A look at what's going on in Trinidad, on H Street, and in the larger area north of Capitol Hill.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Capital City Diner to Open Tuesday
The much anticipated vintage diner on Bladensburg Road should be open to the public starting Tuesday. The diner will be Trinidad's only sit-down dining establishment. Young and Hungry reports.
43 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Hey Inked, you should see if there's a way to have your links open in a new window so we don't have to get directed away from your wonderful blog whenever we want to check something out.
Question is...have Matt and Patrick grabbed a couple P220s with extra ammo to fend off the gangbangers that will almost surely try to rob the place? They most certainly will not be able to depend on 5D to show up when called...
I have a feeling it will be a hangout for the police. I was at sullivans last week waiting for food and noticed 2 or 3 cops leaving the CC diner. It looked like they got an early taste of the grub.
Urbandaddy.com is reporting they are opening up Saturday.
Introducing Capital City Diner, a sepia-toned, Norman Rockwell-esque throwback, bringing the siren call of all-night breakfast to the H Street corridor.Imagine if someone lifted a 1940s-era New York State diner and relocated just up the hill from your favorite H Street watering hole. Well, that's exactly what this is, complete with original counter stools, linoleum floors and enough chrome to officially be categorized as bling. And just to enhance that Marty McFly feeling you're experiencing (your DeLorean is double parked), the owners have also installed a vintage cash register, milkshake maker and old-timey icebox.
As you might have guessed, you'll find a plastic-laminated menu full of simple, old-school, red-white-and-blue sustenance served 24 hours a day on the weekends—scrapple, grits, Western omelets and that staple of haute cuisine the world over: pigs in a blanket.
Note: Capital City Diner, scheduled to open this Saturday, call to confirm, 202-396-DINR, see the menu
Is there any parking near the place? In all honesty, I won't feel safe walking to it even in daylight, much less at night, so I likely won't be going. I wish them much good luck though.
There is street parking right out front I believe. If not it shouln't be tough to get a space within a block or so. That's an advantage of living in Trinidad, you never have to go too far to find a space
I think it's also good to remember that patronizing new and existing businesses is THE way to create neighborhoods that you feel safe walking to.
It wasn't that long ago that people looked at H Street as a spot that you wouldn't feel safe walking to. I believe the Tony Kornheiser radio show referenced H Street just yesterday as somewhere he wouldn't feel safe going to.
Don't feel safe going at night? Stop by on a Sunday morning. Bring some friends, a baby or two, and soon you've created the hip spot to hit after the farmer's market.
L St and Bladensburg? Zippy chance I'm walking there for a late-night two eggs, bacon, white toast, and home fries. However, you can count on me going on Saturday mornings. Did they get a liquor license? I'd love a good bloody mary.
Inked, why haven't you posted UrbanTurf's article on homebuying in Trinidad? There are resounding comments on how the neighborhood has changed in the past couple years. http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_push_east_trinidad_the_next_frontier/1782
I love diners...I cant wait to try out there milk shakes,burgers and fries,aand all the breakfast platters.....The thread is a little confusing when will it be open for bussiness....
Really guys? Really? The diner on Bladensburg is on too scary a block to visit? Even in the daylight? Truly? I don't know whether to laugh or laugh. Seriously. I'm a lily white girl 23-year old with what's generally considered to be a pretty banging body and I have NO FUCKING PROBLEM with that area. The CVS across the street is my go-to pharmacy, and I used to wait for the bus at 6am right outside where the diner now stands.
You pitiful excuses for adults are probably the kind of white people who walk past a group of teenaged black males at night and, shakily blurt out "Don't...please don't pull a gun on me and and steal my wallet! I just got paid, in cash!" I lived for a year in Trinidad and I always took the same approach as when I did living in the slums of Nairobi - if you look like you're EXPECTING to get robbed....you'll probably get robbed.
Sorry for the rant. I hate pussy-assed white people sometimes.
You've been lucky Ali and I hope you continue to be lucky. Enjoy your milk shake. I'm not willing to risk it. If you or no one else has been assaulted there in the next two years I'll consider coming in for a visit. Call me a pussy-assed white person if you want (Wow, such language! Is this really any different than calling somebody a nigger?), I won't be there anytime soon and that too is my right.
