F Street Retail Roundup

Fantastic to hear of a butcher in the area! Is it wrong to camp outside waiting for it to open?

will there be killing on site?

For those of us who don’t eat animals, it sure would be great if there was a place to buy some fresh fruits and vegetables year-round (not just the seasonal outdoor market).

A fruit and vegetable speciality shop anyone?

F Street between 9th and 10th could be the neighbourhood grocery street.

cheese shop
butcher – meat and seafood
fruit and vegetable store
wine
a bakery?

then, over to BBB for your cotton swabs and hair gel.

oh, the possibilities. Or, is the rent too high for these in demand services you think?

Should we petition the DC government progressives to help us out with this in the sprit of creating something unique for the neighbourhood?

PQ used to have a great Asian supermarket. fresh vegetables year round. why did they leave??? anybody?

Apologies if this is impolitic, but I’d guess the Asian market left along with the Asian people.

I’ve thought of F Street as a potential “gourmet row” since Cowgirl moved in, but it looks a long ways off if ever. The butcher is apparently very hesitant (per Cowgirl employees), and it seems like they’re lowering expectations that they might move in.

Love the WaBizJo’s description of the area as a “dead block”. Thanks Doug Jemal! For how long it took Jemal to fill the Cowgirl space, I’d guess this plan’s timeframe is in decades, not months. (And how sad for Central Liquor that the WaBizJo referred to Cowgirl as the lone retailer on the block. Maybe they were closed for liquor license violations the day the reporter was downtown?)

where was the great asian market? i’ve been around dc since 82 and chinatown since 88 but i dont remember any great ones. could be the springtime of my senility so please refesh me.

the grocery store was on 7th street after the chinatown arch (heading east).. to the left. i think somebody named ORANGE running for mayor took it over a few years back and he put a big sign in orange titled ‘ORANGE’.
between 6th and 7th. not that long ago, surely you went there?
88 in dc… i am sure we met in the pit at the 9:30 club on f street!

Yeah, I would hardly call that a “dead block” – hello: McCormick & Schmick’s? Marriott Courtyard/Gordon Biersch? Central Liquors? Whatever that nightclub is calling itself now? Maybe “underdeveloped,” but not “dead.”

that asian market at Orange headquaters was dreadful. the refrigeration never operated properly so i never bought anything there but the hot pepper paste in the sealed jar.

in ’88 we went to Badlands at 22nd and P nw

There’s no fresh vegetables and fruits downtown because nobody buys them. Every corner bodega has carried them at one point, because neighbors demand it. Then they proceed to not buy them, they go bad, and people whine about there not being any vegetables. Fresh produce has a short shelf life and it costs money to transport that stuff. If you want fresh produce, either go to Eastern Market or drive to the burbs.

You’re kidding, right? Drive to the suburbs to buy fresh fruits and vegetables? There are grocery stores all over the city that are walking distance and metro accessible. It’s beautiful weather outside….take a stroll up to Whole Foods or Giant or if you have the time, walk over to Trader Joes.

the market was called Da Hua & they did have some great stuff including very inexpensive cloisonne (sp?) & sushi makings. Vincent Orange, former Ward 5 councilman used the building as his mayoral campaign headquarters. Now its going to be the new place, Vapiano.

Back in the day the 900 block of F street had artist studios, wig store, an incredible lingerie shop, army surplus, inexpensive clothing stores & of course, the 930 club.

Don’t forget about Club VIP, which used to be on 9th Street as well.

The Chinatown market was horrible and extremely low-grade food. If the smell when you walked in of decaying fish didn’t knock you out, the look of the “fresh” vegetable should have sent you running.

And Insect Club and DC Space used to be there as well.

Maybe those rotting vegetables were rotting for a reason (i.e., nobody buys them.) Businesses tend to only sell what people will buy, be it overpriced tapas or forties.

that Asian market was horrible Si. in addition to the refrigeration problems, the front doors were always broken and the elevator to the 2nd floor gift shop was always out of order.

But the wig store was FABULOUS. riggs bank was on the corner and that’s where the blind man would sing. Central liquor (named Central because it was known as the central business district) was located on 9th St. next to the MLK. Sunny Surplus relocated to the 900 block of F street and ofcourse woodies was still there too.

I honestly didnt go there for the food so id agree with that part being horrible They did have some nifty stuff tho.

12 years ago my friend & mentor had a fantastic sculpture studio above the wig shop. it was an incredible loft space with 20 ft ceilings.

Actually, DC Space wasn’t on the 900 block of F. It was on the corner of 7th and E where the Starbucks now resides.

correct anon. DC Space was @ 7th and E across from woolworths.

our then post office is now the lobby of the hotel monaco at night it wasn’t a safe to be because there was lots of male prostitution going on and cars would be circling for blocks…the area along the 7th street side of the American Art Museum was known as Boystown..

Want to let everyone know, the artists are coming back to F St, as part of the agreement made with the developers, the city, the artists, the Catholic Church (owners of Akridge’s development)and preservation groups. THe Downtown Artsist Coalition will rent the 2nd and 3rd floors of the historic buildings next to Cowgirl. For more info see:
http://elvertbarnes-freedom.blogspot.com/2007/03/michael-bermans-studio-returns-to-f.html

Mike Berman