RSS FeedMasonic Temple Chronicled By Streets Of Washington (9th And F St)
One of our favorite DC historical websites, Streets of Washington, provides the full run down on the history of the Masonic Temple on the northwest corner of 9th and F Streets NW. It’s one of the older surviving buildings in the downtown/Penn Quarter neighborhood and it remains in mint condition. We call it an anchor building because it can be readily identified in historic photos of the neighborhood. The building currently has a McCormick and Schmick’s (901 F St NW) restaurant on the ground floor.
Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association B’fast – Tue, March 24 (Topic: @EquityEats Prequel)
By e-mail we were notified of the next Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association breakfast meeting. An RSVP by noon Friday, March 20, is requested to attend the meeting. There is no cost to attend. Please indicate if you heard of this meeting from Penn Quarter Living:
Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association Breakfast Meeting
Tuesday, March 24, 8:30amLocation
EquityEats & Prequel
918 F Street, NW
Metro: Gallery Pl-Chinatown, exit 9th and G streetsAgenda
Continental Breakfast: 8:30 – 8:55am
Brief Announcements: 9:00am
Speaker: 9:15amSpeakers + Topic
Johann Moonesinghe
CEO and Co-Founder of EquityEats and PrequelEquityEats is a DC-based equity crowd funding platform that connects existing and potential restaurants, bars, and coffee shops with hundreds of local investors, many who never previously invested in a new business venture. Itself crowd funded by 340 DC investors, Prequel is EquityEats’ new restaurant pop-up complex in the former LivingSocial event space in Penn Quarter. Johann will tell us lots more about EquityEats and Prequel and what to anticipate at 918 F Street.
Ed. Note: We learned that Prequel exceeded its $200K funding level. A few more details follow about Prequel…
- Prequel is a five-story, 17,000-sq-ft restaurant pop-up “multiplex” opening at 918 F Street NW this spring.
- Will host up to five restaurant pop-up concepts at one time
- Will bring together the city’s most talented and promising chef-entrepreneurs under one roof
Please respond if you plan on attending this meeting as it will help our host prepare. RSVP via email to my new email address by noon Friday, March 20: Jo-Ann[at]PennQuarter.org
Include the first and last names of all those attending and their affiliations.
Royal Jelly Burlesque Club *Not* Coming To 477 H St NW
One of our regular PQ Living readers sent us an update regarding Monday’s ANC 2C meeting and the proposal to lease 477 H St NW to a burlesque club called Royal Jelly announced at the February ANC meeting. It was announced at the March meeting that Douglas Development no longer intends to lease the property to the company proposing the burlesque club. We’ll keep our eyes out for any further developments on the property.
History on Foot: Old Ebbitt Grill
While meeting with some out of town clients over drinks at Old Ebbitt Grill (675 15th St., NW) last night, one of my guests asked “Is it true that this bar is where the British soldiers sat drinking beer watching the White House burned?” I was embarrassed that I had no idea if this was true or not. Based on the history of Old Ebbitt on their own web site, I don’t think so. Interestingly, though, Old Ebbitt Grill, founded in 1856, is the oldest saloon in Washington. The original location is thought to have been much closer to PQ, on the edge of Chinatown. Old Ebbitt moved to its current location on 15th Street in 1983. Popular with locals and tourists alike for its raw bar and burgers, next time you visit, take a moment to revel in the bar’s history of entertaining the likes of Presidents McKinley, Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt and Warren Harding, and probably a “redcoat” or two over the years!