Lowercasehill - Considering the fact that someone (okay, it was me) had to tell you that Matchbox was open after you posted last Tuesday saying it was 85% complete, you may want to think about sending people to your blog to read about it. It looks like that's the only post you've made about Matchbox so far, and it's not exactly informative compared to some of the other blogs that have posted about it.
lowercase, if i were you i would work on improving your blog, not promoting it. believe it or not, if something is good, people will usually find it. your blog is not there yet.
Robby, Tropicana and Taylor are on the street too. Plus, Matchbox isn't that far away for some really good sliders. There really isn't much to complain about when it comes to food, except for the bridge and tunnel crowd taking all the tables at GM's during the weekend...
I can guess who the bridge crowd are; who are the tunnel crowd? :)
But yeah, I agree -- I'd eat at GMs a lot more often if I could get in. My gf and I were going there every other week for a while; now it's once every seven, maybe. But that just means they're successful, and that's good.
I so wish H Street Country Club would open; a place to shoot pool would rock my world.
a couple more new places in the works From the ANC 6A ABL committee agenda:
"At this meeting we will also invite the owners of Vendetta, ( 1350-1352 H St.) and Joe’s Coal & Ice, (1356-1358 H St. NE) who have applied for liquor licenses to discuss their plans for the locations."
Depending on how close you live to GM, etc, you may want to try my preferred means of getting a table. We usually have our friends meet at our house for a drink/snack before going out. I run up to the restaurant about an hour before we actually want to go and leave my cell number. We just hang out until they call. Granted it helps being only one block away.
i hope Argo starts opening for brunch or at least lunch Saturdays. for those of us who work elsewhere in the city, the weekend is a time to try out the places in the neighborhood. i walked down H the other day and couldnt get a decent sitdown meal. Sticky Rice, closed. Taylors, closed. granville, the jamaican place at 6th St. all closed. of course there's always the boarded-up checkers. boycotting them till they fix their windows.
Post some information about all of H St and you'll be sure to pick up some new readers.
In my opinion, Frozen Tropics should rewrite its header to say "a look at what's going on in the Atlas District" and drop the "H St" reference. Much of the news about the west end of the street is ignored.
For example, there is a big controversy brewing about 401 H St. Lounge but it is never mentioned on this blog. http://anc6c05.blogspot.com/
Inked can run her blog the way she sees fit, it's just a shame that people think it is an unbiased, all-encompassing view of the happenings on H St.
West End, I mostly notice stuff on the east end just because that's where I live. I have absolutely mentioned the controversy over some businesses on the west end of H Street. It's just that I tend to be less informed about goings on down there and I thus choose to go with the more official information [bk lots of what people send me regarding the west end is really biased one way or the other, and I know enough to recognize factual inaccuracies in some of it. But I do post stuff about the west end.
Why don't any of these "restaurants" participate in Open Table?
Why does the area still look dark and uninviting?
I just spent time at National Harbor, then drove past several well done commercials areas in NOVA. Then I came back down the H area. I may drop $150.00 plus for dinner in areas that look nice and are not littered with carry outs, weird stores and terrible store fronts.
The reality is, I don't care what came before, it still looks like crap. I remember it more than most reading this blog because I am from here and did frequent the area.
West End East End, when you're in muck, does it really matter.
Sure things are better, but money has gotten tighter. Give me a reason to go there besides the auto zone and a few decent bars and I'd be happy.
If you like grungy, H is your place.
The model is Bethesda Row, National Harbor, Old Towne, 8th Street, U Street, Cleavland Park, Tenley Town, Friendship Heights, Silver Spring downtown, Clarendon, Downtown DC, and gallery place.
All different, all better lit, all getting a share of my money and the money others like me.
When I want something nice, I don't do H. It's sad that it has an arts district. I know people who eat elsewhere then come, see a show, and roll right out. Would be nice if H was a total package.
But instead we get excuses for failure in lieu of strategies for success.
Each restaurant then incurs a $1 charge for each patron whom honors his reservation.
Do the math, can a new, small place on H afford such a service?
Granville Moore's was advised by Open Table that it would not be wise to use their service. Our place is too small and too filled to be able to gaurantee reserved tables being ready in a timely fashion.
