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Murky Coffee owner Nick "I'll punch you in your dick" Cho posted a letter on his web site today announcing that his Clarendon coffee shop is closing.
It's with great sadness that I announce that in a few weeks, murky coffee will be relocating from here in Clarendon to a new location in Washington DC.
The property here at 3211 Wilson Boulevard was sold last year, and market rent is simply more than we can afford.
Cho's other Murky location, on Capitol Hill, was forced to close by the D.C. government last year for failure to pay some $427,000 in sales and franchise taxes. So it's perhaps not totally surprising that Cho's new D.C.-based venture, planned for 5th and H Streets NW, will not be called "Murky"—the new name will be "Wrecking Ball Coffee." In a comment on We Love DC today, Cho said the business would have a focus on coffee roasting, and be owned by his girlfriend, Trish Rothgeb Skeie.
Hopefully Cho's tax issues with the city have been resolved at this point, considering he's coming back to the District with a new business. Cho said that dates for the new shop are not yet set, but renovations will begin soon.
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i swear, i thought this was an april fools joke the first time i heard it.
the place will be called "wrecking BALL coffee." 'nuff said.
It depends.
Is it a wrecking ball through your intestinal tract?
Or a wrecking ball to your junk.
It depends.
Is it a wrecking ball through your intestinal tract?
Or a wrecking ball to your junk.
So I guess the taxes he now owes to Virginia exceed the taxes he owes to the city?
Arlington is one step closer to becoming an extension of Georgetown. Why don't they replace it with a Starbucks?
From Junkpunchers to Ballbusters. And I like ghessler's suggestion of replacing Arlington with a Starbucks. Now if we could replace Springfield with a Carl's Jr. and got rid of Tyson's Corner in favor of a Dunkin Donuts, I might actually go into "that place across the river."
McGruffpuncher Latte anyone?
Mmmmmmm...Carl's Jr. What I wouldn't give for a Western Bacon Cheeseburger right now...
Here here, and if I we could replace Fairfax with a Trader Vic's, I would cross the river too.
So basically because his tax issues probably mean he can't get permits to open another business in DC, he's recruited his (sounds like fairly new) girlfriend to assume the burden.
Hmm, yeah, that ought to end well.
I wish someone would punch me in the dick. I like it rough.
I still think this is an April fools joke. What is the exact address of his new shop?
Google Street View of the location looks the same and the Web site photo.
"as" the photo...
a half mil in sales and franchise taxes??
Huh?
The only potential good news is that with the turnover of the location to the Liberty Tavern folks for their own coffee shop, we have a chance for a new management team to look at the market and realize the insanity of Arlington not having a single 24 hour coffee location... this lacking is one of my biggest gripes about the NOVA area.
Has any one done a count on how many coffee shops there are in D.C.? There must be jillions of 'em. All them
people buzzed with energy. Energy to do things. Energized!
Is that location ghetto enough for patrons to get away with making Ghetto Lattes without Nick "punch you in the dick" Cho wrecking their balls?
The entire Missed Connections section of Craigslist just gave a collective gasp at this news.
Where else will the hipsters sit across from each other on Saturday mornings and post MCs to each other?
So the city closes down his Capitol Hill shop over taxes, then lets him back in the next year with another shop. I guess that makes sense.
Total April fools joke. There will never be junkpunching on H Street...
I do hope his gal pal is better at keeping up with the taxes, not to mention customer service. I can't wait to order my first iced espresso there as a test case.
As a test case I'd rather drink a milkshake made out of the breast milk that my two-month old baby pukes up than drink an iced espresso but I guess that's just me.
Pretty sure there's a Japanese porn fetish site that'd be interested in any videos you have.
Y'know what, you may be on to something there...
What "consistently vomitty Liberty Tavern aroma" would you be speaking of? I've never smelled anything like that there.
The little lounge area near the back with all the couches smells like someone got sick on the carpet, and the staff just kinda pushed it around with a dry mop until they couldn't see it anymore. Maybe it just stands out from all the other Clarendon bars because it doesn't reek of smoke.
Folks, 100% April Fools joke. I thought I remembered something like this in the past, and Cho does this every year. One year they were shutting off free Wi-Fi (the one that got me), twice he'd sold to Starbucks, and once they were expanding nationally.
Bulls&$t shields to max, Sommer!!