It's strange how people are willing to walk to and from the H street bars at 2 in the morning but a few blocks over on bladensburg people seem to freak out. Just give it time..after a while people will realize it isn't so bad over there either. It was only a few years ago people were talking the same shit about H street. Just give it time. I'm white and I have lived 2 blocks away from the diner for over 5 years and have never had a problem with that area. I definitely will be a regular customer
Things are pretty hectic right now, but to answer a few questions...
-The real opening is Tuesday. Not sure where Urban Daddy got their info from. We'll be open 6am-10pm Tue-Thu, then all weekend (6am Fri - 5pm Sun).
-There's free on-street parking right in front of the diner as well as across the street and on side streets.
-By the numbers, Trinidad/H Street has a much lower violent crime rate than other areas of the city. I've been a Trinidad resident for almost 3 years with only one incident, but it's a major city.
-In addition to myself, at least one other police offier will likely work at the diner.
As always, thanks very much for the overwhelming support to this locally-owned small business. It really means a lot to us.
-Matt Capital City Diner
P.S.: @Anon 10:45- the two 5D cops leaving were there for a visit as a part of proactive outreach to local neighborhood businesses organized by our ANC.
I hope just enough "pussy assed white people" go to the diner to keep it open, but not too many naive 23 yr old white girls that I have to wait in line
I'm a middle aged white dude with a bangin ass body. I got this body with whisky and 24 hr food. I probably won't get to the diner much because my wife will call me an asshat for going out after workk. The diner's a great addition to the area. If there were cops who hung out at the pug, i've got a feeling they'ld go to the diner after leaving the pug. Hypothetically of course. CC diner good luck, have fun, congrats on opening, and if you don't have a liquor license stop by for a celebratory shot. tonyt asshat at the pug
Their milkshake will bring this boy to the yard at least once, and hopefully many times. No good place to get one since the early days of Sweets & Treats, when they actually had stuff to sell.
you open at 6am....thats great. I will se you then. I bike by the diner on my way to the office and i cant wait to have it be my regular morning breakfast spot. yay.
To anyone interested in discussing the diner, please take that discussion to another thread. This is now the Ali's bangin' body thread. I'm with Anonymous here. Where's the additional info, Ali? How about a link to some NSFW photos, sunshine??
Great article in the Post this morning about the Diner opening and some of the DC bureaucracy that the proprietors had to fight through to get this great place open:
I only wish the article gave more details about all the ridiculous hoops that DC makes small business people jump through in order to open a business. It really is a travesty that needs to be addressed by the mayor and city council.
I just think of all the potential entrepeneurs who had a great idea for a business on H St. but gave up on the idea after dealing with the soul-sucking bureaucracy of trying to get all of the multiple, lengthy and oftentimes unnecessary/redundant inspections and licenses in this town. Not to mention all of the conflicting information that DC agency people give you along the way b/c they're either clueless or don't care.
Kudos to Patrick and Matt for fighting the power and winning! I'll be at the Diner to put a hurtin on some flapjacks ASAP!
Oh LORD I did not mean to start a poo-storm (cleaner language!) with my "generally banging body". I only meant to illustrate that as the stereotypical kinda girl who 'should' be scared by the stereotypical kinda guys in Trinidad, I'm not.
I learned to live by three pretty fantastic guidelines while living on Trinidad Ave.
#1 - Are you selling drugs? #2 - Are you buying drugs? #3 - No? Ok, you're good.
Sorry for the explitive-laced tirade, Inked. I guess as someone who grew up in a black community in rural NC and who dates a mixed-race dude, I get a little heated when people seem to hate on Trinidad for seemingly misguided reasons.
Just for fun I checked on the crime stats for the past year within 1500 feet of the new diner. There were five sex assualts, none of which were particularly close to the diner. As a naive 23 year old female with a generally banging body, this is the type of crime I'm most concerned about, and those stats don't particularly leave me worried, especially if I always walk with a friend/boyfriend to get some late night grits (southern girls, we love em).
