Brad Pitt Has Your Secret Shit: Rolling DC

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/11/no_restaurant_for_you.php

sala thai is fine for delivery and take-out? I don't understand the point about mediocrity somehow profiting from the restriction - if a restaurant truly sucks, it goes out of business, no? As pointed out in the comments, Adams Morgan is packed to the gills with bars and restaurants and I wouldn't say it's any kinda amazing dining district. Brains, tell me how it is.

Sala Thai is eh. I used to eat there plenty before Rice and Regent Thai opened. Now I pretty much just do Rice since the last time I went into Regent Thai it smelled distinctly like rat poison.

This overlay needs to get changed but it's not really a problem as it stands - I know plenty of people looking at opening up in that corridor and they don't expect any problems getting a zoning exception.

I think new building in DC should require all retail on the ground floor without restrictions - this would drive retail rents way down and would negatively impact efficiency of new development somewhat, but it effectively translates to having developers subsidize cheap retail. Because of the building height limits DC retail spaces are overpriced and we lack a proportionate population to support retail, so lower rents could do a lot of good.

Mediocrity does profit from restriction sometimes - like with cabaret laws in NY.

I think the biggest factor in keeping bad restaurants open is lack of reliance on repeat business. Woodley Park is a great example of this - it's got the same demographics and a similar streetscape at Cleveland Park just up the street, but it's got a bunch of shitty places and Cleveland Park has, generally, very good ones. The large hotels in Woodley Park mean there are a bunch of tourists and conventioneers coming through who are going to eat at that random indian place or wherever because it's right between the Metro and their hotel - I don't think it's the locals keeping that row in business.

I don't think Yg's argument is valid here given the current state of development along 14th/U St. There are a lot of older struggling places in that stretch that would actually be less expensive for a restaurateur to buy out and remodel than a new space would be. If Sala Thai is able to stay open despite not doing very much business that just means they'll eventually be bought out by another operator that thinks they can maximize their volume in that space.

our football team is awesome

― T-PALIN (daria-g), Friday, November 7, 2008 4:25 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

RIP

Inauguration Organizers Plan for 4 Million on Mall

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111703672.html?hpid=topnews

woah

shit is going to be lunacy

and fucking cold as hell

apparently i don't care about going to the inauguration, but i still want one of these

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/11/20/obamas-mug-on-dc-subway-cards-for-inauguration/

#

Have they done this for previous presidents-elect? If not, this is a blatantly partisan move by an organization funded with taxpayer money.

Comment by Ryan Lile — November 20, 2008 @ 3:33 pm

my favorite part about this is that if you click dude's name it takes you to a site to buy $100 designer dog bowls

I enjoy the fact that this thread is easily found in the search engine by querying for "pitt shit"

I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION FOR BRAINS.

when would you be available to check out PROPERTY with your bro me
whenever is fine 'cause we just started looking and I haven't bothered about a lender yet

but tis the season for getting sweet deals on exposed brick & etc

Tombot taking the property-ownership plunge OH YEAH.

I just got back from a very brief visit to your fine fine city and I am still getting over the fact that I'm going to be living near the fabulous Kramers book store rather than here. Though Kramer's website is a bit self-congratulatory, or at least the video is. ETA now some time in February, so will miss the Mall madness...

Kramerbooks is a fairly small bookstore with an OK selection and decent beers and shitty food. And it's open 24 hours on the weekend. That's all.

TOMBOT I am on crazy schedule for the next 2 weeks but should be OK to look at some places after.

I live in Swindon now, so an ok selection and half decent food will do me fine for now :-) I'm afraid I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to cities at the moment...

Recommendations for better bookshops very welcome, thanks in advance...

Second Story Books in Dupont is pretty okay for used stuff. Other than that. . . Olsson's used to be the other big indie bookstore around here, but they shut their doors. So you're stuck pretty much with Borders and B&N's.

Thanks Mr Que. My colleague whom I'm replacing there also recommended Second Story Books, but she worked in Swindon for even longer than me, so I should not rely on her warped judgement...

I'll drop the excited puppy thing now. I'm showing up provincial England. I'm capable of getting over-excited by Whole Foods as well.

oh hey, I will be in DC tomorrow

I should have said something sooner, yeah?

just tomorrow?

yeah

I'll be around! TOMBOT has my #.

i gotta spend the day w/family in the MD suburbs. not really looking forward to it, though prob won't be all that bad. theoretically i would be home about 8, but who knows.

I'll probably get called in to work on some bullshit premise as soon as I get dressed and walk out of my house

goddamn circus.

tom I told you not to take that job with the circus.

US-CIRCUS

Not just tomorrow! J and I will be here thru Saturday.

Email me at djperry @ gmail if you want to do drinky type things

all this time I've spent wondering, who do I e-mail if I want to do drinky type things, and it was BLACK SEINFELD ALL ALONG!!!

ha

City to be renamed "Obama, DC" January 17 - 21, 2009

Obamavegas

hey, the new Day the Earth Stood Still DVDx2 is more fun when you map the chase of Klaatu all the way up Connecticut Ave.

lol those fuckin' irish morons who own the fuckin' jury's hotel shut down for renovations on november 2nd

wait morbius are you describing an actual special feature on the new version or did you just break out the paperwork and a grease pencil while you were watching

Unless I'm mistaken, he's talking about a new release of the original movie (ie the DVD is new, not the movie).

fuck, the jury's isn't gonna be a bargain anymore?

that's my favorite place to stay in town

xxxp: haha, neither, but I said "oh yeah that looks like Columbia & Ct." They did an awful lotta second-unit work in DC.

I'm not sure how much if Klaakeanu lands on the Ellipse, I don't want any part of it...

The D.C. Council Tuesday night voted in favor of extending last call to 5 a.m. during inauguration week.

Hey Dan I am available for post-work gathering tomorrow somewhere in the downtown-ish vicinity (note: my definition of "downtown" is pretty much the whole of the district, plus select MD stops on the red line).

Unfortunately Mr. Que has class on Thurs.

dan went back to boston last sunday, he got sick of waiting for "those ridiculous 'q' people"

you ques, you lose

hahaha OK I should have made note of the date posted, huh?

My baseball covention next summer is at the JW Marriott Pennsylvania Avenue, $179/might + tax, oh fuck that.

uh, that's a good rate

for rich motherfuckers

http://www.marriott.com/specials/senior/default.mi

funny, Que (I'm in the most youthful third in that crowd)

for rich motherfuckers

it's a good rate for a good hotel on the Mall, motherfucker

(you want to do better, check the Tabard or the Jurys Normandy (promotional rate), both of which will require more walking in humid DC on the hottest coupla days of the year)

don't need to sleep on the Mall, assface

tell your fellow geeks not to have a convention there, then