As far as H street being grungy, of course it is....what do you expect after 40 years of blight?
But you have to admit, the place is rather lively on a Friday and Saturday and I see happy crowds strolling down the streets many other nights, too.
The brightside is, the streetscape is well-designed and on the way.
If you aren't happy now, in three years, you will be glad you live near H.
And Robby, you have to realize, even Cleveland Park was a dreary destination a short 10 years ago....in that time Palena, Dino, Cleveland Park Grill, Aroma, Firehook and more were added. My wife and I moved there in 1999 and believe me, it was a pit with sad sack bars, grungy chicken wing pits and failing retail.
Change will come, bad economy or not....it will be almost unrecognizable in 5 years from now.
And...clearly...the way to make a place better is constantly rag on it and tell people how you'll not be spending your money there. That should really increase other investor interest.
I understand voting with your dollars, but to ignore the positive improvement on H. St. over the past 5 years is incredibly narrow minded.
If this neighborhood is "grungy" and "dark and uninviting," why did you move here, except to complain? Did someone pull the 'ol bait and switch on the house you brought, or are you one of those that thought that just because you overpaid on a flipped house in the area, Ruth Chris and The Palm would follow?
1. H Street is not a baby to be nurtured. It is a business district competing in a market place with many many options. To capture more dollars they need to improve or they will loose out to the other budding areas.
2. I am not sure why people mark H Street at a five year comparison. I recently found plans i co-authored for a business on H back in 1994. Before it was refuge for hipsters (and before you attack hipsters is not specific to race or sex). Now to the point, so what. Gallery place in 1995 was a dump and now. They organized stepped up, got resources and planning and guess what it's a destination. H could be that but right now the vision for H is factious at best.
3. Saying that H isn't ready for prime time isn't ignoring the process H has taken since 1969, but to pretend it's a fully developed destination is folly.
4. Now on to why I moved here. Well unlike many or most of you, I am from here, I have family ties here. H didn't factor in my decision to buy in 2004 or to buy again in 2008. Really, H is cute but not really something that would make me invest in the neighborhood. To suggest that shows your narrow mindedness.
5. One should be able to speak the truth about H w/o being personally attacked. I was once chided talking about race on this blog, but it seems the religious fervour around H excuses civility.
6. H can be successful, but only if we stop settling for less. If we want wonderful retail and restaurants, then we need to demand it. Or people will take their money elsewhere. Business is business.
To Joe Englert:
You're right about it being better and about it being grungy. And yes, Friday and Saturday's are hot. They need a gay bar though, but that's another issue.
Here's the deal, I know people that go to plays on H, and when they get out of the plays the places on H, due to the signing and street lighting, don't make them want to hang around. It's actually worse during the day, and yes Adams Morgan is ugly during the day too, but 8th street isn't, so that means H doesn't have to be either. A lot of that is city investment, but some of it is signage and lighting.
It's better, and maybe in five years it will be great, but I am concerned and this isn't an attack this is meaningful concern that in the face of scarcity H will lose out, and not really to National Harbor, but to 8th Street SE, and H Street NW/Galley place, to places easier to get to and more mature business wise. So don't take this as a slight, but if this strip is to be a success, some hard decisions need to be made and bold strategies will need to be employed. Every dollar spent elsewhere is a dollar not spent on H.
However, you are not taking many important factors into account.
Chinatown is successful because the city council gave Abe Pollin two metro stops and an arena in which to pull almost 1,000,000 people into the area each year.
Columbia Heights became a mini-boom town when the city gave millions of dollars to Target and other developers to have an instant food and shopping area (along with big money given to revive the Tivoli).
Barracks Row got $21 million dollars in grants from the Federal Government to give the street a face-lift. Also, the Navy Yard employs tens of thousands of people and it sits two blocks from a Metro Stop.
H Street will thrive because the Feds have $50 plus million dollars coming in the way of a new streetscape.
And you know what, I still hope H looks a bit grungy when its done. I would rather look like New Orleans than Charlotte or Nashville.
Robby, trust me, you won't recognize the place in 5 years. It is too grand of a boulevard to fail.
However, you are not taking many important factors into account.
Chinatown is successful because the city council gave Abe Pollin two metro stops and an arena in which to pull almost 1,000,000 people into the area each year.
