Here are some photos, provided by one of the owners:
All I can say is...WOW. Get the latest from Capital City Diner here.
I also thought people might be interested in this Victorian Secrets link on the lost diners of DC (including an old matchbox advertisement for one on Bladensburg Road.
And just for old time's sake, here's a shot of the Ohio (the closest H Street has had to a diner in a while) before it closed its doors.
A woman nurses her Heinekin, while a man enjoys the pig's foot platter at the Ohio (2006)
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UPDATE
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UPDATE
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I'm happy to report (as are the owners Matt and Patrick) that the diner is now pretty much in place (though the crew will continue to work tomorrow). There were some crazy DCRA related delays, and at one point the diner almost got a parking ticket for parking on the sidewalk!
DCist covers the story.
ABC7
NBC4
FOX5
Citypaper
47 comments:
would it be open 24/7?
cause that would be super awesome after a great night at Jimmy V's.
Where is this place located ? Is there a projected date for the opening ?
Hi there. We (Capital City Diner) hope to be open as soon as utility companies provide connections and DCRA approves the business license (likely 2-3 months). We'll probably be open 6am-10pm Tues-Sun, and 24 hours on Fri and Sat evenings. You can also follow us on Twitter (@capcitydiner).
this is great!! Can't wait.
Potentially great news, depending how cute they get with the menu.
I don't think trendy and expensive will fly on Bladensburg Road but I might be wrong.
I personally think a diner could do quite well at this location. I was a big fan of the Ohio before it closed down. The food was good, but could be inconsistent at times. I'm eager to see the menu for the Capital City Diner. As long as they do a basic old school breakfast I'll be there.
Charles, we'll be far from trendy and expensive. We're two local neighborhood residents who want a non-pretentious, comfortable place to grab a good meal at a good price with great service. Menu will be typical diner fare, with almost everything under $10.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I'll be there early and often. Grease up the spoon for me.
Sooo excited...and going to be soooo fat....
This is really great, a diner in the neighborhood.I use to frequent
The Silver Spring Diner,after a long night out on the town.This is one bussiness that I feel will do very well.With a projected price point around $10.00,a fancy dinner car, and location....If there is anyone out there listen and want to invest on/in the H Street Corrridor,a nice bakery would be great.
Always thought the first diner in would make a fortune. Bringing it down from another city and circumventing many of the hassles of dealing with H-street landlords, contractors, DC bureaucracy etc... brilliant. Good luck!
If you serve waffles I promise I will be there every day.
Yipee! one used car lot down, 47 more to go!
this neighborhood really needs a diner and im also glad to see Bladensburg rd getting some of the development action
Good luck guys! This looks like a great idea.
And don't get down on the inevitable, not-based-on-anything, negative comments that will inevitably swarm the blog.
As someone who regularly drives up from SE to get lunch on H Street and Deli City, I will DEFINITELY be patronizing this establishment. I can only recommend they get a solid book of recipes and stick to the classics: meat loaf, roast turkey, burgers, and chicken fried steak if you can pull off the peppercorn gravy. Work your way through the Tastee Diner menu; there's a reason they've been around forever. You might want to pick up a copy of the Hot Shoppes Cookbook. There's some classic DC eating that lasted a good 60 years. DC definitely needs to bring back the Mighty Mo!
Matt, thanks for the feedback. Sounds great, I can't wait to see it, not to mention tuck into a Blue Plate Special. Kind of cool that it will only be a few blocks from the old Art's Diner.
I can't think of a more ingenious way to replace an illegal used car dealership. Score one for the forces of good and welcome to the neighborhood!
Am I reading the twitter feed correctly? It appears that the diner arrived this morning, a DCRA inspector showed up, said there was a problem and they couldn't install it at the site, didn't clearly articulate why, and left?
Maybe I'm not understanding what they said in the feed?
DCRA said it would be illegal to place the diner there? Didn't the owners check with DCRA before ordering the diner?
11:44,
the Twitter update says:
# It has arrived and @dcra inspector left w/out approving foundation. Said if we place diner it is illegal.about 1 hour ago from mobile web
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To me that means it's illegal to place it until an inspector approves the foundation. For reasons that aren't yet clear the inspector arrived, but left again without approving the foundation. I don't know if that means that there was a problem with the foundation, or if something else happened.
The Inspector was probably waiting for his "tip."
If you read through their twitter thread going back the past two months, you can see they've had nothing but trouble from DCRA: multiple trips, conflicting information, approved permits but not issuing them, etc. I have a hard time believing that they went that far and didn't realize they had to have the foundation inspected. Business owners can't install a toilet paper roll without the right permitting and requisite inspection.
Ugh, DC bureaucracy strikes again. I hope this doesn't turn into an H Street Country Club-like situation.
God damn this city sucks balls sometimes. How can it so consistently get in the way of its own progess?
Not having lived in another large(ish) city, are all big cities like this? Or is it just our unique brand of otherwise unemployable idiots who run our government that does it?
