The X2

Hempburger / 408 H St NE Hempburger has signage up at 408 H Street NE. The restaurant looks to be a derivative of Khepra's Raw Food Juice Bar which is currently just a few doors down at 402 H Street NE. About a year ago, we noted signage at this address indicating Khepra's was actually relocating (link) . So, it's not exactly clear if Khepra's is moving or if they are just opening the Hempburger location and keeping the current resto open. We'll see.  Here's the menu for Khepra's . They're all raw, all vegan, all the time. And yes, they serve a hempburger! Updates as they come. 1350-1352 H Street NE ABRA placards (111354) are up for 1350-1352 H Street NE. They're requesting a Class C Tavern licence under the trade name O2. The request is specifically for: "A tavern that will be open for private events for specific occasions such as weddings, art exhibits, banquets, and other events. The tavern is requesting an Entertainment En...

A lot has happened this summer! Here's some of what I took notice of in July and August. Follow TheX2BusDC on Twitter for real time neighborhood observations and photos. Carver is a bit safer for pedestrians. DDOT has made quite a few upgrades to 19th St NE in Carver this summer. Earlier this year, they added ADA accessible curb ramps to each intersection from Benning Road to M Street. And just in the last few weeks, they've added new pedestrian-crossing stripes as well as a new road surface to the block of 19th between I Street and Maryland Ave.  Damaged Streetcar station reopens The eastbound 3rd Street NE DC Streetcar station sat closed for nearly 15 months. A Megabus destroyed it in an April 2017 collision and the station remained closed during the construction of an adjacent apartment building. It finally reopened on August 7th, 2018. New music venue, same pies Dangerously Delicious Pies added a second floor to their shop, in the form of a new ...

Buredo will open at 625 H Street NE. Target plans to open a small format store in Ivy City [ Bisnow ]. If you've ever been to the Target in Columbia Heights (which turns 10 years old next week), you know that it is busy. I mean, very busy. At all open hours. It's also a very large store at 180,000 square feet. The Ivy City store will come in at 67,000 square feet, less than 40% the size of the Columbia Heights store. The location of the new store will be New York Ave at 16th St NE, just across from Petco. This is adjacent to the first stop on the downtown bound D4 bus. Walking, this is about a 30 minute, 1.5 mile walk from Carver. Plans are for the store to open on 2020, which seems ambitious, but I guess we'll see.  Google Street View capture of 16th and New York Ave NE; future location of Target. *     *     * Buredo looks as if will finally open, today! By the time you read this (well, if it is after 11 AM on Wednesday) they...

GRK Fresh is set to open at 1000 F Street NW this spring. As the name suggest, this is a fast casual restaurant with Greek food, all centered around the gyro, or "yeero." They appear to have some vegetarian if not vegan offerings.  Check the menu . This will be the third DC location (Foggy Bottom, Dupont). GRK Fresh is already open on two continents with more stores in New York, and then Qatar and UAE.

V Street, the vegan street food concept from Philadelphia, is tuning it pitch just a bit. The owners have secured a spot in the Apollo Apartment building at 6th and H NE; the same building as Whole Foods and Wydown Coffee. They are currently building out, but it looks like the concept may be changing even before they open. The Washington Post is reporting that V Street is switching from a casual street food concept to a more traditional upscale restaurant -- complete with a name change to Fancy Radish . The name is a play on a dish served at Vedge, one of their high end restaurants in Phila. I was really loving the idea of the causal street food vibe they presented with V Street , but I can appreciate a little diversity in the scene. There are definitely places to get both the counter-service-casual and table-service-sit-down all vegan experience. On the casual side you have places like NuVegan (aka Woodlands), Sticky Fingers, Khepra's, Shouk, Hip City Veg, Fruitive, an...

