Capital City Diner to Close This Weekend

you "dc" people complain about chains.  I would be happy if a Starbucks opened in my Brookland neighborhood.  Our neighborhood businesses suck!!!!!  Plan and simple.  I tried to approach some scumbag who owns a lot of property here about 10 years ago.  He was a big problem and I eventually gave up on the idea of opening a real Italian Deli to replace my friend Chris Nosi's place.  Now, two out-of towners made it big with my idea (Taylors). 

I'm sorry the fates conspired against you when you tried to open a sandwich shop.  I suppose there was nowhere else to build.  Your idea was Taylor's?  I'm pretty sure delis have been around before.  And not for nothing 10 years ago, a hipster deli in Brookland would have gone over like a fart in church. 

- A "DC" person

You don't know your NE history bub, because there was an Italian store/deli on 12th Street for over 50 years.

Additionally, I wanted to open it simply because you could not find a good sandwich in DC, much less NE, and it would have been close to my home so I could watch over it when working at my home office.  Had two ATF retirees friends/investors interested at one time (one from Philly and another from South Jersey - sandwiches!), but one died abruptly.   Ce la vie

It's "c'est" and stop being such an asshole.

fuck off

I had no idea the residents of Brookland (as opposed to us "DC" people) were into the taste of burnt ass in their coffee. Or is it that Starbucks represents full yuppification of a neighborhood? Just add a few fake Irish bars and you'll be the next Clarendon!

People all over NE Washington are suffering and dying of deep fat fry disease.  It has become deeply embedded in their DNA.  Many do not have cars or other motorized vehicles to venture to a Whole Foods store in far NW lands.  We need federal help here. 

That's right sukah, we would welcome something as dismal as Starbucks over the currently situated local businesses, except hunckeyass Walmart. 

And what the fuck do you know about Brookland? Huh?

business is business

I live in Ward 5 and l have never seen that place.  Looks not too inviting from the outside too.  Oh well.

if you've never seen it, how can you assert how it looks from the outside?

oh come on!  the pic above!  They mixed aluminum/SS with wood!  That looks ridiculous

that picture is over two years old, and was from a soft opening (so things weren't finished yet).

i would assume that, if you're going to make such assertions, you'd at least ground truth them before just spouting out.

I did not lie, I said I never saw it, except of course for the pic above

All I have to say is that I tell it like it is.  While everyone else here in Brookland is too frightened to hurt someone's feelings about how bad their business truly is, I let it rip.  Unfortunately, it is the coddling of these half-ass businesses that has been holding us back for about 50 years, as well as land-owners holding a tight grip on the properties.  The high rents these slumlords charge seem to attract the worst, or at best, second rate attractions.  Odd. 

i never said you lied. but it's clear that you made a judgement call on something you're wholly unfamiliar with. no biggie.

just had lunch over there. two guys from slush puppie HQ were there taking the machine away.

ugh.

just. sucks.

I have to admit this is pretty sad. It's not like Corporations were lining up to open an eatery on Bladensburg Rd before they opened, but as a result of their success Denny's figures out that even in areas of intense industrial poverty, people like to eat bacon, eggs and some toast 24 hours a day. And then close out the little guy. This is seriously fucked up.

Between this and the bad news about H Street Playhouse, I am really sad about my neighborhood right now.

What happened to H St Playhouse?

It's closing down. They have about a year to go, I believe.

They started out in good shape because they owned the building.  But a couple of years ago, in the wake of enormous expenses after Bruce Robey's illness and death, the Robeys had to sell the land/building.  Given the size of the place (3 full plots wide on the 1300 block of H, >4500 sq ft), you could argue that the selling price ($1.1 million) was significantly less than market, so the new owners got a steal; but the deal with the new owners involved renting it back to H Street Playhouse at a fairly cheap rent, so it worked out for everyone.  Until now.  The owners have changed their minds and decided they want to charge $45-$55/square foot.  I don't think there's a single theater company in DC that could afford that.   So, away it goes.  They're hoping to find someplace else, maybe out Bladensburg or Benning.

Damnit!

Living walking distance away I was a supporter. As time went on my visits went from once a week to once a month. If the food was as good as Bob and Edith's I would have gone 2x a week.

I hope they can figure a way to float until the new apartments on Bladensburg are leased. Maybe that would give them enough foot traffic to stay open.  