Columbia Heights became a mini-boom town when the city gave millions of dollars to Target and other developers to have an instant food and shopping area (along with big money given to revive the Tivoli).
Barracks Row got $21 million dollars in grants from the Federal Government to give the street a face-lift. Also, the Navy Yard employs tens of thousands of people and it sits two blocks from a Metro Stop.
H Street will thrive because the Feds have $50 plus million dollars coming in the way of a new streetscape.
And you know what, I still hope H looks a bit grungy when its done. I would rather look like New Orleans than Charlotte or Nashville.
Robby, trust me, you won't recognize the place in 5 years. It is too grand of a boulevard to fail.
What dollars? Joe pointed out the other neighborhoods and the reasons of their successes. It costs MILLIONS of dollars to invest in this neighborhood. It's not like just we ask Crate and Barrel to come into the neighborhood, and it happens. IF you've been paying attention to our recent (I know, two years. That's not enough time to landmark anything) shortcomings with getting a higher end supermarket, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Whether you've lived in DC 5 years or 50, you you have to be proud of how things are going in this neighborhood. To deny that, in my opinion, is narrow mindedness. I know, I've lived in DC for only ten years, and that makes me so unqualified to appreciate all of the wonderful things that are happening around here, but do take the time to look back at what has happened, and is happening now.
Two more things: no one is settling. You can read about the demand for better businesses on this blog alone, once you're done putting that final draft on your own business plan. I quip about Joe's many spots in the Washington Post, and I can complain about not getting a table at GM's, but that's because the places on the strip have acclaim, and regional recognition. But as anyone can read from every post you make, that's not enough.
Finally, you put something on the internet, prepare to be scrutinized.
I want Taylor and Argo to have multi-grain bread because my digestive system can't handle white bread. Don't get me wrong the Sarcone's bread is delish, but it's just not healthy.
Maybe breadless low carb sandos could be an option? Oh and why only arugula Taylor? Will you have some other small plates/apps besides the fritto (fried snacks).
8th, there's no words to really express the disappointment in your analysis. You sound down right bitter, and it seems to be a theme. There are professional that can help you, I suppose. But I truly don't care about your mental health. I just want you to wake up and smell the coffee. Or to stop drinking the kool-aid, or at least to take sips not gulps.
But hey that's you're deal. If someone is critical of H, or thinks that hipsters are not the most important people, you attack.
Well then attack.
You just look silly and a bit immature, but what's new the blog isn't really a bastion of maturity. It's rather a clique, H Street Worshiping people who have quest to reshape/reform/recast a rather dynamic series of neighborhood. It's akin to colonization, but that's a very strong and loaded term. But perhaps apt.
I am outside of that I suppose, an unwelcome reminder and perhaps a threat. See there were people living here before it became a new frontier. There were people working to change things before five years ago, and while the awesome investment in welcomed. Being co-opted is not welcomed.
8th, when the novelty of urban living wears off for many of the readers here, they will retreat to the suburbs with their children and their dogs. What will be left is the people that live here, not because it's cool, or close to a commercial strip, but they live here because it's their home.
It is my most sincere hope that we move to being a community, but that requires "truth and reconciliation" and that's a very hard process. In particular since one can not voice dissent w/o being attacked.
Mr. Englert: I hope you're right. NOLA would be okay, but I would prefer something more organic. But I share your vision.
29 comments:
By the way, Matchbox is open on Barrack's Row now. Read about it on www.lowercasehill.blogspot.com
you owe Frozen Tropics some serious $$$ for your shameless self promotion lowest case.
lowercasehill:
Just ask Inked for a link on the right hand side and be done with it.
Lowercasehill - Considering the fact that someone (okay, it was me) had to tell you that Matchbox was open after you posted last Tuesday saying it was 85% complete, you may want to think about sending people to your blog to read about it. It looks like that's the only post you've made about Matchbox so far, and it's not exactly informative compared to some of the other blogs that have posted about it.
lowercase, if i were you i would work on improving your blog, not promoting it. believe it or not, if something is good, people will usually find it. your blog is not there yet.
well, lowercase's post on craigs list ads was hysterical!
Interesting article. There menu seems too busy. The am glad they got a glowing article. Now that Marty's is gone I may go there for a burger.
