Neighborhood Eats: 13th Street Meats To Open Retail Shop, Tackle Box Closing

• May 3rd 2012

by Rebecca Cooper

There’s no lack of meat in Neighborhood Eats this week, starting with the news that rising sausage star 13th St. Meats is actively looking for a retail shop and restaurant space. The upstart operation, which earlier this year started selling half smokes, spicy Italian links, and other tube meats to a number of bars and restaurants around the city, wants to open something that’s part retail shop and part place to get a sandwich, a bowl of soup and, eventually, a beer, founder Scott McIntosh tells UrbanTurf.

The sausage-making came about organically for McIntosh, who’s been bartending at The Big Hunt for years, tinkering around with recipes first at home and then in the kitchen space at Adams Morgan’s Pharmacy Bar.

“It’s one of those things, when you work in this business for awhile, it’s your goal all along to open your own place,” McIntosh says.

McIntosh and his business partner, Chad America, are also getting some help from their friend and customer, Tony Tomelden of The Pug, in launching the brick-and-mortar business. If all goes well, 13th St. Meats — which DCist profiled extensively earlier this year — will be serving up sausage samplers on its own turf soon. Expect a name change, though. McIntosh initially named the outfit after his current address, but because the eventual space for the shop won’t necessarily be on 13th Street, the owners thought the current moniker would be a little confusing.

As for the week’s other restaurant news:

Open: Speaking of sausage, the new charcuterie and butcher shop from chef and sausagier Jamie Stachowski soft-opened this week in Georgetown, and is now slowly building up its offerings. Customers have trickled in over the last few days to pick up steaks, taste some duck prosciutto or pate, and generally take a look around the store, which is housed in the former Griffin Market at 28th and P Streets NW (map). Although the area in front of the counter is still largely empty, they’re planning to add a few seats and shelves for additional gourmet products, says manager Jyoti Mukherjee.

On Wednesday, Rockville saw the opening of Sugo Cicchetti, the latest spot from the Cava Mezze folks. The Greek owners behind the popular small plates and fast-casual Mediterranean joints throughout the area are moving in a slightly different direction with the new place, that of Italian small plates, which include charcuterie, pastas, pizza and meatballs done in a variety of ways. The restaurant, located at 12505 Park Potomac Drive, will eventually serve both lunch and dinner.

Opening…soon: Hungry Virginians will be happy to hear that the third location of Spike Mendelsohn’s Good Stuff Eatery opens May 9 at 2110 Crystal Drive in Crystal City. Good Stuff faces robust competition for the hearts (and stomachs) of Crystal City’s ample lunch crowd, located on a strip that includes numerous fast-casual options. Still, with its First-Family-themed burgers, loaded wedge salads, and milkshakes in flavors that include toasted marshmallow and Vietnamese, it probably won’t have a hard time making it into people’s lunch rotation.

Opening…eventually: Bean & Bite, a new coffee and sandwich shop at 1152 15th Street NW, is hoping to open in a couple of months, Bisnow reports. The restaurant comes from Whisk Group, the team behind Againn, the whiskey-heavy gastropub downtown. Sandwiches will start at $5, and the group plans to donate a portion of all the sales to charity.

Closing: Tackle Box, the home fried fish shack and bar with locations in Georgetown and Cleveland Park, will close its location at 3407 Connecticut Avenue NW after this weekend. Of late, the space has been playing host to a pop-up preview of Mike Isabella’s Mexican venture Bandolero, and rumors began circulating last week that Tackle Box might be turning the space over to a new owner permanently. It turned out to be true, as the Post’s Tom Sietsema tweeted: Tackle Box in Cleveland Park will as of May 7 become Pulpo, a tapas spot from the owners of Dupont restaurant Floriana.

Events: So, there’s some stuff going on this weekend. Annual Kentucky Derby shenanigans combine with Cinco de Mayo falling on a Saturday, not to mention the Caps and the Nationals are still at home. For a roundup of Derby parties, check out this comprehensive look from the Post’s Fritz Hahn. For listings of Cinco de Mayo events, your options include this slightly judgy list from Washingtonian and this guide — organized by classiness — from Girl Meets Food.

If you’re not planning to acknowledge either of the weekend’s major Saturday events, you’ve got a couple options. All day Saturday is Trucko de Mayo, a Truckeroo-esque festival that pits food trucks against each other in a tenacious fight to the death. (OK, well, for the title of “best food truck.”) It’s at RFK Stadium from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., admission is free and includes live music. Food and beer are for sale.

Or, if you’re up for laying out some cover charge cash — and some time getting to National Harbor — Saturday and Sunday are the Food & Wine Festival at National Harbor. The $37 ticket (when bought online in advance) gets you unlimited wine tastings, access to a beer garden, whiskey bar, cooking demonstrations, and other events.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/neighborhood_eats_13th_street_meats_to_open_retail_shop_tackle_box_closing/5491.