R&B Coffee (1359 H Street NE) is adding some night-time hours on Thursdays. Here are the vitals on Thursday nights ("Soul in the City"):
When: Every Thursday (beginning March 16th) from 8pm-1am
What: Rare Grooves, Funk, Soul, and whatever else feels good...featuring DJ 2-Tone Jones
Who: Anyone with the inclination (all ages welcome).
23 comments:
This is great - I'm a big fan of R&B, but I rarely make it in because I'm not willing to go out of my way before work, and they close so early on the weekends. I hope this lasts. Now I've just got to convince my date for Thursday that she'd really rather go to H Street instead of Dupont.
this is great, but i believe the owner is still missing out on revenue by not being open other nights of the week. why not come up with a staggered schedule similar to what restaurants do to account for the dead spots during the day? something like:
mon thru wed
7 am - 2:30 pm
6:30 pm - 10 pm
thurs thru fri
7 am - 2:30 pm
6:30 pm - 1 am
sat
9:30 am - 2:30 pm
6:30 pm - 1 am
sun
9:30 am - 2:30 pm
6:30 pm - 10 pm
I think R&B is working on adding more evening/night hours. This is just the first phase to test the waters. I can actually tall you that R&B does pretty good afternoon business, so I doubt we'll be seeing staggered hours anytime soon. If you want more evening hours, prove it by voting with your feet & attending the Thursday night events. H Street still doesn't have a great deal of foot traffic at night. Hopefully, as more businesses open up, this will no longer be the case. Until that time however, I can understand why business owners might want to test the waters before plunging right in. Probably the fastest way to speed the move towards more evening hours is to prove that such hours are economically viable.
Completely off topic (though I'm really excited to hear about this).
DC opens bid for free wireless for the poor:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030802362.html
If parking is a problem then there is always Club Rio with lots of parking and live band of Jazz. Pretty good ones too.
I think that they are doing the smart thing by not being open in the evenings. Take a walk down H Street on a Sunday after 5:00. You won't see very many people out for a walk. Hell take a look at H street in the evenings on a regular night. There aren't many people out especially compared to the daylight hours.
Yes, H Street is currently dead most evenings - that's exactly why R&B is doing the right thing: moving slowly and cautiously into try to bring people back to a corridor that's been in pretty bad shape since 68. Responding to urban blight by staying closed doesn't exactly encourage livable communities.
True, but businesses have to make money. That is why doing making a test makes sense. Does anyone know how business at the Argonaut is?
My business partner (from Montgomery Co.) asked about the Argonaut last week. He said that some friends from VA told him about it. I think it doing pretty good.
You know, I like the Argonaut well enough, it's a pleasant little bar, but the prices there are absolutely outrageous. I live four blocks away, and I would go frequently, except that I feel like I'm being taken advantage of if I'm paying Dupont prices on 14th and H. What about that place justifies $18 pitchers of beer?
I beleive that McFadden's charges $8 for a pint of Guiness & I know that 51st State does not even sell pitchers. The Argonaut's price seem decent to me. They started out with lower prices, but I guess they raised them when they realized that they could (knowing that they eventually would have to to pay for things). I don't that the Argonaut makes much money now, but I think that they are building a base. The Argonauht is the furthest out there (geographically) of the new places that have openned, or are slated to open on H Street. So basically, if they can do it there, they can do it anywhere on H Street.
I'm not so much saying that they can't do it, as saying that in a neighborhood where anyone that's been living there for longer than the past year probably can't afford an $18 pitcher, it seems pretty unfortunate.
Last night, over a $7.50 pitcher of Rolling Rock at Lucky Bar, my roommate and I bemoaned the fact that we couldn't regularly afford to do the same thing in our own, much less affluent, neighborhood.
Not that I always want to drink cheap beer. But I'd like the option.
Speaking of businesses functioning at night on H St, here's a quick blurb on the 3-year run of/anniversary party at Sanctuary:
From yesterday's Post
Oh, and check out the article on R&B in The Chicago Tribune.
nice.
Made it to R&B for a bit last night. Tried to go for longer, but my date prefered liquor to caffeine, so I had to drop by after I dropped her off.
There were only three people upstairs (aside from the DJ and I), but I talked to woman working, and she said maybe 15 people had come through so far - this was at about 11:45.
Drank a cup of delicious coffee and listened to the music - the DJ was phenominal. Some pretty funky soul grooves, not a lot of stuff I had heard before, which is nice, and very noddable.
They said that they were working on getting a liquor license - I think that would really boost the attendance. I can only imagine that once the other 1300 and 1400 block bars open up it will bring more people in. Any word on when they might be opening? All at once, or one by one?
Total agreement on the Arg's prices. We really like the place and would probably be regulars if an evening there didn't cost as much as a nice bottle of wine and fancy appetizers at some more upscale place.
I think we'll be seeing more places opening soon. I peeked in the window of the Red & the Black the other day, and it looks like it's getting close. I suspect that we'll see a few places open within a couple of months of each other. Hopefully, we'll see something else soon.
I also agree that a liquor license could work well for R&B Coffee. But I'm sure that the Thursday night thing will pick up once the word gets out. I'm definitely going to try to make it next Thursday.
I'm not surprised to hear that they need a liquor license to survive. I wish them well, it is really nice place.
I think for them to remain a viable business that is open in the evenings, a liquor license is necessary. While a DJ spinning some tunes is pretty cool, without a being able to drink a beer, they just aren't going to get a large turnout. I think that they have a pretty sweat space and I think that with a bar upstairs it will be a great destination to have a quiet drink with friends.
It's interesting - I come from Portland, Oregon, where there are tons of late night, alcohol free coffee shops - often off the beaten track - that are consistantly jammed and hard to get a table at. Here, there doesn't really seem to be one, and it's somewhat sad that it can't be supported.
I'm not saying that they need a liquor license. But I do think it would help. I think that what they need is foot traffic (& that is something H Street doesn't not currently generate enough of to make many business owners comefortable).
I would imagine that the shops in Oregon are in thriving districts with a lot of nightlife. If you go to the coffee shops in Clarendon, they tend to be quite full in the evenings. The difference is that they are in a pretty thriving neighborhood with a law school nearby. Also there are tons of restaurants nearby. People leaving those places may want to chill a bit with friends over a cup of coffee. Right now, on H, there is the argonaut, which is a bar and thus a good place to chill on its own if you are already there, the Phish Tea, and nothing else. Once the strip develops and a lot more places open up, R&B will have more night business. The only question is will they be able to hold out long enough?
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