Thursday, December 22, 2005
What H Street Really Needs
Ok, there has been a ton of great discussion on the H Street listserv about what exactly H Street needs (is it more parking?) & how to best get to where we want to be. So, I've decided to write about something that has been on my mind for a while. H Street needs at least one (to start) good, yet inexpensive restaurant. Yes, this is obvious, but I'm going to offer an example of what I consider to be a pretty ideal restaurant (for our purposes) & then work from there. I'm going to use Busboys & Poets. Let's start by scrapping the bookstore portion of the place (I don't think that would work on H Street (yet). What's great about B & P is that it offers really good (I'm not claiming Inn at Little Washington's, just yummy) food at great prices (see the link for their menu online). See how they have a nice menu, but most of the stuff is pretty simple (salads, burgers & pizza), but with nice ingredients? Did you notice the menu only features three food items costing over $10.00? Impressive. I wouldn't try to plop this exact place onto H Street, but I think that B &P shows that it is entirely possible to offer good food at good prices & still have a classy atmosphere (yes, a place on H Street is not going to have the level of just-walking-by-&-thought-I'd-stop-in traffic that you get on 14th Street, but still.
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12 comments:
I'm 100% with you. It is the lack of low-key, moderately-priced sit-down restaurants that keeps H ST from being any kind of destination. The opening of the new bars/pubs/taverns will help, but what about those of us who don't want to sit in smokey bar and want a sandwich? R&B sort of fits the bill, but we could use more.
A decent restaurant at the West end of H street would be nice -- given the new residential construction there (oh and its where I live.)
An end to the crime reports that make clear that crooks lurk around the banks around 7th & 8th waiting for people would also be good.
Personally, I'd rather see a nice restaurant on the East end of H Street (I live there) because it seems to be a necessary ingredient for the success of the "arts & entertainment" district. I'm sure we'll see something soon on the West end of H, but I think more of the construction probably needs to be completed first. By the time senate Square is complete, I think we'll see a few places begin to open their doors.
Sure. Again, this is part of the problem of H Street's length. I'm disenclined to walk to the Arts & Entertainment District in the later evening.
It's not either-or, it's and-and. You need such restaurants at both ends. And frankly, in the middle too. I think that the building that's going to become a gym would contribute more to the corridor as a restaurant. Put a Results at Jimmy's Tire... (I think people are more likely to join a gym that has multiple locations, providing more use flexibility, but I could be wrong.)
For more on this see Richard's Rules for Restaurant-Driven Revitalization (Updated).
Richard, you are right. I think we'll see restaurants on both ends. I just meant that I think a restuarnt on the East end would do the most good right now. We also definitely need stuff in the middle. Nobody wants to walk though a dead zone at night. Speaking of which, has anyone noticed the terrific window display at Pet Dreams? It really looks great at night.
I'd love to see anything go into Jimmy's Tire that would use the buildings well. I still dream of a brew-pub going in there, but I suspect Jimmy's will hang on for a while.
Right, its not either/or. But with the SEC now built out(and I know people who work there and complain about no places nearby for lunch or coffee other than Union Station), 1100 new units planned on the 200 block of H (Senate Square, Capitol Place) and the Bakery place site -- all buildings that will actually get built, discounting Cohen's decades-long "vision" and plans for HT) figure that makes 1500 new people by 2007), someone would make some decent money putting somewhere in on the 400 block of H to compete with Restaurant Row on Mass.
and just to chatter on some more, I ran into two guys at a holiday party in Shaw who have a catering business over there (and provided the food) and own a building on the 1000 block of H which they intend to open as a restaurant next year. Maybe that'll be the place (the food was quite good.)
Independent bookstores have a rough time these days. I think you need major foot traffic for one to be successful. I don't think a bookstore would have a prayer on H Street in its current state.
We need more restaurants. I haven't heard any news about the Clothing Cafe. I think they will probably have to add a kitchen to that location.
What H ST needs is a street car. I've heard rumors about a potential street car coming to the area.
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