RSS FeedDC Food Trucks Visit PQ In Curbside Cookoff
All of DC’s food trucks (and even some from Arlington) will be congregating at 11th & H St NW in the Old Convention Center parking lot for the first Curbside Cookoff event. The event, which is sponsored by DCRA, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Brightest Young Things, and the Downtown BID is the first event of its kind in DC where street vendors were voted in to fill the 20 slots for participants. Voting for the event was opened up to all of the several thousand registered street vendors in DC, but the Web 2.0 marketing expertise of this new generation of food trucks beat the competition handily.
While we have a lot of fun tracking dc food trucks with the Food Truck Fiesta website, the Curbside Cookoff event is your best opportunity to sample any and all of DC’s food trucks all in one place without having to look up their location. The Curbside Cookoff is planned as an annual event, and time will tell if the food truck industry is just a fad or if it will have a little more staying power. We always like to cite the cupcake craze as something that seemed to begin as a fad, but evolved into a full-time status.
The Curbside Cookoff runs from Thursday to Friday from 11am – 9pm. Complete with a performance stage, beer garden and space for 20 food trucks & vendors, the Curbside Cookoff is a full-fledged festival!
Souvenirs, Ice Cream, Cupcakes, And Shoes
There is activity afoot in several PQ storefronts, here’s what we’ve noticed over the last few weeks;
First, as we’ve reported a few times and widely suspected, the old Joe’s Souvenir HQ (1000 F st NW, corner of 10th & F) is about to open up again as a cleaned up souvenir shop. There is merchandise on the shelves and cash registers by the door. This one looks like it could open any day now, souvenir row continues to grow.
Second, we noticed a couple of weeks ago that the lights were back on inside Gifford’s Ice Cream after having been extinguished back in May. But the lights were the only change we noticed until last Friday when we saw what appeared to be construction workers entering in the early afternoon. Haven’t seen anyone since then, but this is the only activity we’ve seen since the August eviction notice.
Third, activity seems to be increasing at the 11th & F Crumbs cupcake shop (next door to Pret A Manger). Numerous hardhat workers coming & going, and a lot of permits getting added to the door. Will Crumbs be too late to the cupcake party? On a recent trip to NYC our friends there told us that Baked By Melissa mini cupcakes are now the preferred sweet treat for our neighbors to the north.
Finally, we’ve been slow to report on this one too despite reader CR informing us of shoe store Bandolino (F & 14th) closing a week ago. Mrs Columbo later confirmed Bandolino is closed and has been replaced with a Nine West. Both brands are owned by the same entity, Jones Group, so we’re not sure how big a difference there will be at the store. Curious if the PQ ladies find this to be an improvement?
DC Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
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Here’s what we were reading last week about neighborhood news in DC. Have neighborhood thoughts? Leave them in the comments!
Mount Vernon Triangle – Something from Ray is coming to CityVista. Don’t think it will be steaks though ’cause he’s done that elsewhere. [The Triangle]
Mount Vernon Triangle – Wayback machine in effect…the Northern Liberty Market at 5th and K St NW. [Streets of Washington]
Penn Quarter – An expected opening date for the Paul bakery in Market Square (see 1st item). [The Internationalist]
Hill Country BBQ Building Progresses (406-410 7th Street NW)
Ed. Note (March 10): Hill Country opening date story is here.
The DC home of New York City’s Hill Country barbecue continues to make progress at 406-410 7th Street NW. Although we’ve only caught glances behind the plywood shroud, the knockdown of the interior appears complete and framing is going up inside. The office space entryway to the left is much improved and the sign announcing the address can’t be missed. The trend of out-of-town eateries setting up shop in Washington DC and the Penn Quarter in particular marches onward.