I wish H had better food choices.
Maybe I am asking too much.
Really? Belgian, Asian, Argo and Napa are all pretty good. I would take any of those over Marty's
Robby,
Tropicana and Taylor are on the street too. Plus, Matchbox isn't that far away for some really good sliders. There really isn't much to complain about when it comes to food, except for the bridge and tunnel crowd taking all the tables at GM's during the weekend...
I can guess who the bridge crowd are; who are the tunnel crowd? :)
But yeah, I agree -- I'd eat at GMs a lot more often if I could get in. My gf and I were going there every other week for a while; now it's once every seven, maybe. But that just means they're successful, and that's good.
I so wish H Street Country Club would open; a place to shoot pool would rock my world.
the hopscotch bridge?
a couple more new places in the works
From the ANC 6A ABL committee agenda:
"At this meeting we will also invite the owners of Vendetta, ( 1350-1352 H St.) and Joe’s Coal & Ice, (1356-1358 H St. NE) who have applied for liquor licenses to discuss their plans for the locations."
Those are Englert's red sauce italian and steakhouse joints. I think Inked posted about them before, but good to know they are moving forward!
Re: Waiting at GM
Depending on how close you live to GM, etc, you may want to try my preferred means of getting a table. We usually have our friends meet at our house for a drink/snack before going out. I run up to the restaurant about an hour before we actually want to go and leave my cell number. We just hang out until they call. Granted it helps being only one block away.
i hope Argo starts opening for brunch or at least lunch Saturdays.
for those of us who work elsewhere in the city, the weekend is a time to try out the places in the neighborhood.
i walked down H the other day and couldnt get a decent sitdown meal. Sticky Rice, closed. Taylors, closed. granville, the jamaican place at 6th St. all closed.
of course there's always the boarded-up checkers. boycotting them till they fix their windows.
Lowercase,
Post some information about all of H St and you'll be sure to pick up some new readers.
In my opinion, Frozen Tropics should rewrite its header to say "a look at what's going on in the Atlas District" and drop the "H St" reference. Much of the news about the west end of the street is ignored.
For example, there is a big controversy brewing about 401 H St. Lounge but it is never mentioned on this blog. http://anc6c05.blogspot.com/
Inked can run her blog the way she sees fit, it's just a shame that people think it is an unbiased, all-encompassing view of the happenings on H St.
West End,
I mostly notice stuff on the east end just because that's where I live. I have absolutely mentioned the controversy over some businesses on the west end of H Street. It's just that I tend to be less informed about goings on down there and I thus choose to go with the more official information [bk lots of what people send me regarding the west end is really biased one way or the other, and I know enough to recognize factual inaccuracies in some of it. But I do post stuff about the west end.
you know west end, you could start your own absolutely accurate blog about H street .... or even just the west end of it.
Why don't any of these "restaurants" participate in Open Table?
Why does the area still look dark and uninviting?
I just spent time at National Harbor, then drove past several well done commercials areas in NOVA. Then I came back down the H area. I may drop $150.00 plus for dinner in areas that look nice and are not littered with carry outs, weird stores and terrible store fronts.
The reality is, I don't care what came before, it still looks like crap. I remember it more than most reading this blog because I am from here and did frequent the area.
West End East End, when you're in muck, does it really matter.
Sure things are better, but money has gotten tighter. Give me a reason to go there besides the auto zone and a few decent bars and I'd be happy.
If you like grungy, H is your place.
The model is Bethesda Row, National Harbor, Old Towne, 8th Street, U Street, Cleavland Park, Tenley Town, Friendship Heights, Silver Spring downtown, Clarendon, Downtown DC, and gallery place.
All different, all better lit, all getting a share of my money and the money others like me.
When I want something nice, I don't do H. It's sad that it has an arts district. I know people who eat elsewhere then come, see a show, and roll right out. Would be nice if H was a total package.
But instead we get excuses for failure in lieu of strategies for success.
Joe Englert said:
Robby, here is the gist with open table.
It costs $950 per restaurant to join.
Then it costs $200 per month.
Each restaurant then incurs a $1 charge for each patron whom honors his reservation.
Do the math, can a new, small place on H afford such a service?
