Restaurant pop ups have sprouted up all over the city: Some chefs have created limited-time menus or opened for new meal service, some are offering outdoor seating with a new vibe and offerings, and others have forged new partnerships with a hosting restaurant or bar.
Looking for a new takeout spot or somewhere different to sit outside and enjoy a new menu? You’re in luck—here’s a few pop ups to check out.
This new Capitol Hill sandwich pop up launches Aug. 19, taking over Beuchert’s Saloon, which is “going on a vacation,” says Andrew Markert, the chef behind both restaurants. He’d been working on the concept for more than a year, and while the pandemic has hit Beuchert’s Saloon hard, Markert says it also finally gave him the right time to launch Fight Club.
The inventive lineup includes the Tonnato Melt ($14), with roasted pork, tonnato sauce (a tangy tuna-based sauce), American cheese, pickles, and bacon on sourdough. “It’s our spin on a tuna melt,” Markert says. The Salami and Slaw ($12) — fried salami, napa cabbage slaw, hot mustard, and potato sticks on garlic bread—serves up childhood nostalgia for the chef, too. “When I was a kid my dad used to always fry up salami,” Markert says.
The menu goes beyond sandwiches to include snacks (think crab dip and half-smoke corn dogs) and desserts, and there’s also “weekend breakfast or lunch,” aka brunch. The drinks list boasts nine boozy punches ($11-$16), beer, and wine.
And given, as the restaurant noted on Instagram, that “the first rule of Fight Club is arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor,” the diners can also add “Fuck The System” hot sauce to their meals. Service director Maya Fiellin created the sauce and donates the proceeds to Stop Police Terror Project DC.
Where: 623 Pennsylvania Avenue SE
When: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily for outdoor seating, takeout, and delivery.
Having decided not to reopen The Dabney for in-person dining, chef Jeremiah Langhorne launched his Summer Rental pop up in July to allow for more-casual dining outside his Blagden Alley restaurant. His summer trips to the Northeast inspired the menu. “I go to Cape Cod and go to the beach every summer,” he says. “I love the walk-up beach shacks, with lobster rolls, crab cakes, and all that fun stuff.”
Seasonal ingredients are central to the menu, which changes weekly, but Langhorne says he spins them differently than he does with The Dabney’s carry-out prix fixe menu, which is available Thursday-Saturday. Case in point: Soft shell crabs get the BLT treatment, with heirloom tomatoes on house-made brioche ($25). There’s a lobster roll, too, with brown butter citrus mayo and celery on a brioche bun. “We’ve never served lobster rolls—that’s something we’ve been having fun with,” Langhorne says.
The health and his staff of his patrons played into Summer Rental’s setup. To minimize contact, patrons check in upon arrival and receive a number that corresponds to a taped-off spot at the bar inside. Orders are placed via text, and the kitchen texts when their food is ready. “The idea was how to solve the problem of having as little contact as possible,” Langhorne says. “It’s a smooth experience.” The pop up, which started off on Sunday evenings, recently expanded to include dinner on Wednesdays and Sunday brunch.
Where: 122 Blagden Alley NW
When: 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday, dining by reservation only and weather permitting. Takeout is available.
This month, Shaw’s All-Purpose pizzeria launched its Jewish deli alter-ego, complete with such classics as house-cured lox, potato latkes, and sandwiches.
For chef Mike Friedman, who’s from a Jewish family and frequented many of New York’s classic delis, the menu is heavy on nostalgia—even in some of the names, like the Catskill Tuna Melt ($12), honoring the many tuna melts he enjoyed on family trips to its namesake mountains.
“The egg salad is probably my favorite thing on the menu, and that’s one people rave about,” Friedman says. The smoked whitefish salad ($14) has been a surprise hit, too. “I’m kind of shocked that people are crushing it,” Friedman admits.
He sources his three bagel offerings—plain, everything, and sesame—from Bullfrog Bagels. Delikatessen offers bagel platters that feed 4-10 people, with plenty of fixings ($45-$95), but you have to pre-order them. Depending on the pop up’s success, Friedman says, he’d like to develop items like matzoh ball soup, and explore platters for Jewish holidays.
Where: 1250 9th St. NW
When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday-Sunday, for takeout or delivery only. There’s no end date yet, Friedman says. “I’d love to keep it going for the entirety of the time we’re doing takeout,” he says.
Earlier this summer, the owners of Gallery O on H approached David Fritsche and Silvan Kraemer, the owners of nearby Swiss restaurant Stable, with a surprising offer: “They said, ‘We want to help you guys. What can we do?’” says Fritsche, the executive chef. The result: A crab shack pop up on the gallery’s 2,000-square-foot patio.
The Stable team had been kicking around the idea of a summer pop up for a few years, says Kraemer, and the unexpected offer amid the pandemic meant they could see it come to life. The menu is driven by what the two enjoy on beach trips: Oysters, peel-and-eat shrimp, steamed mussels, and plenty of crabs. There’s also an inspired riff of their go-to beach dessert, Fritsche explains. “We thought: Why don’t we spike the watermelon? Why don’t we cut it into pizza?” Thus came rum-laced watermelon pizza with cream and fruit ($16).
Fans of Stable’s spiked Schnapsiscles will find them in apricot, pear, and raspberry flavors ($7). Kraemer developed summery cocktails featuring local distilleries for the beverage lineup. “It’s really what would I want to drink when I’m sitting somewhere on the beach,” he says.
Where: 1354 H Street NE
When: 5-10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday for patio seating or takeout.
The outdoor wine garden and cafe in the River Pavilion at the Kennedy Center’s REACH launched in July, creating a socially distant winery vibe along the Potomac. “We wanted people to be able to come out and enjoy being outside,” says manager Mykl Wu. “There’s plenty of room for people to be physically distant, but still connected to each other.”
The family-friendly and dog-friendly concept, developed by chef Erik Bruner-Yang and the Hilton Brothers, offers charcuterie and cheese boards, as well as light items like smoked salmon rillettes ($12) and marinated olives ($4). The beverage list offers canned and bottled beer, and wines by the 6-ounce glass or bottle. It’s family-friendly and dog-friendly, too.
Earlier this month, Victura Park debuted Erik Bruner-Yang’s “family meal” concept with lemongrass chicken wings with cucumber onion salad, macaroni salad and Texas toast ($18). “Erik just puts his own spin on comfort food,” Wu says of the meals. It’s a Saturday and Sunday menu offering that changes weekly, and Wu says Bruner-Yang plans to invite guest chefs to develop family meals, too. They’re working on plans to include other programs and events, such as yoga or wine tastings, but “nothing’s concrete yet.”
Where: 2700 F St. NW. There are bike racks, but no parking on-site, as the Kennedy Center’s garage is closed.
When: 3 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday; noon-10 p.m. Saturday; noon-8 p.m. Sunday, throughout the summer. (“And hopefully through the fall,” Wu says.)
