Tom Sietsema, food critic for the Washington Post, recently Tweeted the following:
"Dropped by the fledgling Toyland on H St. NE last night. It may be my fave new bar. I dig the 60s vibe, mixed crowd, GREAT drinks ($35/4!)." about 3 hours ago via web
31 comments:
Is this a good thing?
Considering how "isolated" that part of H Street is, yes. They need all the people they can get, period.
While Toyland is a heck of a lot more inviting on the inside, than Pap n Petey's was, it's not really fundamentally all that different. It's still just a tavern all on it's own (whether Ethiopic brings any more bodies down there has yet to be seen).
So if Tom's tweeting about it, that's a good thing.
I have not had a chance to stop in and check it out yet. Although I have heard form a neighbor that the place is very pricey.
I just had a Clipper City IPA and it was only $4.75 (pretty good).
anon 8:17 thanks....that sounds reasonably priced to me. Again, it is the economy that is keeping me from being a regular to nearly every place on H.
Derek-
The place is by far the least pricey place on H street. Your "freind" must be calling it expensive comapered to drinking at home. Otherwise it is as good as it gets. Just got home from there 10 minutes ago. The service was great and the crowd was great.
I thought you guys might be interested in a pretty long piece The City Paper ran on H St in 2000. Interesting for historical perspective...wow @ median home values of $150,000.
that was a pretty cool article, soul searcher...its amazing the change that H street has seen in 10 yrs. also, although many would probably disagree with this, in many ways its retained some of the small business, freelance feel that seems to be part of its heritage.
DC
Donna says-
Thanks for digging that article out Soul Searcher. I moved to the area a few months prior to its publication and it really brought back memories (good and bad). French's resturant was great and I've often wondered what happened to the French family -- I'm pretty sure the resturant became the The H Street Playhouse and the Robeys got their theater (yay). The Atlas, as we all know did not become a roller rink but another great arts and community space.
I know that some in the neighborhood don't like the "Atlas District" moniker, but given the history of the Atlas, I think it's deserved.
So much has changed for the better in the past ten years. I'd almost forgotten how bad 7th street was (almost) but H street still has that same unique "thing" that made me take a chance on buying a house here all those years ago. I hope that "flava" remains as we continue to progress.
PS - was in Old Town this afternoon and passed three wig shops! I know how much we love our wig shops...
If only I had listened to you and bought back then, or in 2002 ;-)
Thread hijack -
why is there a sign in the strip mall by 8th street about a 7-Eleven "coming soon"? I thought all those leases expired at the end of the year to be bulldozed into something big, new, and awesome?
644 I St NE--I disagree with you that Toyland and Pap n Petey's are all that similar. Pap n Petey's had a very limited beer selection, no drafts, a sub-par wine list and no craft cocktails as well as a stuttering food program. On the other hand, the crew at Toyland has put together a drink menu that really has great offerings for just about anyone and has done an outstanding job of getting food up and going and continues to expand and refine the menu. In addition, the service at Toyland has been top notch. While Pap and Petey's had a never ending rotation of bartenders, we've seen the same staff at Toyland time and again. I loved P&Ps for what it was-an attempt to get something going on the west end but I really am happy to see the next iteration. Congrats to all who have worked hard to pull Toyland together--you're doing great work!
Campy,
are you talking about the H Street Connection? Or the stuff just west of H Street?
Inked,
I'm talking about this location: http://i41.tinypic.com/43sqt.jpg
I'm with Nathalie - Toyland is doing far better than Pap'n'Petey's. If by no other measure, the music is one hundred times better (P'n'P's purported to be an R and B place but played muzak and whatever else came on their comcast feed). Further, the service at Toyland is strong, the drinks are made with expertise, and the food is consistent.
What kind of crowd is it? Howard U students, hipsters, or yuppie locals?
inked, a 7 Eleven "coming soon" sign is in the window of what used to be the dollar store at the end of the H St. connection closest to the the old bank of america on 10th st. i had the same thought as campy. why would they take out a lease on a property that's likely to be demolished within the next couple years. no idea how long the sign has been there
Following up on the 7/11 question...that same spot (post Dollar Store closing) previously had a sign for I think a UPS store (or definitely something similar) that either never materialized or it was just a general advertisement to use UPS? If anyone hears anything more, it would be great to have the info. I'm kind of conflicted about 7/11 (great to have another option to quickly pick up milk) but the sh-t show that is 8th and Maryland, no thanks.
-10th ST
Anonymous 4:13--
It's a mix of a lot of folks--mostly seems to be people from the neighborhood, covering a diverse range of ages, races and "hipsterness."
When is the pizza place opening? May Toyland can serve pizza?
Tried the pizza again at Liberty Tree. It is not any better from the first time. So bland and just all around terrible and pizza is so hard to mess up!
Agree with Nikko.
I tried the pizza this past weekend. Nothing special.
The crust tasted like cardboard. The sauce was eh - Prego? The Jimmy Dean's sausage is too sweet. And to top it off (literally), they added processed mozzarella.
I would have liked to see fresh motz as the standard and buffalo motz as a substitute topping for $2-3.
Call me a pizza snob, but I prefer Pizza Paradisio or Matchbox.
Maybe Liberty Tree will do what Dominoes did and improve their pizza based on the comments here. THEN go knocking on doors in the H street area with samples of their new and improved pizza!
ha!
I agree about Liberty Tree pizza. It wasn't much better than a frozen pizza but oilier. The restaurant is very nice, but it was also very tight in there. I hope Tom Siesema wasn't in the area to do a review of Libery Tree becasue they still have some improvements to make. I want them to do well though. I'll be back.
Howard U students, hipsters, or yuppie locals?
Howard University students? Howard is like...two miles away.
The crowd is very mixed, as the neighborhood surrounding the business is very mixed.
Everything else on the menu is great, but pizza takes up a good amount on the menu and the pizza oven takes up a good amount of their kitchen! I think the fixes are easy. Tastier sauce, better crust and higher quality toppings. Funny you should mention Matchbox because last night I wanted pizza and not Uno's or delivery. I would've been at Liberty Tree, but alas their pizza is drab.
Sounds like Liberty Tree needs to work on their pizza.
I think the crust is awesome, it's the best part of their pizza.Crisp and charred.
But the sauce is totally bland. Not sure what they are going for with that.
I'm a glutton for punishment, so I'll say: I LOVE NEW CITI PIZZA's PIZZAS. Cheap, good, people who work there are usually friendly.
I remember 30 years ago going into the local pizzaria's in my blue collar NJ town (with names like "Tony's", "Sal's") and getting a large for 6 something dollars. The large pick up deal at New Citi is like 9 something and I know the dollar has depreciated more than that in 30 years, so N.C. is cheaper in real dollar terms! And their pizzas take me back to the old days.
On Liberty Tree-
A few weeks ago (when Pies was supposed to be opening) I got myself really jazzed up for a piece of pie. When I got there and saw that it wasn't actually open, I meandered around H st wondering where I could get dessert.
Phila Water Ice was closed (obviously - that place's hours drive me crazy)and forget trying to "grab a dessert" at Granville Moores on a busy night.
As it turns out, LT was the answer. Liberty Tree has this blueberry/apple crisp (more like a cobbler) with ice cream and whipped cream on top. It was heavenly. And it certainly satisfied my momentary pie craving. Liberty Tree has more than pizza, which I haven't actually tried yet. Just sayin'.
I've had the pizza twice and really liked it both times.
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