The building on H Street NE that houses the Rock & Roll Hotel is up for sale, but don’t worry: the venue isn’t going anywhere.

H Street’s burlesque house and performance venue Red Palace will close out 2012 by closing its doors.

Some confusion on DC9’s Facebook page is leading some to think that they are reopening tonight. They are not – if you look closely you can see they are writing about the opening of Red Palace, the merger of the Red and the Black and the Palace of Wonders on H Street NE (which is also owned by DC9 owner Joe Englert) hence the promotion of the place on DC9’s Facebook page….

Capitol Lounge, fixture of the Capitol Hill bar scene, launched a revamped, Teddy Folkman-created menu over the weekend. Folkman, who can be seen on TV competing to be The Next Food Network Star, accepted the Executive Chef role at the Lounge after helping owner Joe Englert in launching H Street Country Club’s Mexican-themed menu. Their goal is to “raise the bar,” providing gourmet bar food to the staffers and Hill denizens that frequent Pennsylvania Avenue….

Opening tonight is H Street Country Club, the much anticipated, long awaited indoor mini-golf course/Mexican eatery in Northeast. We’ve heard rumors about the DC-themed holes bordering on two years now. Chalk up their logo, which says “Est. 2008,” to overzealousness. Even the hard hat tour in February 2009 showed a place still in development; there wasn’t a blade of fake grass in sight. Last night we had the chance to be among the first to…

Are wine bars the next bistro? Following closely on the heels of Proof and Sonoma, Veritas Wine Bar will be opening next Monday, September 17. The list is largely composed of Euro-style California wines, with over 50 available by the glass starting at $8 and going up to $28. Also available are various red and white flights, chosen by varietal, region or cutesy names like “m&m&m” and “Mick’s picks”. Three deadly zins, anyone? The web…

Courtney Mabeus over at The Examiner says that Capitol Lounge should reopen today after getting the go ahead from health inspectors. The bar suffered its second fire in two years on Wednesday, but damage this time, estimated at about $15,000, looks to have been largely limited to the back patio. The Trover Gift Shop on the 200 block of Pennsylvania Ave. SE was also damaged in the blaze, which started in a dumpster behind the…

It’s been five months since D.C. took on a smoking ban in its bars, and all the grousing over not having a place to light up seems to have died down. But news coming from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington may change that. According to FreeRide, a survey by the restaurant lobby group — which strongly opposed the smoking ban — claims that 35 percent of bars and restaurants reported a loss of revenue after…

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. Joe Englert wants a parking garage. So it says in the Washington Business Journal, on page four of a six page testament to the change he’s helping spread along H Street NE, once one of the District’s proudest thoroughfares and now in the midst of a facelift. When he hasn’t been opening businesses there himself, it seems he’s been grooming and instructing…

Last week the City Paper reported on moves to ban the sale of single beers along the up-and-coming H Street stretch in Northeast, part of an attempt to reduce the quality of life crimes, like public urination or disorderly conduct, that seemingly go hand-in-hand with 24-ounce cans of Bud Ice and 40-ounce bottles of Old English Malt Liquor. Of course, the proposal is nothing new — Mt. Pleasant adopted a similar ban in 2001, and…