Photo by tedeytan

Last year, Shaw Tavern closed down before it could even really open. Now, it looks to be rising from the dead.

Eater DC reports that the troubled tavern along Florida Avenue has new owners, is applying for a new liquor license and expects to be up and running in the near future.

For as much hope as the eatery engendered in the community it would serve, it was nothing but one bad story after another. Before even opening, the tavern’s owners imperiled their application for a liquor license by serving alcohol at a private party; it wasn’t long afterwards that the place just up and closed its doors, despite having served few, if any real meals to its clientele.

The two new owners, Reza Akhavan and chef Joel Hatton told Eater what they had in mind for the tavern:

RA: We come from different places. I come from Front Page in Dupont Circle and he comes from Leopold’s. Obviously, two totally different places. First of all, it’s going to be a casual place. It’s not going to be fine dining. With the setup and everything it would be hard to go that way. You will see a lot of microbreweries still here and a lot of wine and also cocktails. Cocktails may be a little focused on American liquors and brands. Beers are mostly going to be microbreweries from the US, a lot of them from around here. And then back of the house, obviously, is all his.

JH: Keeping [the opening menu] pretty simple to start just because for the first however many months a restaurant has lots of kinks to work out. So I’d like to keep it very simple to start and let it evolve into something a little bit more. The place is already a tavern so I kind of have to focus on that. It’s definitely not fine dining, but I try to do things a little bit nicer than the next guy down the road.

The two aren’t cutting any corners, so don’t expect an early opening. Once they get the license, they’ll post it and wait five days before letting anyone in.