DC's eight CAVA restaurant will be opening soon at 523 H Street NE. This will be the second Northeast location for the Greek and Mediterranean fast casual eatery, with the other being just blocks away inside Union Station. No word on exact opening date, but the interior is looking close to finished (perhaps ready for fixtures & equipment) and the exterior is getting a lot of the current attention with final paint jobs, repairs, and whatnot. CAVA employs a build-you-own, quick serve format. In my experience they move the lunch line faster than any other competitors (Chopt's may be as fast, but few others). CAVA is also vegan friendly! The new H Street store appears to be quite small, so I will be curious to see how they handle dining in. Still, grateful to have another quality fast casual option in the neighborhood. 

Conrad from the southwest corner of 10th and I (Eye) Sts NW. City Center is mostly known for its retail components; a collection of stores selling everything from $2 cups of coffee to $140,000 electric cars. Apartments, condos, and thousands of square feet of office space fill out the rest of the spaces. One thing missing though is a hotel. Not that the area is lacking; the Grand Hyatt, Marriott Renaissance, and Marriott Metro Center are less than a block's walk. But soon the development will have its own. The Conrad will be a 360 room hotel run by Hilton and located at the corner of New York Ave and 10th St NW.. The name is inspired by Conrad Hilton, founder of the franchise. Conrad is one of the top Hilton Brands, behind only Waldorf Astoria. And it will join several other Hilton brands already in DC including Canopy, Garden Inn, DoubleTree, Hampton Inn, and Homewood Suites. The new hotel will be the 38th Conrad worldwide. Bryan Voltaggio (Range, Lunch Box, Volt) ...

ABRA placards ( PDF ) are up for Allure Lounge at 711 H Street NE. Most recently home to a tax preparation company, 711 H is a storefront in a high foot traffic area near 8th and H; an intersection with several cross town bus routes and a DC Streetcar station. 711 H is between Shoe City and Po Boy Jim. Allure is seeking a class C tavern license, including entertainment endorsement, for a venue with 200 seats and total occupancy load of 400. Proposed hours --including operation, entertainment, and alcohol sales-- are Sunday - Thursday 11AM to 2 AM and until 3 AM on Friday and Saturday.

Khepra's Raw Food Juice Bar looks poised to move, but not far. The all-vegan raw foods restaurant opened at 402 H Street NE in 2011. Signage indicating a new storefront recently went up at 408 H Street NE. This is between Fare Well and Hot Yoga Capitol Hill. A recent Facebook post mentioned the move would happen in 2018. Good luck Khepra's! Bar Elena, the new venture replacing shuttered Boundary Road, has moved forward to the point of hiring staff. The New American style ( I had to look it up ) restaurant looks to distinguish itself by including a cache of video games and pinball machines, an idea I love. Bar Elena  has posted job listings as recently as Oct 29, including a note saying they were "opening VERY soon." Stay tuned! 414 H Street NE. Read more:  Boundary Road has Closed to be Replaced by Bar Elena (Frozen Tropics)  Replacement H Street Bar Aims to Double Its Drinking Space (Eater) New Restaurant With Arcade Games Will Replace Bounda...

A Paris-based boulangerie is planned for the old Blackboard building in Penn Quarter.  Maison Kayser looks to open a shop inside of 640 Massachusetts Ave NW, specifically on the high traffic corner spot fronting both 7th Street and Mass Ave. Maison Kayser opened in Paris in the late 90s and has 100+ locations worldwide including 12 in New York City, the only U.S. outposts. They have proper breakfast  (PDF), brunch, lunch, and dinner menus. And of course they offer plenty of breads, pastries, and baked goods. Not much in the vegan friendly category, at first glance. 640 Massachusetts Ave undergone a major overhaul over the past few years. The new main tenant is now Georgetown's School of Continuing Studies. The circa 1990 building had a major renovation in 2013 and is quite large at 419,000 square feet, including 25,000 sq feet or retail. Maison Kayser should add even more activity to this corner, which is in the line of sight of the Convention Center and adjacent ...

