Is local upscale Peruvian eatery Ocopa (1324 H St.) closed for good? That's a question that was asked over on PoPville last night. The restaurant's website is gone, as are its Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram presence. The restaurant recently had a closed for renovations sign posted on the door, but a commenter using the handle MadMax on the site said the sign was not there when stopped by last night. A notice posted on Yelp! indicates Ocopa is closed for renovations until March of 2017, but it's not looking good for fans of the restaurant.
I'm trying to get more details. In the meantime, here's a Wayback Machine capture of Ocopa's website from Oct. 26.
We were there a few months ago, and our bartender/new manager told us that they just had an entire staff shake up. Everyone had been fired or left, and they were starting fresh (except for the new chef, who had worked under the original chef since they opened). This is just speculation, but it appears that the "shake up" wasn't enough for the owners. We loved the food, so would be disappointed if they closed for good. Don't know why they would be renovating already-they opened not too long ago.
ReplyDeletetoo expensive
ReplyDeleteyeah...problem is people think it was too expensive like above commenter. By way of absurd example to show how absurd that comment is, he would say "Ferrari is too expensive." Um sure, if you cannot afford it or do not know what it is. Ocopa was high end, very well executed Peruvian food. Perhaps commenter and others didn't know what shitty Peruvian food tasted like. Or maybe they are more of a Popeyes type dinner, in which case Ocopa is too pricey. Either way, sad to see them go.
ReplyDeletenot surprised. the restaurants on h st are really bad. other than big board and &pizza, i couldnt recommend a place in good faith
ReplyDelete11:03 - Come on. Sally's Middle Name, Hikari, Granville Moore's, Queen Vic, The Pursuit are "really bad"? I get that it's not a gourmet destination but "really bad" is completely ridiculous.
ReplyDeletegood riddance. too expensive for what it was
ReplyDeleteWhenever I need a reminder of why allowing anonymous commenters sucks, I read comments here.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't recommend Maketto "in good faith," you and I have very different taste in restaurants. I thought the food at Ocopa was good, and it seemed pretty busy whenever I went for happy hour, so I'm surprised they shut down.
ReplyDeleteGood news is the space can now become useful as a pot bellys, chipotle, vapiano or something of the like. With nandos and the Whole Foods opening it would be great to see some of these random places get replaced with established vendors that increase property value. Not to mention the service at these places would increase tremendously if that happened.
ReplyDelete7:45 - Kathy, is that you? Seriously, whether you liked the place or not, how can you possibly suggest a mass-market chain will be more "useful" than a small business? "Established vendors" don't raise property value more than locally owned small businesses that are popular and patronized by the community. If you want chains, move to the suburbs.
ReplyDelete@7:45 Truth.
ReplyDelete@745 is correct. The developers investing in this neighborhood aren't doing it for the hippies. They're doing it for yuppies that will follow, pay high rent and expect choices they know and are comfortable with.
ReplyDelete@806 Maybe it's time for you to move to Anacostia or another low income neighborhood and start to gentrify it for the developers that will follow.
Funny thing that Union Market has been wildly successful with no national chain places at all. Last time that I was there, there were plenty of yuppies.
ReplyDeleteFabulous, the 4chan /b/tards appear to have found this blog.
ReplyDeleteWho could possibly want chain restaurants on H?? Whole Foods is one thing, Chipotle is another (and Potbelly?) Chain-fan seems out of touch with what yuppies and hipsters are looking for. This isn't 1990.
ReplyDelete