JD says: (3/31/16 12:19 PM)
Whew, at least it's coming in '17 and I don't have to redo my What's New in 2016 graphic already.

MJM says: (3/31/16 12:32 PM)
Any word if it will be really locally sourced fish?

conngs0 says: (3/31/16 12:59 PM)
The Anacostia and Potomac Rivers are making (pretty impressive) progress, but I sure hope the fish won't be TOO locally sourced for at least another ten years or so!

202_cyclist says: (3/31/16 1:20 PM)
Speaking of restaurants-- Nandos is donating 40% of sales tonight to the Anacostia Riverkeeper group, certainly a worthy cause to drink sangria for.

"Join Anacostia Riverkeeper and partner Living Classroom Foundation D.C., Thursday, March 31st from 5:00-10:00pm at Nando's PERi-PERi at The Yards. 40 percent of sales support Riverkeeper and Living Classroom Foundation Classrooms programs. It's a WIN WIN! Bring the flyer with you: link .

jdc says: (3/31/16 2:23 PM)
Until there is a bit more development leading up to it, Dock 79 seems rather isolated to me and not something that would grab the casual pedestrian. I think any restaurant is going to need to do some legwork and advertise.

JD says: (3/31/16 3:06 PM)
I think it depends on how visible it is from the Riverwalk/bridge from the Yards. There's a fair amount of foot traffic along there in the summertime. And then there's the ballpark, though yes, Salt Line will some pretty big signage that's visible from across the street to get Nats fans in.

And who knows, maybe they won't be all alone there by the time they open. (I'm not hinting about knowing anything, just that they probably won't be the only restaurant in Dock 79.)

JD says: (3/31/16 4:42 PM)
In other restaurant news, I am interested to see that the ground-floor layout in the leasing brochure for 99 M (the office building at 1st and M) shows both Circa's 5,000 sf space (which we already knew about) and "New Bar Concept by Circa" in a 3,500 sf space just to Circa's south:

link

There's also a rendering of the 1st Street view of the building, showing the Circa logo, and also a fake "Capitol" sign where this other space is:

link

JES says: (4/1/16 10:32 AM)
JD, is that other green space in the diagram that just says "occupant area" another retail bay?

JD says: (4/1/16 10:52 AM)
@JES, Yes.

rdotis says: (4/2/16 6:38 PM)
wrt "isolated" - a nearby Bardo location would have helped with foot traffic. Odd that parking, traffic planning, and especially pedestrian safety were considered reasons for not permitting the Bardo facility, but don't seem to be problems for this building. Are pedestrians any less safe crossing Potomac Ave from the ballpark's grand staircase to Dock79 than Bardo? One has to wonder what the backstory is wrt Bardo. Seems a little investigative journalism is in order.

JD says: (4/3/16 8:30 AM)
I'm not sure how much "investigating" is really needed. The original plans for the site--2,000 people with live music and cheap beer--ended up with a lot of people against the notion, especially MPD and some residents of ANC 6D. So even when a smaller notion came along, there was a high bar to pass. Add to it Bill Stewart's less-than-optimal preparation (his initial "presentation" to ANC 6D about the plans was a hodge podge of "well, we kind of want to do this, but maybe that, or maybe the other thing, we don't really know, tell us what you want"--it got off on the wrong foot, and then the lack of a signed voluntary agreement with 6D made sure that they would protest. And then the Nationals being part of the protest as well was part of the nail in the coffin.

If you read the ABRA hearing transcripts I linked to in the various posts over the years (including the last one), you can see that it was going to take a whole lot for any outdoor-temporary-drinking-establishment venture to get approvals for this spot.

And the notion that some restaurants--which will probably have parking underneath Dock 79--would impact the community the way an outdoor beer garden would is a bit of a stretch. Somehow I doubt Buffalo Wild Wings and the Big Stick have the same impact that the Fairgrounds/Bullpen does.