The retail scene at Union Station has been getting quite a makeover for the past five years, having adding major brands such as Keihl's, Walgreens, H&M, and Shake Shack. Legal Seafood is building a full service restaurant on the second level, and now signage is up for two new additions. Popular Japanese casual clothing outlet Uniqlo is set to open this fall in a rather large space on the ground level. The store will be across across from Verizon; where the Swatch watch shop and FYE music stores were located. The first Uniqlo store in the U.S. only opened in 2006, and they've already grown to 48, not including this location. Tysons Corner is home to the only other in the DC area. Uniqlo enjoys a solid following and carries clothing for children (including babies), women, and men. I have heard lots of applause for the intimates/underwear selection . Juice Press is a New York City import and is opening its first DC store in Union Station, just like Uniqlo....

200 Mass Ave (center) from E Street NW. ABRA placards are up for the first big retail project at  Capital Crossing . A 200+ seat restaurant is set for the 200 Mass building, which is currently under construction. 200 Mass will be the first of 5 buildings, largely constructed over Interstate 395, in downtown DC. The project promises 2.2 million square feet of mixed use floor space including 75,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. The placards indicates a request for a restaurant called "Union Square Cafe" that will seat 175 patrons with a total occupancy load of 220 and a summer garden with 45 seats. The proposed open hours are Sunday to Thursday 10AM - 1AM and Friday to Saturday 10AM - 2AM. The nature of operation is described as contemporary American "...with seasonal fare in a semi-formal, refined setting..." The original Union Square Cafe opened in 1985 and is currently located on Park Ave about halfway between Union Square and Madison Square ...

We now know the locations of the bike shop and restaurant coming to the Apollo building at 600 H Street NE.  The Daily Rider is a bicycle shop currently open and operating at 1108 H Street NE. Their new space will be located just east of The Wydown coffee shop, which in turn is just east of the main building entrance. I've never been to Daily Rider, but they always have a cute bikes in the window.   V Street is an all vegan restaurant from Philadelphia and one of the new businesses I'm most excited about for H Street. They self-describe as purveyors of street food and I can't believe H Street NE is getting even more vegan friendly ( Khepra's , Fare Well , and Turning Natural among others). V Street will be adjacent to Daily Rider. Good luck to each of these businesses as they start new adventures on H. y start a new chapter!

The Apollo Apartment Building; H Street NE. Eater DC is reporting some pretty cool news . We've known for a while that Philadelphia based vegan street food restaurant V Street was coming to the Apollo apartment building at 6th and H Sts NE. The new "news" is that the owners of that restaurant are now considering bring a second all vegan restaurant called Wiz Kid with, too. Amazing. Wiz Kid features a vegan take on the famous/infamous Philly Cheesesteak.  The idea is not new. For years Moms/Gianna's in Philadelphia served up meatless versions of the cheesesteak. Hip City Veg has a version, too. Hopefully this all comes to pass. Good luck V Street & Wiz Kid! Read more:  Vegan Sandwich Shop Wiz Kid Could Join V Street in D.C.  (Eater DC)

UPDATE: They've already closed! Read more:  The Halal Guys Close Problematic H Street Restaurant (Eater DC) ORIGINAL POST: Signage isn't up yet, but New York-based The Halal Guys looks to be building out at 814 H Street NE. The space is still far from finished, but work is ongoing and they appear to be hiring. Almost exactly a year ago The Halal Guys indicated on Twitter that they were expanding into the DC area. Hello people of Washington, DC + NoVA! We are coming! First store opening this summer at Dunn Loring Metro w/ more to come! #halaleats — The Halal Guys DC (@halalguysdc) April 27, 2016 Stores at Dunn Loring, George Mason University, and Springfield all opened since then. The H Street location would join another in Dupont as the first DC franchised locations. There is a generic menu on their main web page, but I'm assuming each individual franchise restaurant can add whatever makes sense for them. I'll have to try the falafel & f...

