Despite objections by some neighbors, ANC 6B endorsed the effort by Bullfrog Bagels to secure a liquor license for its planned Eastern Market location, Capitol Hill Corner reported.
Neighbors of the proposed eatery complained that early morning deliveries in the back alley of the location at 317 7th St. SE would be disruptive and worried about trash management.
Jeremiah Cohen, the owner of Bullfrog Bagels, agreed to try to limit the disruptions caused by deliveries, but did not agree to receive deliveries through the building’s front door as some neighbors had requested.
The ANC’s approval also hinged on reducing the hours that alcohol will be served at the eatery by 30 minutes per day.
Cohen plans to serve brunch and dinner with alcoholic beverages at the new location.
A lawyer representing the neighbors who objected to the liquor license endorsement told Capitol Hill Corner that residents were disappointed with the ANC’s decision to approve the license.
The issue will now go before the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration on Dec. 14.
Photo via Facebook/Bullfrog Bagels
H Street NE restaurant Sally’s Middle Name has applied to expand into the second floor of its building at 1320 H Street NE, adding 60 seats to the restaurant.
The application was submitted to the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration during its meeting on Wednesday. Residents will have a chance to protest the expansion at a hearing that has not yet been scheduled.
Also on Wednesday, ABRA approved a settlement between Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6C and Sugar Factory, a new candy store and bar in Union Station. According to the terms of the agreement, alcoholic drinks larger than 32 oz. can only be served to groups of two or more. Sugar Factory’s menu includes several cocktails served in 60-ounce goblets.
The agreement also allows Sugar Factory to stay open until midnight Thursday through Saturday and until 10 p.m. during the week. It also bars the sale of alcoholic beverages to-go.
ABRA also approved a settlement between ANC 6B and the 7th and L Street Market at 700 L St. SE. The agreement prevents the corner store from selling individual alcohol containers, including beer or malt liquor in single containers less than 70 ounces and spirits in half-pint or smaller containers.
The ANC also called on the market to be more proactive about discouraging the consumption of alcohol around the store by not providing cups, posting no loitering signs and selling the alcohol in clear plastic bags.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board fined a lounge on the H Street corridor $5,000 for several rule violations.
Da Luft at 1242 H St. NE, which had its license suspended for several days after a fight in April, was fined for violating three Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration rules. The bar and lounge did not have an ABC Board approved manager present while alcoholic beverages were being sold, failed to show and ABRA investigator their business records and licenses and failed to keep a record of times when police were called to the bar, according to the order released today by the ABC Board.
The majority of the fine was related to the failure to show an ABRA investigator their license. An ABRA investigator visited the bar on March 19 and talked to an employee who claimed to be an ABRA licensed manager but didn’t provide his license, which all managers are required to keep with them.
Several days later, the employee, Ijiti Ajiboye Laosebikan, sent a picture of his license to the investigator, according to the Alcohol Control Board order. However, the investigator discovered that the license number was assigned to a different employee and that the license had been altered in the picture sent to investigators.
The order added an additional $500 fine because Laosebikan was the only manager present at the time of the March inspection, meaning there was not a licensed manager present while alcohol was being served.
Another $500 fine was levied because the bar and lounge refused to provide written records of every time the police had been called to the bar. In April, the bar was closed for four days after a bystander was injured and a police officer was assaulted when a brawl inside the bar spilled out onto the sidewalk.
The Board’s order also noted that the bar was accused of selling alcohol between 3 and 8 a.m. on a Saturday, a violation of D.C. law. However, that charge was dropped because a key witness was unavailable.
The bar has 30 days to pay the fine or its liquor license will be suspended. Also, if the bar violates the rules any time in the next year, they will automatically have their license suspended for two days.
Representatives from Da Luft could not be reached immediately to comment on the fine.
A Peruvian eatery on the H Street corridor is looking to offer some Latin dancing with its cebiche and pisco sours.
Ocopa at 1324 H St. NE submitted an application to the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration this week to host live entertainment. The entertainment will include Latin dancing and “occasional live music,” according to the application.
A representative of the restaurant could not be reached immediately for comment.
If approved, the application would allow them to host live entertainment every day of the week between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Photo via Facebook/Ocopa Restaurant
A lager or Merlot soon might be as common as a latte or smoothie at a Starbucks two blocks from the U.S. Capitol.
The Starbucks at 237 Pennsylvania Ave. SE has applied for a liquor license to serve beer and wine, according to paperwork filed with the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration this week.
