Neighborhood Eats: Hank’s, Yo! Sushi Opening, Back Alley Waffles Closes

• July 26th 2012

by Rebecca Cooper

Restaurant openings are back on the upswing after an early-summer rash of closings with a new Hank’s Oyster Bar, a British sushi chain, and DC’s latest gastropub opening this week.

Open: The third Hank’s Oyster Bar opened its doors this week at 633 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, making the restaurant’s expansion to Capitol Hill official. The Eddy, a 20-seat bar being manned by PS7’s alum mixologist Gina Chersevani, boasts homemade sodas, rotating punches, and an ice block with a scary-looking tool for chipping it. The menu follows the same mold as the other locations, although keep an eye out for expanded desserts and brunch hours, and a happy hour in the coming weeks.

Mayfair & Pine, the gastropub taking over the old Town Hall space at 2218 Wisconsin Avenue NW in Glover Park, opened July 20 with a menu of English pub fare with chef Emily Sprissler’s own California and local food-inspired twists. British menu items include fish and chips, a lamb burger and beef Wellington nibbles. The menu also includes many beers and wines from local and east coast producers.

Conveyor-belt sushi spot Yo! Sushi opened yesterday in Union Station, the first U.S. location for the popular British chain. The fast-casual restaurant’s chefs are known as ninjas, the dishes have fun names such as the YO! roll and firecracker rice, and all items are priced between $2.50 to $6. The restaurant will be open daily for lunch and dinner and on Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.

Opening…soon: Shuttered Georgetown favorite Crepe Amour will be resurrected in Vienna, its owners tell Washingtonian. The restaurant at 407 Maple Way East will be next to the owners’ other establishments (Aditi Spice Depot and Turmeric), and not far from the Amma Vegetarian Kitchen. It will have the same menu as the Georgetown restaurant, and will also launch a food truck, Crepe Love, that will start in Tysons Corner but eventually spread to other parts of the DC region.

Opening…eventually: Barracks Row will soon be able to boast a new type of cuisine, as a Serbian restaurant is coming to 523 8th Street SE, WBJ’s Missy Frederick reports. The restaurant comes from Ivan Iricanin, a partner in Logan Circle restaurants Masa 14 and El Centro. It will have an ample patio seating area, and could open in October or November.

The wait to find out what will take over the Potenza space at 1430 H Street NW is over; the Washington Post reports that Jeffrey Buben plans to open Woodward and Woodward Takeout Food in the spaces formerly occupied by the Italian eatery and its sister wine shop. Buben’s menu will include the local-food highlights he has become known for, as well as pizza made in the restaurant’s existing ovens, and a more casual, southern-tinged takeout breakfast and lunch menu.

Closed…for good?: A lot of attention was paid this week to the closure of Back Alley Waffles, the small waffle shop that opened in Blagden Alley just a few months ago. Shop owner Craig Nelsen cited and very publicly harangued Groupon as the reason for the business’ demise, although he’s since tempered his comments, telling the Washington Post he might have jumped on the offer too quickly. A sign posted on the restaurant’s door says that it’s closing, but Nelsen told the Post that there’s a chance Back Alley will return if their finances improve.

Events: Temperatures are expected to drop slightly by Saturday, which is good news for Drink the District, the outdoor craft beer and food truck festival planned for 500 New York Avenue NW. Forty craft breweries will bring samples of their latest beers and some old standbys, and food will be for sale from 10 area food trucks. There are two entry times, noon and 5 p.m.; tickets are $30 in advance or $40 at the door.

For a more culinary-minded event — and one with air conditioning — the Howard Theatre is hosting chef Marcus Samuelsson’s launch of his memoir, Yes, Chef, Saturday at 7 p.m. Samuelsson will provide a cooking demonstration of dishes he references in the book, and there will also be a book signing and a live jazz performance. Tickets, which include a glass of wine, are $50.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/neighborhood_eats_hanks_yo_sushi_mayfair_pine_opening_back_alley_waffles/5822.