Oyamel To Open In Old Andale Space (401 7th St NW)

Yay!!

Also, the caption of the Andale picture in the WaPo article calls D St & 7th St “Chinatown.” *rolling eyes*

john wilson, our visionary leader, is doing an :::eye roll:::
in heaven over that caption too!

lol.

For a neighborhood that is losing steam by the day, the Chinatown name sure does show up in an ever-increasing amount of literature and captures. Do people really like the Chinatown name that much? Is it something trendy?

And isn’t it about time for the DC Government to relook its signage requirements and boundaries for the neighborhood. Demographics do change.

I look forward to trying the new Oyamel on 7th Street.

I just can’t believe we have to wait at least 4 months for it to happen!

Yeah, but with A&R doing the interior, it’ll probably be worth the wait!

I think the WaPo likes Chinatown because that’s the conservative name. If they kept calling it a new name every few months (Gallery Place, Penn Quarter, East End), their readers would get confused. I would say that Chinatown has the greatest name recognition.

between the recklessness of ANC 2C and The Office of Planning… Chinatown has almost disappeared. it’s getting smaller and smaller. soon it will just be the arch. when i arrived in 82 it really was gallery place/chinatown.

I don’t know if reckless behavior has anything to do with Chinatown’s current state. Many Chinese residents simply chose to move into the suburbs, and the Chinese shops followed their customers.

So many different ethnic groups have once lived in this part of town. One can’t expect any group to permanently “lay claim” to the neighborhood.

Also, the whole reason Chinatown is in ANC2C (instead of ANC6C) is because the Chinese residents wanted to remain in Ward 2 with Jack Evans (so I’ve been told). It appears that the Chinese residents had political control over their neighborhood in the past.

gpliving:
the ANC lines were decided from the top down. not the way it should have been done. mrs cropp appointed mr mendelson to draft the boundarys. councilmembers chimed in. mr mendelson ran it by the state democrat committee and then to the council for approval. mr mendelson told me nobody objected. it’s hard to hear objections when it’s all done behind closed doors.

richard: Interesting, my info was relayed to me by an ANC commissioner. Regardless, the ANC lines need to be redrawn in 2010.

“Served his last tamale”…

Awesome*SARCASM* !!
Another Mexican/Southwestern/TexMex joint!!

Perhaps they should start calling it “Baja Penn Quarter”

Seriously! How about some variety.

Actually,

The Jaleo La Tasca restaurants are Spanish Tapas restaurants – like from Spain in Europe. These are not Mexican/Southwest/Tex-Mex. There is a difference.

Cafe Atlantico is a Nuevo Latino restaurant, emphasizing more Carribean fair. Again, not Mexican.

Austin Grill, Rosa Mexicano, and now Oyamel are in the Mexican/Southwest/Tex-Mex group. Ok, you can throw in California Tortilla and Chipotle which are more fast-food eateries.

I would hardly call 5 of these as overkill in a neighborhood of almost 90 restaurants!

The Washington Biz Journal says the new restaurant should be open by January.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/09/11/daily55.html?jst=b_ln_hl

“Austin Grill, Rosa Mexicano, and now Oyamel are in the Mexican/Southwest/Tex-Mex group. Ok, you can throw in California Tortilla and Chipotle which are more fast-food eateries.” Not to forget Qdoba also.

Actually I think the previous poster was refering to the fact that these restaurants are all within a two-block radius of one another. Come on, we need a little variety here!!! Not for the tourists but for the residents. How many of us can eat or will eat Mex/Tex-Mex/Southwest every other day??

I personally think that people are forgetting that this is a neighborhood with a growing residential presence. We were so hoping for a restaurant that served brunch (read: ham and eggs) in the old Andale spot.

Thanks 3:03PM anonymous, that’s what I was getting at. And add ZENGO(I think).. Did that place open yet ?

Let’s move a 24/7 IHOP into the Andale place.. hehe

gpliving: fyi

my source is the responsible councilmember.

Considering the current racial mix of the neighborhood, I don’t think “Chinatown” is a very accurate designation.

I suggest we rename the area “Little Central Park West.”

Good luck getting a diner. If the neighborhood won’t sustain a Waffle Shop…

It’s not that the neighborhood can’t or won’t sustain the Waffle Shop. I think most of us are too intimidated/disgusted/scared to go in and EAT. From the few times I have looked into the diner, it seems pretty gross to me. I am sure the neighborhood would welcome a decent, well priced, CLEAN diner or any restaurant that would consider serving basic brunch/breakfast menu during the weekends.

I’ve been having breakfasts, lunches, and dinners at Waffle Shop since the late 1970s and have yet to have a problem. The food is good and cheap, the diningware is clean, and the staff is friendly, which is more than I can say for a few other neighborhood establishments (cough..AUSTIN GRILL… cough). They could stand to clean the venetian blinds, which look like they’ve been there since McKinley’s administration. But if you’ve read Orwell’s or Dumas’ stories about dining in Paris, you’d know have the battle with high-end restaurants is hiding the squalor.

But the great thing about Waffle Shop is the customers. Where else to construction workers share a counter with lawyers, tourists, and students from all races and walks of life?

There was a posting a while back about a breakfast chain looking into opening DC branches, the name escapes me. I recall having visited one in Tampa and found the place clean, the staff friendly, and the food organic, soulless, and completely forgettable. Two out of three isn’t bad I guess, and I’m sure it will be a hit. But forget about it being “well-priced.” That eggwhite omlette and cruelty-free toast will cost you.