Future Home of Wunder Garten at Corner of 1st and L Streets
Wunder Garten (previously 150 M Street, NE and now at the corner of 1st and L Streets NE) will be holding its season preview party this coming weekend. As District Cuisine previously reported, Wunder Garten has inked a deal for a more permanent location in NoMa starting this summer. Their preview party will be Friday and Sunday from 4-10 pm. They hope to be open permanently for the season soon thereafter.
Fare Well Now Hiring on H Street
In another sign that Fare Well (406 H Street) is getting close to opening, the restaurant is now hiring. The building for the vegan bistro and bakery underwent a complete renovation/rebuild over the last year, and the restaurant had been targeting a spring opening date. It now appears that it is likely to open in early summer.
Parking Lot at 1st and L Streets That Will Be Transformed into Wunder Garten
In the coming weeks, the current outdoor daily parking lot at the corner of 1st and L Street will be transformed into the new location of Wunder Garten. The location is the southwest corner of the parking lot, across the street from where the NoMa summer movie series is held at the future site of Storey Park. The NoMa biergarten opened last summer in the vacant lot next to Flats 130 and the NoMa Metro station (150 M Street, NE) but could not stay in that location as it is slated to become an office building in the near future. The popular biergarten spent the fall and winter looking to secure a new and longer term location in the neighborhood. They were successful last week when they signed a lease for the 13,000 square foot location at 1st and L Street that has a multi-year option attached to it.
Side View of Future Wunder Garten Location
Wunder Garten will hopefully open at the end of June or the beginning part of July. As Wunder Garten plans on being in this location for multiple years, the owners will be able to invest even more in the space. The owners will have to obtain a new liquor license as their location has moved. Prior to opening, they will be adding plants and a large tent (that will hopefully allow them to stay open later into the fall) to the lot. The set up will be similar to last year: several German and local beers on draft, rotating food trucks, lots of seating room, and nice portable bathrooms. REI–opening soon in NoMa–held various events at Wunder Garten last year and is looking to have an even bigger presence this year. While Wunder Garten was ultimately unable to allow dogs last year, they will explore the possibility in the new space.
More details on the official opening date as Wunder Garten gets closer to opening!
Exterior at Mythology on H Street
Serious renovations have taken place at the future space of Mythology and Lore Lounge at 816 H Street. The spot, previously occupied by Fever Nightclub and HR 57, has undergone a complete transformation over the past several months, including a major deck build out on the roof. While we are told that the restaurant is several months away from opening, signage went up earlier this week. You can get more details on the restaurant from H Street Great Street and Washington Business Journal. More details on the projected opening as we get them.
*Top two photos courtesy of Mythology team
For Lease Signs Outside 1380 H Street
Turning Natural–a local juice bar concept with a location in Maryland and a newly opened location in Anacostia–will be opening at 1380 H Street. They offer a variety of juices, smoothies, cleanses, and in store healthy food. You can read more about Turning Natural here. A real estate flyer (see below) recently announced the move. This location was previously The Ohio Restaurant and more recently was supposed to become OhZone Lounge. However, back in January the property was put back on the leasing market. More details as we get them.
Sign Inside of Pow Pow (1253 H Street)
Pow Pow–a new fast casual Asian fusion concept coming to 1253 H Street–will have its grand opening this Saturday, May 7th. The restaurant, a collaboration of Shaun Sharkey (involved with multiple existing restaurants on H Street), Stephen Cheung (Lavagna in Eastern Market), and John Yamashita (Sticky Rice), will serve a variety of creative bowls, salads, and rolls. District Cuisine got an opportunity to tour the space over the weekend and was very impressed with the buildout and design. The space features a gigantic mural on one wall (see pictures below) and clever references to the H Street community throughout (such as a streetcar sign with the Pow Pow tiger logo on the front). The wood on the main wall is reclaimed from an old barn in Virginia and is used in several of the signs throughout the restaurant as well. The restaurant owns the building and will lease out the top floor.
Large Mural Inside of Pow Pow
Pow Pow will initially start out only serving dinner before expanding to lunch once they get going. While the setup is fast casual and customization will be welcomed, the majority of the menu is crafted in a way where the customer will order a set menu item as opposed to creating their own.
Counter at Pow Pow
At this time, there are no plans for a liquor license as the restaurant plans on being a food driven concept. Some of the exciting menu items we learned about:
In addition to these main items, they will have a series of finishers to go on top of the salads and bowls, called “Pow Pow’s”:
In addition to the savory items previewed above, Pow Pow will have one dessert: the Chimi Chimi Pow Pow–a deep fried banana and Nutella eggroll (District Cuisine also got a chance to sample this and enjoyed it as well).
Chimi Chimi Pow Pow: Deep Fried Banana and Nutella Eggroll
Look for Pow Pow to have streetcar specials in the coming weeks as well. For the opening next weekend, they will likely have a DJ for the opening celebration. We can’t wait to check them out this weekend once they officially open.
The Now Closed Danny Todd’s Right Off of H Street
Our friends at Frozen Tropics have the scoop that a new restaurant called DC Diner will be opening soon in the spot that previously was Danny Todd’s (802 13th Street). More details here.
Starbucks Coming Soon to H Street, NE
We’re a couple of days late to this, but initial signage has gone up for the Starbucks that will be coming soon to the new apartment building at 625 H Street (there is an Unleashed by Petco coming to the same building). Based upon the construction, it is probably safe to say that Starbucks will open this spring at some point.
Exterior Construction at Future Apollo Building on H Street
DC Eater has the story that 14th Street based Wydown Coffee will be opening a second location on H Street later this year in the Apollo building where Whole Foods is opening. According to the Eater article, the coffee shop will have a different name but similar items to the 14th Street shop. When it opens up, this coffee shop will be right across the street from the Starbucks that is going in the apartment building across the street.
This addition will add another coffee option to H Street that is further to the east than either Uni Bistro or Sidamo.
First Floor of Fare Well on H Street
Fare Well, a new restaurant at 406 H Street that will specialize in “veggie-centric comfort food” from the owners of Sticky Fingers in Columbia Heights, has made great progress in its construction. They have completely overhauled what used to be a shell of a building, and it looks like it is close to completion. We took a peek inside the first floor window this weekend.
District Cuisine 