Heritage Thai space becomes Malgudi South Indian restaurant

The second-floor space below Heritage India (2400 Wisconsin Ave.)—until recently home of Heritage Asia Thai Bistro—reopens February 19 as Malgudi, a café featuring South Indian cuisine. “Malgudi is inspired by the work of renowned Indian novelist R.K. Narayan,” states a press release from restaurateurs Sanjeev and Mitul Tuli, who also own Heritage India. “Malgudi is a fictional town somewhere in South India located on the shores of the fictional river Sarayu.” The new menu features dishes spiced with cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg and flavored with coconuts, tamarind, and chili peppers. The full menu is available here.

Read Full Post »

Bike lock cut outside Sheffield condos

A black fixie bicycle with bullhorn handlebars was stolen from the sidewalk in front of The Sheffield condominiums (2320 Wisconsin Ave.) one night last month. A Sheffield resident had locked the bicycle up with a steel U-Lock on the evening of February 11. By the following morning, the bike was gone. The lock “cannot be cut with bolt cutters,” the victim told police. “A grinder must have been used.”

Read Full Post »

Breadsoda settles failure-to-report charge

On February 6, Breadsoda (2323 Wisconsin Ave.) paid a fine of $2,000 to settle charges that it had failed to file quarterly statements to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. As of August 21 of last year, the bar had not filed statements for the second quarter of 2010, the first quarter of 2011, or the second quarter of 2012.

Read Full Post »

Duelling Super Bowl spots

The Mason Inn (2408 Wisconsin Ave.) has already declared its allegiance as a Baltimore Ravens bar. Now Mayfair and Pine (2218 Wisconsin Ave.) has announced via Twitter that its staff will be rooting for the San Francisco 49ers during today’s big game. May the better team (i.e., the Ravens) win!

Read Full Post »

Vacant lot near Monarch Paints for sale

The vacant lot at 2140 Wisconsin Ave. is on offer at $1.45 million. Davar Ashgrizzadeh, the owner of Café Romeo’s (2132 Wisconsin), bought the lot in 2008 for $995,000, according to city land records. The real estate listing says “Owner preparing to move, so not going thru with development himself.”

Read Full Post »

Margarita’s former owner fights for license

Maria Villalta, the owner of a dormant Glover Park liquor license, has been unable to sell the license, according to a letter her attorney sent the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on December 31. Villalta used the license when she operated Margarita’s Restaurant at 2317 Wisconsin Ave., now the home of Sprig & Sprout. The ABC Board has said that they will cancel Villalta’s license unless she sells it or starts using it again herself.

Because she cannot find a buyer, Villalta has been “exploring the possibility of keeping the license and opening her own establishment,” the attorney’s letter states. She has been talking to the owner of the vacant tan condo building at 2136 Wisconsin Ave., three doors up from Monarch Paints, but the cost of constructing a kitchen there might be prohibitive. Villalta may seek to use the license in another part of DC, the letter states.

Read Full Post »

Fight spills out of Mason Inn, liquor board says

A late-night fight outside Max’s Best Ice Cream (2416 Wisconsin Ave.) has resulted in charges against Mason Inn (2408 Wisconsin Ave.). Shortly before 1 a.m. on October 20, an Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration investigator came across the fight between a Mason Inn bouncer and a male patron of the bar, according to the investigator’s report. While the investigator watched and took photographs, the bouncer lifted the patron off the ground, pushed his head, and kicked him, the report states. Mason Inn staff told the investigator that the patron had been caught doing drugs in the bathroom, and that while being removed from the club, the patron had punched the bouncer in the nose, according to the report.

The report asserts that the Mason Inn violated its security plan, because staffers did not call the police when the altercation escalated. It also asserts that it violated its Voluntary Agreement by failing to keep the front door closed; failing to disperse sources of noise in front of its premises; failing to ensure the security of patrons; and failing to call police when deemed necessary by security staff. Representatives of The Mason Inn will meet with ABRA staff to discuss a settlement of the case.

In other Mason Inn news: shortly after midnight on January 11, a young woman placed her leather wallet on a table at the bar. About an hour later, she noticed it was missing. On the evening of January 21, a young woman left her purse unattended on a table there. When she returned, the purse and its contents were gone. The police have no suspects in either case.

Read Full Post »