect Entertainment Endorsement application regarding live music.
(6) August 16, 2005. ANC 6A ABL c committee voted unanimously to recommend that ANC 6A adopt eight changes to the standard restaurant/tavern voluntary agreement that reflect the input and comments from ABRA in order to comport the ANC 6A voluntary agreement with the current regulations. Furthermore, the committee recommended that ANC 6A accept and update the recently signed six voluntary agreements with Mr. Englert with the new voluntary agreements.
(7) September 8, 2005. ANC 6A unanimously adopts the committee’s recommendations to accept and update the standard voluntary agreements for restaurants and taverns as well as to re-sign six new voluntary agreements with Mr. Englert (The Beehive, Granville Moore’s Brickyard, The Red and Black, the Argonaut, and the Rock and Roll Hotel) and Mr. Tomelden (The Pug).
All of these meetings were advertised in both local Capitol Hill newspapers – The Hill Rag and the Voice of the Hill. The meeting notices were also posted on our website – www.anc6a.org. The minutes and public record for both the ANC 6A ABL meetings as well as the monthly commission meetings were posted on the website after each meeting. Hard copies of these minutes were included in our ANC 6A meeting agenda packages and made available at monthly commission meetings for the community to review. The July 14, 2005, ANC 6A Commission’s minutes included the complete text of the proposed voluntary agreements for each establishment.
In close, these six voluntary agreements have undergone a through public and deliberate examination as well as extensive review by the ABRA staff. Our Commission continues to strive to implement the best voluntary agreements in the city. The unanimous vote by our Commission indicates that Mr. Englert and Mr. Tomelden have addressed the community’s concerns regarding these establishments.
On behalf of the Commission,
Joseph Fengler
Chair, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A
Cc:
Mr. Joseph Englert
Mr. Arthur Tomelden
I would also like to applaud Mr. Engler for really putting his money and faith into H St. In addition, the paint jobs are absolutely necessary. Can you imagine someone coming to H St. from another part of the area and trying to find these bars amongst all the boarded up buildings? The green of the Argonaut and the red of the Showbar make it clear to everyone that these establishments are part of the new growth, instead of the continued decay. That being stated, does anyone know which of these bars might open next, and when that might be? Being a Belgian beer fan, I'm especially looking forward to Dr. Granville's.
Why is most of the development towards the end of H street rather than the part which would be closer to Metro? I'm not complaining since I live pretty close to where everything will go, but it seems counterintuitive to me.
Most of the development is further down on H Street because that area was designated (back a few years ago) as an arts & entertainment area. Closer to Union Station we are supposed to see more housing/mixed-use places, followed by retail. Placing the entertainment at the far end of H had to do with the location of the Atlas (that project has been in the works for a while, even if we are only seeing it recently).
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