The filing came after Starbucks submitted liquor license applications for locations in Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Chevy Chase, Arlington and Reston last week.
A Starbucks representative told Hill Now’s sibling publication, Borderstan, then that the push for alcoholic drinks is part of the company’s new “Starbucks Evenings” service, which also includes a small plate menu. The coffee chain may serve “craft beer,” along with red, white and sparkling wines by the bottle and glass, according to a sample menu.
But food and drinks vary by region, meaning it’s possible the stores could serve local beer and wine. Small plate possibilities include truffle mac and cheese, bacon-wrapped dates, chicken skewers and truffle popcorn.
Photo via Flickr/Charles Williams
Bullfrog Bagels on the H Street corridor is on track to open its second location near Eastern Market this year with brunch, dinner and alcohol, the owner of the eatery said today.
The new spot in the former Frame Up space at 317 7th St. SE is scheduled to open in December, as first reported by Eat It All, which tweets about D.C. restaurants. The two-story building, which will have indoor and outdoor seating, is slated to have a bagel and coffee shop similar to the H Street location on the ground floor and a full-service restaurant serving brunch and dinner on the second floor, owner Jeremiah Cohen told Hill Now.
The new Bullfrog Bagels also will have a larger kitchen than the original location, with more oven space for bagels and room to prepare brunch and dinner, Cohen said.
“I feel like this is going to be a major step up for us because in our little bagel world, it’s like a dream kitchen,” he said.
Although bagels are still front-and-center on Cohen’s planned brunch menu, the eatery also will have pastrami-filled soup dumplings and braised brisket.
The dinner menu includes several pasta dishes. Cohen said his bagels require egg whites and not yolks, which he can use for pasta and not waste.
For drinks, Cohen said he plans to apply for a liquor license in the next few weeks to serve brunch cocktails and wine.
“A brunch kind of demands a really good Bloody Mary or a mimosa,” he said. “And a nice wine bar would compliment the kind of dinner food I’m going to be doing.”
The restaurant is set to have a similar design as the H Street NE bagel shop. It also will include artwork by Jonathan Blum, a Brooklyn-based artist who designed the Bullfrog logo and who used to sell art at Eastern Market. Cohen and Blum have been friends since they were in high school together.
“I think a lot of people that were familiar with his stand [at Eastern Market] will be happy to know that we plan to have a lot of his paintings hanging,” Cohen said.
A Buffalo Wild Wings location planned near Nationals Park has taken another step toward opening by applying for a liquor license.
The sports bar chain will make its case for the liquor license at a hearing scheduled for Nov. 2, according to a notice the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration released this week.
The bar at 1220 Half St. SE is slated to be the chain’s first location in the District. The eatery is looking to serve customers until 12 a.m. on Sundays, 1 a.m. from Mondays to Thursdays and 2 a.m. on weekends.
The restaurant, located just south of the Navy Yard-Ballpark Metro station, plans to have seating for 233 people inside with 28 sidewalk seats, according to the notice.
An opening date for the restaurant was not immediately available from Buffalo Wild Wings. Construction of the restaurant began in July.
Photo via Facebook/Buffalo Wild Wings
It may be a while before you can drink a beer or glass of wine with your Pizza Parts & Service slice.
The 1320 H St. NE restaurant made its case for a liquor license to ANC 6A’s Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Committee Tuesday night, and committee members said they want to limit the hours when drinks can be sold.
Management of the 22-seat restaurant asked for approval to serve alcohol Sunday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. and from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Committee members voted to recommend a settlement agreement to the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration.
Andrew Kline, a lawyer for the restaurant, said there was no reason to ask for the agreement, since Pizza Parts & Service has received no complaints about noise or trash since they opened in April.
“These are responsible business owners in the community,” Kline said.
Committee members called the agreement a general practice.
Two other H Street businesses fared better with the committee:
- RedRocks Pizzeria‘s request to lengthen its entertainment hours was approved. The 1348 H St. NE restaurant will be allowed to have DJs, live music and dancing until 1:30 a.m. Thursday, 2:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 p.m. Sunday. Its previous agreement with ABRA called for earlier end times Thursday through Saturday and no entertainment on Sunday.
- Impala Cantina y Taqueria‘s request for entertainment hours was approved. The 1358 H St. eatery will be able to have DJs, live music and dancing until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday. “We just want to start doing salsa nights,” co-owner Troy Hickman said.
The committee’s recommendations will be reviewed at the full ANC meeting Nov. 13.