I lost a really good friend of mine when I was at UNC in Chapel Hill. Eve Carson, it was all over the national news. They took her from INSIDE her house, forced her to clean out her bank accounts at an ATM and then shot her in the face several times and left her in a residential cul de sac. And so, while I may seem naive to some people here, I know that very bad things happen to very good people, even when they're sitting in the comfort of their own damned house. And so no, I won't be detered by the racial nervousness that some people feel about Trinidad. (PS - most of the dudes hanging around those blocks of Bladensburg Rd. aren't actually plotting to steal your wallet. They're just telling stories and practicing hollering at girls to see if they've still got it from the 70's).
And sorry homies, no NSFW photos, but I bartend Fridays at the upstairs bar at SOVA. Always love to meet new people.
One last thing - Anon 1:29: Unless "pussy-assed white people" has a very long and painful history tied into human subjugation, then no, I'm pretty sure it's nothing at all like calling someone the N word.
Here's a pretty funny story for all you fellow NE'ers who find the subject of race relations to be interesting, challenging, and worthy of discussion. When I'm not bartending, I'm an 8th grade science teacher. My best friend in NC teaches 12th grade English. We often trade war stories from our classes. Here's an interaction that took place in her classroom last week.
Student: Ms. Duncan, can you throw this piece of paper away for me?
Ms. Duncan: No, I'm not your maid!
Student: Sigh. If only my people had said that 150 years ago. Just think of where I might be today.
My wife and I went today and had a very good experience. They definitely have some glitches in the kitchen, but that's to be expected during the first weekend, and everything we ordered was great -- pecan pancakes, eggs over easy, and turkey bacon. We'll definitely be regulars...
Guys, please don't even try to go before Tuesday. It is true that the diner has had some times when they were open early just to try stuff out. They are NOT open to the public. I heard from a non-Capital City Diner source that a super bag o'dicks dude from Urban Daddy (ooh do I want to know his name) not only posted false info, but also cost the diner dudes time because he walked out (after being told "NO") with a special menu meant for DCRA.
Anyway, I know we are becoming a more family friendly area. That's great. Dick bags aren't great. People like that ruin it for all of us. If I find out his name, I will post it. I'll call him Dick Bag or Asshole until that time. I generally shy away from harsh language, but this dude deserves it.
Look, soft openings happen for a reason. Business owners want a chance to make sure all is cool. Matt and Patrick just want to make sure that everyone who shows up on Tuesday is wowed.
The cat is kind of out of the bag, but that doesn't signal a free for all. I'm calling for restraint.
Please wait until Tuesday. Please give Matt and Patrick, and me, that much respect. Go on Tuesday, but not before. You have wanted a diner for a long time. They have brought you one. Don't be like the dick bag who ruined the party. Wait until Tuesday. Because dickbags suck. Don't be one.
If the diner guys really wish to keep things low key until Tuesday, you may want advise them to turn off the big neon "OPEN" sign in the front window. You can't expect people to not walk in with that kind of invite.
I was outside there when the panhandler was escorted out--- he wasnt "thrown down the stairs" and one of the workers said he was banned from the property the previous night so he was right to get been made to leave. kudos to the diner guys for standing up for the patrons and not tolerating bs. there was a few off-duty cops there which added to my good feelings of this place.
panhandling isnt a crime but aggressive panhandling (not taking no for an answer) and trespassing are.
Urban Daddy also posted false general opening information, announced the date (incorrectly) of the soft opening, and published early menu information without permission for Kushi, they clearly have some class acts working for them!
Is the Cap. Diner going to be wheelchair and rifle accessible?
43 comments:
Hey Inked, you should see if there's a way to have your links open in a new window so we don't have to get directed away from your wonderful blog whenever we want to check something out.
anonymous 10:38pm -- right-click on the link and choose "open in a new window"
Or hold down Ctrl (new tab) or Shift (new window) when left-clicking...
Question is...have Matt and Patrick grabbed a couple P220s with extra ammo to fend off the gangbangers that will almost surely try to rob the place? They most certainly will not be able to depend on 5D to show up when called...
I have a feeling it will be a hangout for the police. I was at sullivans last week waiting for food and noticed 2 or 3 cops leaving the CC diner. It looked like they got an early taste of the grub.
Urbandaddy.com is reporting they are opening up Saturday.