If I'm wrong, so be it.
This is an April fools joke. If you read the posts from April 1 from 2007 and 2004 you will see that this "trick" has been done before.
I wish Murky was closing I hate that place and all the RULES.
Nah, its not a joke. I stopped going to murky 3 months ago (which was the best coffee in DC IMO) when they switched from the Espresso Toscana to some other cheaper roast to save money. Big difference in quality, I asked the barista why my latte tasted so bad lately and they said it they switched roasts to save money to start the new shop in Chinatown. Looking forward to locally roasted coffee..
APRIL JUNKPUNCH!
With debt like that, I thought his new business partner would have been the "esteemed councilman" Mr. Barry.
You idiots, IT'S AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE! "Trish Rothgeb Skeie" is Romanian for "April Fools"!!!
So you're saying Nick Cho is dating a tiny, teenage gymnast? Good for him.
uhhuh, teach us some more Romanian. Monkey, please come get your cousin. he's escaped again.
My cousin is donkeyrotica, not this guy.
hey, you said he was 'no relation'...
http://dcist.com/2009/03/fbi_raid_lockdown_at_octo_one_judic.php
What does this mean for Sidamo? It should be very close to this address. While I always really loved the Murky lattes, Nick's reputation makes me wonder what the heck is going to happen to this joint. Isn't SOVA and Sidamo good enough for H Street? Both are great shops with lovely owners and staff.
mjf32: sidamo is 10 blocks away. this location is going to be in northwest, not northeast.
So has this one earned the Best April Fools Joke in DC award, or what?
It's not an April Fool's joke. He has artist renderings of the new space on his Flickr account and there is a building permit at the H St NW address.
So did Murky ever pay the Tax Office the $264,000 they owed the District? Or are they on the easy-payment plan, where they exchange tax debt for junkpunches?
At least he knows how to butter us up:
It's with great sadness that I announce that in a few weeks, Murky Coffee will be relocating [to] Washington DC.
"Hey, Asshole! Drink coffee? Then give me money, you fucking cockwad!"
He needs to hire some Columbia Heights kids to throw cups of hot coffee at people's heads. Y'know, to give back to the community.
Good riddance. Don't let ArlCo hit you on the ass on the way out.
Is this what we've become? Will some one please think of the children!? Why is there no Starbucks located inside DC schools? Is this a Rhee problem? How come there are no Red Bull Junk Punch Trucks? Kids need love and coffee.
At least it's "Wrecking Ball Coffee" and not "wreck yer balls" coffee. Nick is mellowing out a bit.
how could it even be possible that after 4 years an independent coffee shop could owe $427,000 in taxes. the rate would have to be outrageously high and would threaten to crush a small start up business like an independent coffee shop. i've met nick cho and i know something of what's involved in owning and operating a coffee shop. after 18 months in business, we were still losing an average of $5000 a month....yes, $5000 a month in the red! a $200k+ investment and 18 months of blood sweat and tears went down the drain. and while nick had gained the reputation of having one of the finest independent coffee shops in the industry; there is no way, i can fathom that his register rang enough to owe those kinds of numbers. the DC govenment is well known for it's high level of incompetence! he may well owe something, but not that much, no way! no how! as to the accusations of not paying employees or other responsibilities, i can imagine a struggle there. we had another business that helped sustain our shop and caused us difficulty in that business until we "regretfully" closed the coffee shop, without the other business, we'd have choked in less than 6 months and had many problems like his. when i met nick in the summer of 2006, he let me know what his two shops had produced the previous calender year. initially the number he told me sounded impressive, (my shop not having opened yet), but when you carve out the overhead, rent, staffing, supplies, training, any possible start up costs, and numerous other things, assuming his overhead costs were the same as mine, well, i'll say this: tax is based on income gained from the conversion of capital assets. after nick cleared away all his overhead, whatever profit is left from his effort, I.E. if his register rang $20k a month, and his overhead was $15k a month, his profit would be 5k a month. bear in mind, counter culture coffee and intelligentsia teas are very costly, not like that cheap crap you find at starbucks and caribou. THERE IS NO WAY HE OWES THOSE CLOWNS AT DC TAX AND REVENUE MORE THAN HE EVER COULD HAVE PROFITED (BY FAR)IN THE TIME HE WAS OPEN! THIS I KNOW!!!