V Street will reportedly open in the Apollo building at 6th and H NE. In more great food news for H Street, the owners of Philadelphia's V Street & Vedge  plan to open their first DC restaurant this  year.  The Washington Post and other outlets are reporting that all-vegan "street food bar" V Street will open later this year in the Apollo apartment building at 600 H Street NE. V Street in Philadelphia serves dishes such as harissa glazed tofu, chilled kung pao noodles, and Korean fried tempeh tacos. The drink menu includes beers from around the U.S., wine, and a cocktail list. They could replicate this 1-to-1 in the DC location and I think they'd be successful.  DC already has an all vegan Philadelphia-based restaurant in Hip City Veg . We certainly welcome another, especially to Northeast. Very, very cool news.  And  H Street is currently home to all-vegan Fare Well; and vegan-friendly restaurants &pizza, Bab Korean, Pow Pow, Sticky...

Choong Man Chicken & Seafood abruptly replaced Khan's In late March, Khan's Bar & Grill abruptly switched concepts and became Choong Man Chicken & Seafood . Choong Man looks to be the first U.S. franchise of this South Korean chain . According to the website, there are over 160 locations and they appear to have a heavy focus on franchising. Here's a look at the the Korean menu . It's unclear if the DC franchise will have a similar menu or will add local tweaks. They're celebrating their Grand Opening this week. Choong Man DC has a nascent web presence and is already active on Twitter  and Facebook . it appears choong man chicken ( https://t.co/Dd21TbFYFx ) has replaced khan's express at 12th and h ne. #atlas #hstne #NEdc pic.twitter.com/wlnjRDpgeF — The X2 (@TheX2BusDC) March 26, 2017

From (quite) a variety store to new Ethiopian fusion restaurant at 818 H St NE. ABRA placards are up for a new Ethiopian restaurant at 818 H Street NE. The trade name listed is Quara Ethiopian Fusion Restaurant. They are seeking a seating capacity of 52, a total occupancy load of 60, and an endorsement for live entertainment. For what it's worth, this appears to be related to Quara Ethiopian Restaurant in Adams Morgan. If and when the H Street NE restaurant opens, that will make three Ethiopian restaurants in close proximity, including Addis and Ethiopic , both of which I recommend. Bring on more veggie sambusas and vegan friendly meals!

The Wydown opened at 600 H St NE over the weekend, bringing coffee, pastries --and eventually adult beverages-- to the new Apollo apartment building. This is the second shop for Wydown, which operates a coffee-only venture on 14th Street NW.  The S Street shop is attached to the lobby for the Apollo apartment building and the two spaces are really one, as customers of the coffee shop are allowed to venture into the atrium space that serves as the entrance to the Apollo. There is plenty of space to sit inside the coffee shop, too. Great to have another quality coffee shop on H that is walkable from Carver Langston. The shop was open 8 AM - 7 PM on the weekend, but I'll update with the regular hours when available. Good luck Wydown! Our new shop in @TheApolloDC is open! Come by. Photo and fantastic design by Edit Lab @realstreetsense pic.twitter.com/3Ld25ZWNpj — The Wydown (@thewydown) December 17, 2016

1380 H St NE; future home of Turning Natural juice bar. Earlier this year, I visited Turning Natural , a vegan friendly juice bar on Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE. I remember thinking how great the staff was and how good the food (well, juice) was and that I wanted to visit again. Luckily, I won't have to go far next time. Turning Natural is bringing a similar concept store to 1380 H St NE in the former Ohio Restaurant space. Permits are up on site and the build-out is happening as we speak. No word on the opening date or exact format, but Turning Natural did say that the H Street concept would be dope, which has me pretty excited: @TheX2BusDC we love you too! This one will be an even doper concept! 😜 can't wait for you all to see! — Turning Natural (@TurningNatural) November 19, 2016 Here's a look at the current menu . I would love to see the vegan food menu at the new location, and of course the juices and smoothies, too. Good luck Turning Natural!  Read m...