Introducing Capital City Diner, a sepia-toned, Norman Rockwell-esque throwback, bringing the siren call of all-night breakfast to the H Street corridor.Imagine if someone lifted a 1940s-era New York State diner and relocated just up the hill from your favorite H Street watering hole. Well, that's exactly what this is, complete with original counter stools, linoleum floors and enough chrome to officially be categorized as bling. And just to enhance that Marty McFly feeling you're experiencing (your DeLorean is double parked), the owners have also installed a vintage cash register, milkshake maker and old-timey icebox.
As you might have guessed, you'll find a plastic-laminated menu full of simple, old-school, red-white-and-blue sustenance served 24 hours a day on the weekends—scrapple, grits, Western omelets and that staple of haute cuisine the world over: pigs in a blanket.
Note: Capital City Diner, scheduled to open this Saturday, call to confirm, 202-396-DINR, see the menu
Anonymous 10:09AM--SHUT UP!!!!!
I can't decide which is more wonderful - the discourse on this thread, or chicken-fried steak.
OK I'll go with the steak.
Is there any parking near the place? In all honesty, I won't feel safe walking to it even in daylight, much less at night, so I likely won't be going. I wish them much good luck though.
There is street parking right out front I believe. If not it shouln't be tough to get a space within a block or so. That's an advantage of living in Trinidad, you never have to go too far to find a space
There is indeed parking right nearby.
I think it's also good to remember that patronizing new and existing businesses is THE way to create neighborhoods that you feel safe walking to.
It wasn't that long ago that people looked at H Street as a spot that you wouldn't feel safe walking to. I believe the Tony Kornheiser radio show referenced H Street just yesterday as somewhere he wouldn't feel safe going to.
Don't feel safe going at night? Stop by on a Sunday morning. Bring some friends, a baby or two, and soon you've created the hip spot to hit after the farmer's market.
Anon 10:47,
the Diner opens to the public at am on Tuesday. Whoever wrote the Go Daddy post is wrong.
Anon 11:25,
there is tons of parking.
L St and Bladensburg? Zippy chance I'm walking there for a late-night two eggs, bacon, white toast, and home fries. However, you can count on me going on Saturday mornings. Did they get a liquor license? I'd love a good bloody mary.
Inked, why haven't you posted UrbanTurf's article on homebuying in Trinidad? There are resounding comments on how the neighborhood has changed in the past couple years. http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_push_east_trinidad_the_next_frontier/1782
I love diners...I cant wait to try out there milk shakes,burgers and fries,aand all the breakfast platters.....The thread is a little confusing when will it be open for bussiness....
This place is going to be packed. As long as the staff are not total a-holes like the ones at Jimmy T's I will wait patiently in line for my table.
Really guys? Really? The diner on Bladensburg is on too scary a block to visit? Even in the daylight? Truly? I don't know whether to laugh or laugh. Seriously. I'm a lily white girl 23-year old with what's generally considered to be a pretty banging body and I have NO FUCKING PROBLEM with that area. The CVS across the street is my go-to pharmacy, and I used to wait for the bus at 6am right outside where the diner now stands.
You pitiful excuses for adults are probably the kind of white people who walk past a group of teenaged black males at night and, shakily blurt out "Don't...please don't pull a gun on me and and steal my wallet! I just got paid, in cash!" I lived for a year in Trinidad and I always took the same approach as when I did living in the slums of Nairobi - if you look like you're EXPECTING to get robbed....you'll probably get robbed.
Sorry for the rant. I hate pussy-assed white people sometimes.
You've been lucky Ali and I hope you continue to be lucky. Enjoy your milk shake. I'm not willing to risk it. If you or no one else has been assaulted there in the next two years I'll consider coming in for a visit. Call me a pussy-assed white person if you want (Wow, such language! Is this really any different than calling somebody a nigger?), I won't be there anytime soon and that too is my right.
Heeere we go again.
It's strange how people are willing to walk to and from the H street bars at 2 in the morning but a few blocks over on bladensburg people seem to freak out. Just give it time..after a while people will realize it isn't so bad over there either.
It was only a few years ago people were talking the same shit about H street. Just give it time. I'm white and I have lived 2 blocks away from the diner for over 5 years and have never had a problem with that area. I definitely will be a regular customer
Hey guys,
Things are pretty hectic right now, but to answer a few questions...
