This week's top dish from Eater DC, Curbed's restaurant, bar, and nightlife blog...
PENN QUARTER—The man behind the wildly successful Rasika, Bibiana, Bombay Club and more is adding yet another restaurant to his empire. Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj has signed a lease on the former Zola space in the Spy Museum building. Though the deal happened so quickly that he doesn't know what kind of restaurant he'll do yet, Bajaj does share with Eater three concepts that will not be going there.
PENN QUARTER—What else is going into the Spy Museum complex? Why, it's Shake Shack taking over the Spy City Café space. The New York-based chain seems determined to take over the DC area with what will be its third location here when it opens next year.
CAPITOL HILL—It's time for fans of Pound the Hill to start rallying around the coffee-shop-by-day-bistro-by-night restaurant. Owner Karl Johnson tells Eater that his small business has been struggling in the dog days of summer and might be forced to close if things don't turn around.
GEORGETOWN—In the latest edition of The Gatekeepers, Eater talks to 1789's general manager Dan Harding about the restaurant's decision to relax its dress code and what it's like hosting VIPs such as Barack Obama and Dick Cheney. Also: that time they handled an insane takeout order from Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev.
UNION STATION—Now that Yo! Sushi has opened its first-ever American location in DC's own Union Station, it's time to take a look at what Washingtonians make of the chain's conveyor-belt sushi.
AWARDS SEASON—A few DC-area restaurants made Bon Appétit's list of America's 50 best new restaurants, including Fiola, Little Serow and Virtue, Feed & Grain.
H STREET—The folks behind real-estate crowd-sourcing site Popularise are now crowd-sourcing real estate investment — meaning that you, too, could be Erik Bruner-Yang's landlord at his forthcoming Asian market Maketto.
SHAW—In the shitshow that keeps on giving, now Back Alley Waffles employees are complaining that the shuttered waffle shop owes them back pay, while the owner accuses DC's Department of Health of lying about sending him a cease-and-desist letter.
EVERYWHERE—Last Friday, Eater's Open Thread asked readers for their most underrated restaurants in DC. Every single reader suggestion was listed earlier this week, generating a lot of debate and ire over whether Minibar can be considered underrated.
BALLSTON—Here's a look inside World of Beer, which opened this week in Ballston with more than 500 beers on offer — 50 of those on tap — plus bar bites, a huge patio and lots of television screens.
GEORGETOWN—Longtime Georgetown staple The Guards confirmed this week that it is really and truly closing after a nearly 50-year run.