Granville Moore's was advised by Open Table that it would not be wise to use their service. Our place is too small and too filled to be able to gaurantee reserved tables being ready in a timely fashion.
As far as H street being grungy, of course it is....what do you expect after 40 years of blight?
But you have to admit, the place is rather lively on a Friday and Saturday and I see happy crowds strolling down the streets many other nights, too.
The brightside is, the streetscape is well-designed and on the way.
If you aren't happy now, in three years, you will be glad you live near H.
And Robby, you have to realize, even Cleveland Park was a dreary destination a short 10 years ago....in that time Palena, Dino, Cleveland Park Grill, Aroma, Firehook and more were added. My wife and I moved there in 1999 and believe me, it was a pit with sad sack bars, grungy chicken wing pits and failing retail.
Change will come, bad economy or not....it will be almost unrecognizable in 5 years from now.
And...clearly...the way to make a place better is constantly rag on it and tell people how you'll not be spending your money there. That should really increase other investor interest.
I understand voting with your dollars, but to ignore the positive improvement on H. St. over the past 5 years is incredibly narrow minded.
If this neighborhood is "grungy" and "dark and uninviting," why did you move here, except to complain? Did someone pull the 'ol bait and switch on the house you brought, or are you one of those that thought that just because you overpaid on a flipped house in the area, Ruth Chris and The Palm would follow?
Tim and 8th:
1. H Street is not a baby to be nurtured. It is a business district competing in a market place with many many options. To capture more dollars they need to improve or they will loose out to the other budding areas.
2. I am not sure why people mark H Street at a five year comparison. I recently found plans i co-authored for a business on H back in 1994. Before it was refuge for hipsters (and before you attack hipsters is not specific to race or sex). Now to the point, so what. Gallery place in 1995 was a dump and now. They organized stepped up, got resources and planning and guess what it's a destination. H could be that but right now the vision for H is factious at best.
3. Saying that H isn't ready for prime time isn't ignoring the process H has taken since 1969, but to pretend it's a fully developed destination is folly.
4. Now on to why I moved here. Well unlike many or most of you, I am from here, I have family ties here. H didn't factor in my decision to buy in 2004 or to buy again in 2008. Really, H is cute but not really something that would make me invest in the neighborhood. To suggest that shows your narrow mindedness.
5. One should be able to speak the truth about H w/o being personally attacked. I was once chided talking about race on this blog, but it seems the religious fervour around H excuses civility.
6. H can be successful, but only if we stop settling for less. If we want wonderful retail and restaurants, then we need to demand it. Or people will take their money elsewhere. Business is business.
To Joe Englert:
You're right about it being better and about it being grungy. And yes, Friday and Saturday's are hot. They need a gay bar though, but that's another issue.
Here's the deal, I know people that go to plays on H, and when they get out of the plays the places on H, due to the signing and street lighting, don't make them want to hang around. It's actually worse during the day, and yes Adams Morgan is ugly during the day too, but 8th street isn't, so that means H doesn't have to be either. A lot of that is city investment, but some of it is signage and lighting.
It's better, and maybe in five years it will be great, but I am concerned and this isn't an attack this is meaningful concern that in the face of scarcity H will lose out, and not really to National Harbor, but to 8th Street SE, and H Street NW/Galley place, to places easier to get to and more mature business wise. So don't take this as a slight, but if this strip is to be a success, some hard decisions need to be made and bold strategies will need to be employed. Every dollar spent elsewhere is a dollar not spent on H.
-Robby
Joe Englert said:
Many of your points are well-taken.
However, you are not taking many important factors into account.
Chinatown is successful because the city council gave Abe Pollin two metro stops and an arena in which to pull almost 1,000,000 people into the area each year.
Columbia Heights became a mini-boom town when the city gave millions of dollars to Target and other developers to have an instant food and shopping area (along with big money given to revive the Tivoli).
Barracks Row got $21 million dollars in grants from the Federal Government to give the street a face-lift. Also, the Navy Yard employs tens of thousands of people and it sits two blocks from a Metro Stop.
H Street will thrive because the Feds have $50 plus million dollars coming in the way of a new streetscape.
And you know what, I still hope H looks a bit grungy when its done. I would rather look like New Orleans than Charlotte or Nashville.
