11th Street NW might have been what saved Queen’s English, says co-owner Sarah Thompson. If they had opened their Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant anywhere else, they wouldn’t have made it through the pandemic.

“But the 11th Street neighborhood, energy, and crowds — it’s a revitalization,” she says of the strip where their restaurant, specializing in Hong Kong cuisine, found a home four years ago.

A short walk east from the Columbia Heights Metro station, this section of 11th Street between Kenyon and Monroe Streets is lined with row houses that are punctuated by lively bars, restaurants, and small businesses. The neighborhood has seen its fair share of change over the years, including several pandemic closures, but it has managed to retain a community feel while resisting the growth of chain retail that dominates the central Columbia Heights.

Since March, two new restaurants have opened in the area, bringing hopes of a post-pandemic renewal to this vibrant stretch of 11th. Johnny’s All-American, a fancy dive bar, and Cinco Soles, a modern Mexican restaurant, both joined Buddy’s, an upscale sports bar that opened last year — all with the hopes of finding the kind of success Queen’s English did on this stretch. In some cases, these restaurants are opening up in the same spot as old favorites shuttered during the pandemic — such as Michelin-honored Filipino restaurant Bad Saint and beer bar Meridian Pint.

“We’re sad that we lost some good restaurant friends like Room 11, Bad Saint, and Maple. But these new ones mean more foot traffic, and we always have some sort of event to feed off each other,” says Thompson.

The new wave of restaurants started during the 2022 World Cup, when Buddy’s took over the space vacated by the cozy pub Room 11. Landing somewhere between a bar and a diner, co-owner and manager Carly Hampton calls Buddy’s a “neighborhood gathering place” adding that they “cater to the needs of the community.”

They serve a mix of soul food and Cajun cuisine, including diner classics such as deviled eggs ($8), burgers ($15-$17), and salads ($10-$19), as well as fancier fare like a truffle-dusted seafood mac and cheese ($18). There’s also substantial vegan options that Hampton says are responding to customer demand, including a cashew mac and cheese ($10). The bar serves craft cocktails, wine, and beer, and has a pet-friendly, shaded outdoor patio, catering to the dog-heavy neighborhood.

“It’s such a great area with multiple bars and restaurants and is very diverse. You have fine dining and dive bars, and we want Buddy’s to fill the space in between,” says Hampton.

Johnny’s All American took over Bad Saint’s tiny, 24-seat space this spring, dressing down the atmosphere to create an upscale dive bar that serves both classic cocktails and cheap beer. TVs play sports games, especially from owner Branden Givand’s home region of the Midwest. Givand lives just a few blocks away, so he values the bar as a community space, calling it “a nostalgic and laid-back neighborhood quick-service café and bar.” Givand owns a line of sauces called Sauce City, which includes his own bloody Mary mix and mumbo sauce. Johnny’s leans on the cheeky, with a recent early-week chalkboard reading, “F*ck Mondays. Come drink.”

The latest entrant to the area is Cinco Soles. It’s from the same owner as Ossobuco, which occupied the location before that. While owner Mauricio Arias loved the area, he felt a high-end Italian place wasn’t the right fit — an upscale-casual Mexican restaurant with a dedicated ceviche kitchen, however, would be perfect.

In the spirit of the neighborhood, many of 11th Street’s older establishments don’t see the new entrants as competition.

“It’s absolutely great having the new restaurants open on 11th. It’s nice that they fill different niches,” says Matt McGovern, the owner of Wonderland Ballroom. “That’s been a feature of these three blocks for the last decade: neighborhood bars, Mexican fare, Michelin restaurants, and retail. It really works.”

Wonderland opened back in 2004 at the strip’s southern end and is one of the oldest continuously operating bars in the area (it sits on the site of a former gay bar called Nob Hill). His tenure means McGovern has seen several iterations of 11th Street throughout the years.

“It’s nice to come out of the last three years and have our strip of 11th with as many retail and food establishments as possible,” he says, describing 11th Street as having “the vibe of a little urban oasis.”

McGovern says that in 2004 the neighborhood had been “essentially unchanged from the previous 20 years. At that time there were at least three openly operating brothels within three blocks of us…. the corner store offered regulars credit and kept the tallies in a spiral notebook, and there was a fun, funky clothing store where Buddy’s is now,” he reported.

Wonderland’s opening may have presaged a shift. Just a year later, residents held the first Columbia Heights Day festival, according to Paco Ramos-Meyer, Manager of District Bridges’ Columbia Heights & Mount Pleasant Main Street.

Building on its success, the festival took root and grew into District Bridges, a nonprofit working to bridge community engagement and economic development, says Ramos-Meyer. It now manages 6 of DC’s 28 Main Street programs.

The casual pizzeria RedRocks followed soon after, opening in 2007 in a two-level corner row house with a front yard patio, serving the Neapolitan, wood-fired pies that have become a neighborhood staple. A block away, El Chucho Cocina Superior opened in 2012, serving street-food-style Mexican tacos and sandwiches.

In a city with high restaurant turnover, it’s this sense of community that has helped 11th Street establishments be so creative and able to bounce back from difficult times.

“That resilience was evident during the pandemic with the launch of the DDOT Streatery program,” says Ramos-Meyer of the fact that Queen’s English and next door Malaysian restaurant Makan managed to establish the first approved Streatery in the city. “The Streatery program was absolutely essential to the survival of DC’s restaurant scene,” he adds.

Thompson agrees, saying that as Queen’s English moved back to fine dining after a pandemic pivot to takeout, she’s seen a bump in business that she attributes to foot traffic during the week.

“Work from home has been a blessing” she says.

Given these recent openings alongside older restaurants, Kristi Whitfield, the Director of the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development, says that “passionate entrepreneurs drive the innovation that contributes to the building blocks of communities. We are seeing this in real-time with the revitalization and movement happening on our very own 11th Street corridor.”

Ramos-Meyer agrees, adding that locals are at the core of what makes 11th Street special.

“The businesses of 11th Street, both past and present, have always valued investing in the community,” he said. “What I like best is that the owners and employees of the restaurants and bars can be seen out and about on 11th street too, giving the area a strong community vibe.”

This story has been updated to reflect the correct the surname of Wonderland Ballroom owner Matt McGovern.