-The real opening is Tuesday. Not sure where Urban Daddy got their info from. We'll be open 6am-10pm Tue-Thu, then all weekend (6am Fri - 5pm Sun).
-There's free on-street parking right in front of the diner as well as across the street and on side streets.
-By the numbers, Trinidad/H Street has a much lower violent crime rate than other areas of the city. I've been a Trinidad resident for almost 3 years with only one incident, but it's a major city.
-In addition to myself, at least one other police offier will likely work at the diner.
As always, thanks very much for the overwhelming support to this locally-owned small business. It really means a lot to us.
-Matt
Capital City Diner
P.S.: @Anon 10:45- the two 5D cops leaving were there for a visit as a part of proactive outreach to local neighborhood businesses organized by our ANC.
I hope just enough "pussy assed white people" go to the diner to keep it open, but not too many naive 23 yr old white girls that I have to wait in line
I'm a middle aged white dude with a bangin ass body. I got this body with whisky and 24 hr food. I probably won't get to the diner much because my wife will call me an asshat for going out after workk. The diner's a great addition to the area. If there were cops who hung out at the pug, i've got a feeling they'ld go to the diner after leaving the pug. Hypothetically of course. CC diner good luck, have fun, congrats on opening, and if you don't have a liquor license stop by for a celebratory shot.
tonyt
asshat at the pug
To Ali,
Your snappy tirade was refreshing.
I would love to take you out and take you down (in a non-violent way of course).
Yours truly,
Great post 1:58. Agree completely.
Another Pussy-Assed White Person (though I'm not really sure why this slur against white folks gets to stay on here)
Ali,
You had me at "pretty banging body."
Love,
Dolemite
Their milkshake will bring this boy to the yard at least once, and hopefully many times. No good place to get one since the early days of Sweets & Treats, when they actually had stuff to sell.
I'd prefer that we keep the language a little cleaner, but that's not a racial slur in the super offensive sense (or really at all).
I'd prefer to hear more about Ali's banging body.
Can we get some measurements?
Yours truly,
Ali,
I seriously want to meet you, you sound like my kind of girl ;)
I lived in the slums of Ecuador for a couple of years, any "dangerous" area in the U.S. has nothing on South American countries.
Inked, from now on i'll wear a butthat.
butthat tonyt
you open at 6am....thats great. I will se you then. I bike by the diner on my way to the office and i cant wait to have it be my regular morning breakfast spot. yay.
To anyone interested in discussing the diner, please take that discussion to another thread. This is now the Ali's bangin' body thread. I'm with Anonymous here. Where's the additional info, Ali? How about a link to some NSFW photos, sunshine??
Great article in the Post this morning about the Diner opening and some of the DC bureaucracy that the proprietors had to fight through to get this great place open:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021905274.html
I only wish the article gave more details about all the ridiculous hoops that DC makes small business people jump through in order to open a business. It really is a travesty that needs to be addressed by the mayor and city council.
I just think of all the potential entrepeneurs who had a great idea for a business on H St. but gave up on the idea after dealing with the soul-sucking bureaucracy of trying to get all of the multiple, lengthy and oftentimes unnecessary/redundant inspections and licenses in this town. Not to mention all of the conflicting information that DC agency people give you along the way b/c they're either clueless or don't care.
Kudos to Patrick and Matt for fighting the power and winning! I'll be at the Diner to put a hurtin on some flapjacks ASAP!
Oh LORD I did not mean to start a poo-storm (cleaner language!) with my "generally banging body". I only meant to illustrate that as the stereotypical kinda girl who 'should' be scared by the stereotypical kinda guys in Trinidad, I'm not.
I learned to live by three pretty fantastic guidelines while living on Trinidad Ave.
#1 - Are you selling drugs?
#2 - Are you buying drugs?
#3 - No? Ok, you're good.
Sorry for the explitive-laced tirade, Inked. I guess as someone who grew up in a black community in rural NC and who dates a mixed-race dude, I get a little heated when people seem to hate on Trinidad for seemingly misguided reasons.
Just for fun I checked on the crime stats for the past year within 1500 feet of the new diner. There were five sex assualts, none of which were particularly close to the diner. As a naive 23 year old female with a generally banging body, this is the type of crime I'm most concerned about, and those stats don't particularly leave me worried, especially if I always walk with a friend/boyfriend to get some late night grits (southern girls, we love em).