Robby, trust me, you won't recognize the place in 5 years. It is too grand of a boulevard to fail.
Joe Englert said:
Many of your points are well-taken.
However, you are not taking many important factors into account.
Chinatown is successful because the city council gave Abe Pollin two metro stops and an arena in which to pull almost 1,000,000 people into the area each year.
Columbia Heights became a mini-boom town when the city gave millions of dollars to Target and other developers to have an instant food and shopping area (along with big money given to revive the Tivoli).
Barracks Row got $21 million dollars in grants from the Federal Government to give the street a face-lift. Also, the Navy Yard employs tens of thousands of people and it sits two blocks from a Metro Stop.
H Street will thrive because the Feds have $50 plus million dollars coming in the way of a new streetscape.
And you know what, I still hope H looks a bit grungy when its done. I would rather look like New Orleans than Charlotte or Nashville.
Robby, trust me, you won't recognize the place in 5 years. It is too grand of a boulevard to fail.
What dollars? Joe pointed out the other neighborhoods and the reasons of their successes. It costs MILLIONS of dollars to invest in this neighborhood. It's not like just we ask Crate and Barrel to come into the neighborhood, and it happens. IF you've been paying attention to our recent (I know, two years. That's not enough time to landmark anything) shortcomings with getting a higher end supermarket, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Whether you've lived in DC 5 years or 50, you you have to be proud of how things are going in this neighborhood. To deny that, in my opinion, is narrow mindedness. I know, I've lived in DC for only ten years, and that makes me so unqualified to appreciate all of the wonderful things that are happening around here, but do take the time to look back at what has happened, and is happening now.
Two more things: no one is settling. You can read about the demand for better businesses on this blog alone, once you're done putting that final draft on your own business plan. I quip about Joe's many spots in the Washington Post, and I can complain about not getting a table at GM's, but that's because the places on the strip have acclaim, and regional recognition. But as anyone can read from every post you make, that's not enough.
Finally, you put something on the internet, prepare to be scrutinized.
Robby, trust me, you won't recognize the place in 5 years. It is too grand of a boulevard to fail.
But I want my streetcars NOWWWWW!
And a Crate & Barrel, and a gay bar, and French cafe, and an ice-skating rink, and a pony!!!
Pentagon City has an ice-skating rink!! Why can't *I* have an ice-skating rink!!!
Oy. Enough.
As Robby put it so eloquently, people can take their dollars elsewhere; so for the love of all that's holy, please do, and stop the incessant whining.
Messy Xmas!
I want Taylor and Argo to have multi-grain bread because my digestive system can't handle white bread. Don't get me wrong the Sarcone's bread is delish, but it's just not healthy.
Maybe breadless low carb sandos could be an option?
Oh and why only arugula Taylor? Will you have some other small plates/apps besides the fritto (fried snacks).
8th, there's no words to really express the disappointment in your analysis. You sound down right bitter, and it seems to be a theme. There are professional that can help you, I suppose. But I truly don't care about your mental health. I just want you to wake up and smell the coffee. Or to stop drinking the kool-aid, or at least to take sips not gulps.
But hey that's you're deal. If someone is critical of H, or thinks that hipsters are not the most important people, you attack.
Well then attack.
You just look silly and a bit immature, but what's new the blog isn't really a bastion of maturity. It's rather a clique, H Street Worshiping people who have quest to reshape/reform/recast a rather dynamic series of neighborhood. It's akin to colonization, but that's a very strong and loaded term. But perhaps apt.
I am outside of that I suppose, an unwelcome reminder and perhaps a threat. See there were people living here before it became a new frontier. There were people working to change things before five years ago, and while the awesome investment in welcomed. Being co-opted is not welcomed.
8th, when the novelty of urban living wears off for many of the readers here, they will retreat to the suburbs with their children and their dogs. What will be left is the people that live here, not because it's cool, or close to a commercial strip, but they live here because it's their home.
It is my most sincere hope that we move to being a community, but that requires "truth and reconciliation" and that's a very hard process. In particular since one can not voice dissent w/o being attacked.
Mr. Englert: I hope you're right. NOLA would be okay, but I would prefer something more organic. But I share your vision.
-Robby
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