Five more restaurants are making their way into Downtown DC, offering diners more variety and options. Bean & Bite (1152 15th Street), opening around August 15, is a “grab and go” delicatessen, where customers make their own coffee and grab their own food, including house-made pastries, confections, sandwiches, salads and desserts. The concept calls for no seating and is the creation of restaurateur Mark Weiss, who also owns modern gastropub Againn (1099 New York Avenue), celebrating its third anniversary this fall.
Townhouse Kitchen & Bar (700 6th Street), scheduled to open this fall, is defined as a “casual yet elegant urban restaurant and wine bar.” If small plates are your thing, then Townhouse is your place. Expect a menu which will include Spanish pear salads, chimichurri steak sandwiches, Mongolian BBQ ribs and miso glazed Atlantic cod—and enough seats to accommodate more than 240 diners, outdoor seating, and takeout service. Let us not forget the drinks: 40 beers on tap and craft cocktails. Owner Roger Greenfield is no stranger to Downtown. He was previously a shareholder/member of several Bar Louie (701 7th Street) restaurants nationwide.
White Apron (445 11th Street), a new specialty sandwich shop, will open in space once occupied by the independently held Chapters Literary Bookstore. Window signage currently entices with offerings such as “creamy-smooth hummus,” “garlic-punchy bean paste,” and “cool, tangy tzatziki.” And, please, don’t confuse White Apron with Red Apron Butchery, coming to 709 D Street this fall.
Finally, we now know more about what’s happening at the International Spy Museum Building (800 F Street), owned by Douglas Development Corporation (702 H Street). Restaurant icon Ashok Bajaj has leased 8,300 SF to open a restaurant (sorry, a name has yet to be disclosed) in space once occupied by Zola, shuttered in June. Bajaj’s Knightbridge Restaurant Group owns and operates seven DC restaurants, including 701 (701 Pennsylvania Avenue), Rasika (633 D Street) and Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca (1100 New York Avenue), all located in Downtown. Also coming to the building: Shake Shack, the New York-based burger chain, replacing Spy City Café. The chain has DC locations in Dupont Circle and at Nationals Park.