Ugh. The Diner twitter feed says that DCRA just issued a stop work order out of the blue despite the fact that the diner people have been in constant contact with them over the past few weeks.
Unbelievable. DCRA's level of suckitude truly defies imagination.
Does anyone know if there is a telephone # or email for DCRA so that we can give them an earful for keeping our neighborhood in the dark ages? I have a feeling stuff like this never happens in NW...
Lets just wait and see what really happened today..hopefully the owners will post soon
We're very busy right now, but I spoke with the inspector on my lunch break at my day job.
We attempted to get guidance from DCRA reps multiple times, but didn't hear back from them except for via @dcra's Twitter (which said to call them). No response to e-mails or phone messages, and the best someone there said was "it needs to be inspected when you finish before you can use it."
So, with that, we scheduled an inspection for this morning and attempted to contact the inspector multiple times via phone. No response until today.
He arrives today, and we're told that the previous guidance was incorrect, and he requires a professional engineer to attest that the foundation was built according to plans. Multiple photos of the construction progress aren't good enough.
We're scrambling at the moment, and the diner's sitting in the middle of Bladensburg Rd. If it doesn't get placed soon, it will cost us thousands of dollars (that we don't have) for the movers to stay the night.
If anyone can help with DCRA, please do. We are desperate. We're not rich folks; we're just two local neighborhood guys trying to turn an old car lot into something DC can be proud of.
I just e-mailed the mayor and DCRA's Linda Argo (adrian.fenty@dc.gov and linda.argo@dc.gov) so hopefully that will help.
I've twittered to @DCRA and @capcitydiner: each pointing to the other. Owners say they followed DCRA guidance, DCRA saying they didn't do it right. Biggest issue to me seems that DCRA wasn't responsive to owners' calls and that its reps give conflicting advice.
DCRA says "We 're trying to work with you and help walk you through this. You need to do it right though." Hope the owners have some documentation of the advice they were given.
This situation sure does seem to be the norm, though.
That's Ward 5 isn't it? I'd recommend an immediate call to the City Council member's office. In Ward 6, Charles Allen, Tommy Wells' chief of staff, has occasionally been helpful for dealing with weirdness from the District bureaucracy. Maybe similar help is available from Thomas' office.
Thanks for the tip; we've contacted councilmember Thomas' office, the mayor, DCRA director, and our ANC commissioner (all, except DCRA's blunders, have been supportive).
Anybody know a professional engineer?
Fox 5 or one of the news channels should get out there and get some video of this. Would be a great visual to show DC incompetence.
sounds like they found a PE, but if they the owners need anything else, let me know I am an Architect...and I got friends! :)
F'N DCRA. They couldn't screw in a lightbulb with their collective intellect.
I've gone in circles with them so many times. I guarantee this won't be settled quickly and these guys are going to get nailed paying more to keep the movers there.
Guess what, $10 price points will become $11 price points. Not their fault, just call it the DCRA incompetency tax. You pay it at every establishment and in every home you buy in this town. They dick around adding costs and sitting on their asses.
from what I understand, its pretty much mandatory to hire an expediter to help get through the DCRA permit process.
Dcist is reporting that it looks like the Diner guys were screwed by a shady architect who wasn't licensed in DC and who forged signatures on permit documents. Ugh.
Just say the diner on News Channel 7.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0509/624592.html
Oops. Here is the correct link:
Diner on a truck
Ok just to prove my point from the recent post on FT about how crime is reported in NE versus NW. Take a look at the ABC 7 News story on the diner. Even when they are reporting on the new diner, they mention Trinidad's past crime problems.
"The owners say they wanted to create something special in a neighborhood that has had more than its share of crime problems, even prompting police to set up checkpoints in Trinidad last summer."
I mean seriously - do they bring up every mugging and drive-by that ever happened in NW when a new business opens up there?!
Fox 5 did the same thing. Instead of just saying a diner was moved to Trinidad, they said it was moved to "troubled" Trinidad. Totally unnecessary!
I have to say that the owner got a great deal of media announcement with all that has happened. Of course, it could have been in a better light, but hey, more people now know about it. Otherwise, only those of us who regularly view FT.
Let this be a lesson to all future business owners. Never hire anybody who isn't licensed in DC.
I'm thrilled to hear the diner is now in place though - congrats guys!
btw sorry to hear about the sad news on the dog :-(
what did I miss about the dog? I love diners count us in we will be there...
I think this is RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!! I smell TROUBLE!
This diner is from my little hometown in NY State, "Avoca NY". My Mom and some Aunts worked there as teens, and I would go to the diner even as an adult--it holds lots of memories for me, and for many others from Avoca.
I hope it will have a successful opening, and that it gets lots of business, but I bet it won't be the same as it was when it was in Avoca!
I do hope that these problems get worked out and you people in the area can enjoy this wonderful little diner. I worked at the diner for several years when it was located in Avoca, NY and I was so sad to see it go from this area. You people will be so very fortunate to have such a great nostalgic place to go to. The spot looks so empty where it used to stand. Enjoy!
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