Neighborhood Eats: The Logan Circle Edition

May 24, 2011
1 Comment

by Rebecca Cooper

You may be eyeing a great deal in an up-and-coming neighborhood, or finally committing to your dream house, but you still need to know where you can go grab a bite when you are no longer unpacking, right? Neighborhood Eats, UrbanTurf’s newest feature, will keep tabs on restaurant news and happenings all around the DC area.

Peregrine Espresso

Opened: El Centro D.F. opened at 1819 14th Street NW on May 5th with a huge grand opening party featuring their tongue, fish, and cactus tacos, as well as enchiladas, burritos, and ceviche. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner on the bottom two floors, while the upstairs roof deck is still reserved for sipping on the restaurant’s agave cocktails. The taqueria joins a crowded restaurant block that now includes Cafe Saint Ex, Bar Pilar, Masa 14, and the hover-until-you find-seat barbeque and beer spot, The Standard.

Peregrine Espresso is set to open up its second location at 1718 14th Street NW today or tomorrow. (A sign on the door says that they “hoped” to be open by today, but the doors were still closed as of 3pm.) The 14th Street spot will stick to the Capitol Hill location’s menu of Counter Culture coffee, chocolates and pastries from local purveyors. Don’t expect to hang around for ages, though; there’s limited seating at the new location, and no Wi-Fi.

El Centro D.F.

Opening … soon?: Jeff Black’s newest endeavor, Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, is still under construction at 1612 14th Street NW, and a peek inside this week showed that the walls are framed and crews are hard at work. (You can also see time-lapse videos of the restaurant’s progress on their Youtube site.) The two-level space will include an oyster bar and restaurant on the ground floor, and a bar called Black Jack, reportedly with a bocce court, on the second floor. An opening date has not officially been announced.

Another Capitol Hill establishment is opening up a location in Logan Circle as the folks behind Tortilla Coast are reportedly coming to the neighborhood this fall, with a Tex-Mex themed joint planned for the former McCormick Paints building at 15th and P Streets NW. 14th and You reported that there should be indoor seating for about 150 and 60 patio seats along 15th Street.

Open for lunch: Spanish tapas restaurant Estadio has opened its doors for lunch from 11:30am to 2pm, Tuesday through Sunday. The restaurant offers its full menu of small plates as well as “Estadio to go” which features choices of mini-sandwiches such as sardines with vidalia onions, lamb meatballs with goat cheese, and grilled vegetables with garlic aioli.

The old shirt laundry at 14th and Q.

Not open: The “Italian Shirt Laundry” restaurant concept planned for the the old dry cleaner’s building at 14th and Q Street NW is a no-go, which has only heightened speculation about what will become of the space. In early May, Prince of Petworth reported that Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr was in talks to open a Buddakhan-style dim sum restaurant there, although that hasn’t been reported elsewhere at this point.

Restaurant news outside the Logan Circle universe:

Top Chef alum Spike Mendelsohn launched his Jewish deli-style food truck endeavor, Sixth and Rye on May 20th in Chinatown outside the 6th and I Synagogue. The truck will initially only be open on Fridays, but stay tuned to the truck’s Twitter feed for more details on hours and locations.

The DC version of the NYC-based Serendipity conglomerate, Serendipity 3, opens May 25th at 3150 M Street NW in Georgetown. It will feature the restaurant’s now-famous frozen hot chocolates and other sweets, along with a range of savory menu items, according to a rep for the company.

Neighborhood Restaurant Group opened the Ballston location of Buzz Bakery at 818 North Quincy Street on May 9th, bringing a much needed non-chain coffeeshop to this section of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. The shop serves MadCap coffees out of Michigan, pastry chef Tiffany MacIsaac’s range of sweet and savory snacks, and several flavors of take-home ice creams and sorbets.

Rebecca Cooper is a freelance journalist and avid eater that has contributed to TBD, DCist, and Washingtonian.