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Written by DCist contributor Andrew Schneider
We had the chance to talk with Paul Ruppert of the Warehouse recently about his plans to open a new wine bar in Columbia Heights, at the corner of 11th and Lamont Street NW, in the old 11th Street Deli space (first reported by the Prince of Petworth). With 28 seats on an open-air patio and 15 seats inside, the casual bar will serve wine, desserts, cheese, and charcuterie, along with a few hot food items and basic espresso. Along with co-owners Dan Searing (Looking Glass Lounge manager), Ben Gilligan and Nick Pimental (Toolbox Design), Ruppert envisions the space to complement, rather than compete with, surrounding businesses such as RedRocks, Wonderland Ballroom, and Columbia Heights Coffee. Aussie chef Ben Gilligan will be in charge of savory foods and wine selection, while desserts will come from Lizzy Evelyn and Nichole Ferrigno at Paisley Fig. Wine prices are likely to run between $8 and $14 a glass. The planned opening date for the wine bar, which has yet to be named, is October 1. Sounds good to us.
Photo courtesy Prince of Petworth
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does $14 a glass for wine sound kinda pricey for 11th street? i'm not a wine drinker, so someone set me straight here.
I'm with IMGoph. Forget $14 wine. I'll just buy a $14 bottle at Giant or Harris Teeter.
"along with a few hot food items and basic espresso"
Will they give out ice, too?
*dodges a junkpunch*
sounds like more of the same ol same old to me. I try to save what little money i have remaining after the mortgage, property tax, groceries, utilities, car and insurance to be able to take the misses to a special meal and a movie once a year.
IMGoph, fortunately or unfortunately (depending upon who you ask), a $14 glass of wine is not outrageous for this area. Consider that The Heights is only a short walk away.
The Columbia Heights commercial corridor has definitely grown east, and 11th Street is looking pretty good these days.
Sidenote: 11th Street now should be the model for the stretch of 1st Street in Bloomingale between Florida and Rhode Island; it's ideally suited for it. I'm sure Big Bear could use the help of a trendy, Wonderland-esque bar.
How about $5 a glass? That seems much more in line with places like The Heights and Rumberos, that all have house wine selections for around that price. No matter, it will be a nice addition to the neighborhood, and it's always good to have people out on the sidewalk - to build community, safety, and general livability. If people even just go there for special occasions, like after a performance at the Tivoli, it should do just fine.
I wish Trader Joe’s would open up a bunch of trendy wine bars in DC where they can sell $3 Charles Shaw for $2 per glass. They could have picnic tables to sit on and sell cheese and crackers. My personal preference is Kraft singles sliced into quarters on saltines.
I know there are tons of DCers that don’t think twice about $14 per glass wine but I miss all the inexpensive places there were to drink. At least Fox and Hounds is still the same, I will have to ask them for charcuterie (new word for me) next time.
ian: damn, are you right. the corner of 1st and seaton would be the ideal place for such a bar. (trust me, i would be the most frequent customer....and i will not debate that).
we have SO MUCH potential for a decent neighborhood commercial strip there, and yet it just languishes. if my landlords would just get off their butts and do something...
A Philly-style BYOB would be an amazing add to the "wine bar" scene in DC.
I live close to this and am very happy. I agree with DCPixie--this will enhance the neighborhood.
I know three of the owners and from what I was told, there will probably be $6 daily specials on glasses of wine. The vibe I was getting is that they are more of a wine-centered neighborhood bar and not a wine bar like Cork, Veritas, Vinoteca, etc.... I mean all these guys are from punk rock backgrounds!
i once ordered accidentally a $17 draft beer. as i happily babbled to my waiter that the beer was just great, my boyfriend was looking at me like i was completely insane because it was the same beer we'd had in bottle form for $5 the night before. even the waiter kept asking me if i was sure. should have probably glanced across at the corresponding price list.
@Ian wrote:
IMGoph, fortunately or unfortunately (depending upon who you ask), a $14 glass of wine is not outrageous for this area. Consider that The Heights is only a short walk away.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sounds about right for CoHi, or as I like to call it: The Emperor's New Digs.
gah....has that abbreviation become the hiptard shorthand for the neighborhood?
good grief, I hope not. I abbreviate it CH in online posts, but I always say "Columbia Heights" out loud.
Back to the topic at hand: I live a few blocks from here and am happy to see another independently owned business enter the neighborhood. $14 for a glass of wine is pretty outrageous (even fancy schmancy places like TenPenh and Poste Brasserie have wine by the glass for as little as $7). I'll go for the occasional special occasion splurge, though :)
Dcist 20009,
Once I was at Trader Joes and a guy was packing his van with cases of Chuck, and I over heard him excitedly say, "and I charge $5 a glass for this too!!!".
Ian,
Agreed. The number of BYOB places in Philly is very sweet.
