Romeo and Juliet liquor license permit on the patio floor, August 5, 2013– Photo, María Helena Carey
Even if you don’t live in ANC 602*, you may have mourned the closing of the White Tiger and wondered what would take its place. Over a year ago, there was a meeting of then-ANC 6C08 that discussed Pete’s Apizza taking over the space. After negotiating sidewalk space and where to put the trash, they passed on the space citing kitchen incompatibilities, as there was not enough room for a pizza oven. The property stood vacant until earlier this spring, when workers started to clear out the fixtures and gutting the place. Although a worker informed me back in April that the place would be called Romeo and Juliet and would open in the summer, nothing seemed to happen at 301 Massachusetts until about a month ago. At the time, the Prince of Petworth reported that, in fact, Romeo and Juliet would be an Italian eatery. On August 5th of this year the liquor license application lay on the ground and no work was happening (see above). It has since been properly posted on the 3rd Street door.
After communicating with Karen Wirt, ANC 6C02 commissioner, via email, she informed me that Romeo and Juliet is petitioning to extend the current outdoor seating arrangement beyond Massachusetts Avenue, to include 3rd Street; as there are neighbors less than 100 feet away from this area, this could bring additional disruption. Romeo and Juliet is also petitioning for the maximum amount of liquor-serving hours: until 3 am on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 am on weekdays. While it is standard for businesses to apply for the maximum amount of time to serve liquor, businesses across the street, such as La Loma and Bistro Cacao, stop serving between 10 and 11 pm. The following meetings will take place to review these petitions and your attendance is strongly encouraged:
Liquor license review: Thursday, September 5 at 6 pm, Kaiser Permanente building, 700 2nd St. NE
Sidewalk café review: Thursday, September 5 at 7 pm, same location.
Full commission review: Thursday, September 12 at 7 pm, Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Please come. We look forward to seeing you there.
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*For a brief explanation on the reorganization of ANC 6C, you can click here.