This year has been pivotal in the ongoing gentrification of the U Street corridor. First, a Starbucks went in at 13th and U streets this winter; then a Quizno’s moved in next door. And just recently, the Sisterspace bookstore was evicted. Locals were heartbroken, the newcomers barely noticed. In another sign of the times for U Street, On Tap says the area is “exploding with new boutiques, cafes, and great places you should be in.”

The On Tap crew tries to illustrate the new flavor of the neighborhood.

Cabbies dart from their double-parked cabs into the Middle Eastern joint Islamabad as families across the street wander into Popeye’s. A young man holding a Starbucks coffee in one hand and a gym bag in aother strolls by as a couple, dogs in tow, heads up the hill to Meridian Park. The U St./Cardozo area is definitely at a crossroads, and its changes are arriving at a whirlwind pace. The lot that several years ago was home to a car parts store and a vacant stretch of asphalt now contains several brightly colored boutiques proffering martini glasses and sushi accoutrements. New stores and condos seem to pop up on a monthly basis, giving the area a commercial upsurge rivaling that of Penn Quarter. Here are a few of the stores that have come about in recent years…and why you, too, should be shopping the U Street/14th Street strip.

So what is new?