Hiptard shorthand? How do you expect people to pay $14 for a frigging glass of wine unless you've got oval CoHi stickers on every Volvo and Subaru Outback in the Target parking garage? Or better yet, on the back of the Maclaren double-wide with Tyler and Parker or Turner and Cooper, (or whatever crazy surname those kids have as their first names), right there at the aforementioned overpriced winebar?
It's called marketing people. You NEED the CoHi brand to survive.
Step 1) Guy opens ludicrously overpriced wine bar at location that used to cater to the upscale malt liquor afficianado;
Step 2) Residents of CoHi applaud new hip establishment;
Step 3) Bridge and Metro types venture from wayward Montgomery County and Arlington to be a part of the scene;
Step 4) YOUR property values in CoHi go nuts!;
Step 5) KHAAAAAAAAN!;
Step 6) PROFIT
Simple
the funny thing, g lover park, is that the parking garage is so empty and unused that they don't even use the lower level. guess we're going to have a hard time selling stickers to the subaru and volvo crowd...
$14 a glass? I guess since Veritas and Proof have set the bar, it was only a matter of time before those prices creeped up to NoCo (I refuse to call it CoHi, NoFla, or even GoFuYoSef). I'll stick with my 3-liter Carlo Rossi Vin Rose and commemorative Smith & Wesson, thank you. Now will you please pass the seltzer? I seem to have spilled some on my spats.
$8-$14 isn't so bad if there's a decent $6 special/house option.
But the food would need to measure up, or that pricey stuff'll just sit.
Why are you all focusing on the $14 glass? Personally, I wouldn't order it but they will probably only have one $14 glass for people who want it. If average is $8 and specials are $5 or $6, then order that! The real news is that 11th street is turning into a mom and pop independent alternative to the mega-mall on 14th.
Yes, exactly. Though if I were flush I might order the $14/glass if it were poured from a $50-$60 bottle. Could happen... markup is usually less on the expensive stuff.
the owners have punkrock backgrounds? yeah, cus opening an overpriced wine bar in columbia heights is so punk rock
Skinjob, I agree. An overpriced wine bar is not punk rock but starting an independent business from scratch that supports the neighborhood (which just happens to be wine friendly) is to me. $6-$14 is a range. That does not mean 90% of the glasses are $14. I bet only one glass is $14.
Re: $14 a glass wine:
when did eat the rich stop being punk rock?
when did eat the rich stop being punk rock?
The minute they started buying $14 glasses of wine.
And started saying "Punk isn't dead."
Take that, Maynard G. Krebs!
since these guys are so punk rock, maybe ian mckay will play a show for their grand opening
you know what's punk rock? making your own damn prison wine out of grape Kool Aid, raisins, and a gym sock and charging suburban squares $20 a glass.
and its totally straight edge so long as you dont drink your own.
Neighborhood transformation is the only consistent factor in urban development. The cycle of decay/renewal cannot be stopped any more than you can stop drunks peeing in alleys or people with money from conspicuous consumption. Anyway, this will all be made clear in my informative pamphlet, "From Fight Club to Bridge Club: How Urban Hiptards Transformed DC From A Crime-ridden Third World Sh!thole Into A Conformist Suburban Stripmall (And Back Again).
(Available for Amazon Kindle for $14 a glass).
Is Dan still running the Looking Glass Lounge? That place was great back when it was still Temperance Hall, but it seems like the new owners brought over all the bad aspects of Wonderland (dumbed-down food, too much noise, crap service).
Monkey- Given it's CoHi, and todos, I was thinking Tepache. It takes an exotic name and a story- the mystique of a brewmaster with machete wounds might do- to command $20 a glass.
Oh, and Tepache's both seriously tasty in the summer hear, and easy to make.
There seems to be an assumption that this planned watering hole is going to receive a liquor license, but I live close by and there is a lot of opposition to a bar opening on the corner (including from myself). We all plan to voice our opposition at the hearings in September.
The noise and pollution was bad enough when this place was a deli -- it will only be worse as a bar. Also, this space is WAY too small to host a bar. It seats about 12-15 people, so, even if they get permission for the outdoor seating (heaven help us!), what are they going to do in winter or when it rains?
Lets see, a nice upscale place or an abandoned building where the bums from the market from across the street who buy single beers hang out....I go for the high end place. You all talk about diversity in the neighborhood, well how about someplace for those of us who can afford it to go. Why do I have to take my money to Logan or Georgetown for something nice and different. Bless the folks at Wonderland for offering a cheap option for a night out, now lets have something for those who want to spend a little more and enjoy our own neighborhood. There are plenty of cheaper options, lets have something for others. Why do so many of you care about the high prices? dont go, but let's add a positive to the area and in addition, lets stop selling sinlge beers and clean up the area. Columbia Hts should be a place for all poor and rich! Lets have some real balance!
...dont you want nice outdoor cafes? wouldnt that bring more people out on to the streets and make them safer? they dont have to stay open all night and places like that arent going to have drunks hanging out being loud. We have a great opportunity to make the whole area pedistrian friendly with restaurants and outdoor cafes. Please dont stand in the way of progress...lets open up the streets and the cafes to those of us who love the nighborhood