I loved the diner and the staff, but there was definitely an issue with inconsistency in the quality of the food. I went frequently when I first moved to NE, but that slowly dwindled as the experience declined. Hopefully Matt can get things righted and still offer something great for the neighborhood.

Never been to this diner or to the Denny's... but I find it odd that 40 bars can open in NE, yet 2 diners can't both be successful?

The stink of DC is that without a liquor license moratorium, the going rate for commercial retail is unaffordable to anyone except a bar/tavern. The margins and volume on alcohol are way too high, which means that either people in DC are overpaying for booze in a bar or the bars are not adequately reporting income/expenses.

While I hate the idea of capping the "free market", we have a pretty barren retail environment, and have an oversupply of overpriced alcohol establishments.

Does either have a liquor license?  That 300% markup is very helpful to the bottom line.

Of course alchohol sales improve a restaurant's bottom line (gah memories of the Bottom Line)... but there were 3 ethiopian restaraunts in Adams Morgan for over a decade... and CCD can't make it 5 years?  I am doubtful it is Denny's opening that is the main issue.

capital city diner does have a liquor license. not sure about denny's.

It's only Denny's Lounges that sell alcohol.

DCist Denny's Lounge HH? 

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

@popelando:disqus is on my shitlist and this is another good reason why he should stay on there longer.

1) I actually had to do a lot of work this morning.
2) Pope fucking Lando. (I'm watching you! [just kidding])

How did you fall to # 11?

Ouch.
New location, then.

Oh, this is so sad. I didn't get there as often as I wanted to (it's a long haul from Grosvenor), but I really liked them a lot.

The great thing about classic diners is that when business gets slow, you can just pick them up and move them to where all the cool cats are spending their dough. Like, say, Ashburn, VA. And thanks to the Cooch's pro-business policies, you get your own subsidized rats free of charge. Top that, Gary.

Sucks ass.

Thanks for the support; we really appreciate it and it's obviously a tough day.  We're open til 2pm today, and we'll be open 7am-6pm this weekend.

No, thank you.  Good luck.

"they were in discussions with the landlord to see if someone could take over the space" = Spike Mendelsohn's Oedipus themed diner, "Eat Me, Mutherf**ker."

Not "Oedipus at Colon-us"?

You're thinking of his Greek diner and while-you-wait tailor, "Euripides Pants, You Pay for Them."

I've heard Roy Pearson has a standing reservation there.

That sucks.

Three words: hundred dollar bratwurts. The way I figure it, you only need to sell a few every day to cover costs and it also keeps the riff-raff away. And you know how idiots with more money than brains are.

Denny's is a locally owned franchisee. It's still a small, local business. I ate at Denny's last night, and frankly, the service was really good. I was impressed. Of the dozen or so times I've eaten at CCD, I've been disappointed by inconsistency. I hope the concept comes back, and I wish Matt and the crew the best, but I don't think it's Denny's fault. The Diner was always full of people when I would eat there.

You know, I really wanted these guys to succeed, but stopped going after trying it a few times.  I just didn't find it that good.

a councilmember who understands and actively works to help small businesses would have worked to direct a national franchise to a location where they could succeed without cannibalizing other businesses.

I'm not convinced they cannibalized a material amount. I'd look at the pricing model and menu options first before I'd blame inferior competition. 

"Inferior" is all in the eyes of the consumer. Sure, for a lot of people commenting here an independent diner sounds a hell of a lot better than a Denny's. But for a trucker passing by, a drunk Marylander or a neighborhood resident on a tight income, Denny's probably seemed the safer bet.

You do have a point regarding price. It's one of the advantages of being a franchisee of a national chain - your costs are subsidized due to economies of scale.

What national chain "diner" are they talking about?

Denny's

Harry Thomas was happy to tout Matt and the Diner as a sign of economic revitalization on Bladensburg Road, then he actively went out and sought to help Denny's get the lot up the street. He didn't just screw kids, he screwed an independent business owner.

Hey, when is that Walmart opening in Northeast? Just plop the diner right there in the ginormous parking lot. All those waddling mountains of flesh have to eat sometime.

Move over, Jerry Sandusky!

I'll keep my eye on eBay*
*because it's a great concept and someone needs to make it work.