I lost a really good friend of mine when I was at UNC in Chapel Hill. Eve Carson, it was all over the national news. They took her from INSIDE her house, forced her to clean out her bank accounts at an ATM and then shot her in the face several times and left her in a residential cul de sac. And so, while I may seem naive to some people here, I know that very bad things happen to very good people, even when they're sitting in the comfort of their own damned house. And so no, I won't be detered by the racial nervousness that some people feel about Trinidad. (PS - most of the dudes hanging around those blocks of Bladensburg Rd. aren't actually plotting to steal your wallet. They're just telling stories and practicing hollering at girls to see if they've still got it from the 70's).
And sorry homies, no NSFW photos, but I bartend Fridays at the upstairs bar at SOVA. Always love to meet new people.
One last thing - Anon 1:29: Unless "pussy-assed white people" has a very long and painful history tied into human subjugation, then no, I'm pretty sure it's nothing at all like calling someone the N word.
Here's a pretty funny story for all you fellow NE'ers who find the subject of race relations to be interesting, challenging, and worthy of discussion. When I'm not bartending, I'm an 8th grade science teacher. My best friend in NC teaches 12th grade English. We often trade war stories from our classes. Here's an interaction that took place in her classroom last week.
Student: Ms. Duncan, can you throw this piece of paper away for me?
Ms. Duncan: No, I'm not your maid!
Student: Sigh. If only my people had said that 150 years ago. Just think of where I might be today.
The wit and wisdom of high schoolers. :)
My wife and I went today and had a very good experience. They definitely have some glitches in the kitchen, but that's to be expected during the first weekend, and everything we ordered was great -- pecan pancakes, eggs over easy, and turkey bacon. We'll definitely be regulars...
Guys, please don't even try to go before Tuesday. It is true that the diner has had some times when they were open early just to try stuff out. They are NOT open to the public. I heard from a non-Capital City Diner source that a super bag o'dicks dude from Urban Daddy (ooh do I want to know his name) not only posted false info, but also cost the diner dudes time because he walked out (after being told "NO") with a special menu meant for DCRA.
Anyway, I know we are becoming a more family friendly area. That's great. Dick bags aren't great. People like that ruin it for all of us. If I find out his name, I will post it. I'll call him Dick Bag or Asshole until that time. I generally shy away from harsh language, but this dude deserves it.
Look, soft openings happen for a reason. Business owners want a chance to make sure all is cool. Matt and Patrick just want to make sure that everyone who shows up on Tuesday is wowed.
The cat is kind of out of the bag, but that doesn't signal a free for all. I'm calling for restraint.
Please wait until Tuesday. Please give Matt and Patrick, and me, that much respect. Go on Tuesday, but not before. You have wanted a diner for a long time. They have brought you one. Don't be like the dick bag who ruined the party. Wait until Tuesday. Because dickbags suck. Don't be one.
Inked,
If the diner guys really wish to keep things low key until Tuesday, you may want advise them to turn off the big neon "OPEN" sign in the front window. You can't expect people to not walk in with that kind of invite.
I was outside there when the panhandler was escorted out--- he wasnt "thrown down the stairs" and one of the workers said he was banned from the property the previous night so he was right to get been made to leave. kudos to the diner guys for standing up for the patrons and not tolerating bs. there was a few off-duty cops there which added to my good feelings of this place.
panhandling isnt a crime but aggressive panhandling (not taking no for an answer) and trespassing are.
It's such a wonderful neighborhood. Even the owners are getting mugged....
http://www.capitalcitydiner.com/blog/?p=15
Wow, anonymous dumbass 9:28am, that's wild! Nobody here knew about that! Here's another story you probably haven't heard of that might interest you!
Urban Daddy also posted false general opening information, announced the date (incorrectly) of the soft opening, and published early menu information without permission for Kushi, they clearly have some class acts working for them!
Is the Cap. Diner going to be wheelchair and rifle accessible?
Flapjack said:
Diner is wheelchair acessible.
If Flapjack (poster above) is the name of the short order cook, that is AWESOME!!
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