For those who aren’t fans of the chain restaurants in Columbia Heights, you can add another great independent spot to your list! Paila Chilean Grill opened up a week ago just west of DC USA at 14th and Park Rd, NW.

After a reader wrote in saying the new space looked great and the food was equally great, I stopped by Sun. morning for a quick look. Indeed the space looks fantastic and I’m happy to say the owners were also super nice.

When I asked for the menu to share with you guys they also sent this note in an email:

“We are a small, family run, kid-friendly, Chilean grill with a preoccupation with freshness, goodness, and great taste in everything we prepare. Despite this we offer scrumptious food at very reasonable and affordable prices. Cleanliness is next to godliness for us, too! None of our entrees have been frozen or pre-made.

We have yummy Chilean churasco sandwiches and 100% all beef kosher frankfurters “vienesas” loaded with fresh avocado, tomato, and other fixings! Another personal favorite of mine is our super fresh baja fish tacos Chilean style on a fresh corn tortilla with lime, cilantro, cabbage and our own homemade tartar sauce.

We open for breakfast Mon-Fri at 7 am / 8 am on Saturday and Sunday, and close at 10 pm Friday and Saturday nights. Monday – Thursday, & Sunday we close at 9 pm.”

You can see the full menu below in pdf:

Paila Chilean Grill and Cafe Menu

A few more photos after the jump. (more…)

Back in Oct. ’10, Danny Harris, wrote a People’s District post for PoP about ‘Michael on Finding His Heritage’. I think people will agree it was fascinating and more than a bit sad to learn about the man, Michael, who resides on the corner of 14th and Corcoran St, NW. And I really don’t mean to be callous in asking the question but I couldn’t help but notice the corner seems to be turning into an eyesore. I know there is a homeless shelter (Central Union Mission) for the time being a half block north. The amount of material on the corner seems to be growing. Well, I’ll just get straight to the question – at what point, if any, do you think Michael’s belongings need to be contained or removed?

Saw this on some plywood in front of a building being renovated on K St, NW. With out choosing sides – I’m wondering folks in other cities have political street art like this?

This is rather odd. It is in a little pocket park in Bloomingdale by North Capitol and Rhode Island (on the NW side).

It looks like it might be a tombstone?

This super fresh one is from Hill East. It’s one of the most clever renovations (from the outside) that I’ve seen in a long time.

From head on it’s easy to miss how cool it is – the only indication of a reno is the steel front door:

Columbia Heights’ IHOP located at 14th and Irving St, NW

From a press release:

The National Capital Area Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is proud to announce its continued partnership with the Washington, DC area IHOP restaurants and their celebration of National Pancake Day.

National Pancake Day will take place on March 1, 2011. As part of the celebration, all participating, local IHOP restaurants will give away a free short stack of pancakes in the hopes that patrons will make a donation to support the fight against blood cancers. Last year, National Pancake Day raised $76,000 for the National Capital Area Chapter of LLS and this year the hope is to raise even more – $100,000 to be exact.

Qdoba plans on opening March 15th at 1850 M St, NW. You can see their menus here.

Who wins the Qdoba vs. Chipotle war?

I don’t think I’ve appreciated the Warner Theater before, located at 1299 Pennsylvania Ave, NW. According to their Web site:

The Warner’s special place in the history of Washington began in the 1920s when dozens of grand theaters and moviehouses lit up downtown. Built first for vaudeville and silent movies, the Theatre was opened as the Earle Theatre in 1924. It was complemented by a rooftop garden that attracted thousands of visitors per night. The basement was also famous, first as a restaurant and ballroom, and in the 1930s as the Neptune Room. The Earle featured its own precision dance troupe-much like the still-famous Rockettes-called the Roxyettes. They kept the traditions of vaudeville alive at the Earle until 1945, performing before and after feature films and with guest performers such as Red Skelton and Jerry Lewis.

The Earle switched to a movies-only policy in 1945 and in 1947, owner Harry Warner, one of the Hollywood’s Warner Brothers, visited Washington and told his tour guide Julian Brylawski (one of the original builders) that since he owned the theatre, his name should be on the marquee. Thus the Earle Theatre became the Warner Theatre.

Adapting to new entertainment trends in the 1950s, the auditorium was redesigned for Cinerama movies. The screen stayed lit into the 1960s featuring such memorable runs as Ben Hur, Dr. Zhivago, and Hello, Dolly! As with much of downtown Washington in the early 1970s, the Theatre fell into disrepair and disrepute, even functioning briefly as a pornographic movie theater. By the mid-1970s, the Theatre blossomed anew, mainly as a destination for concerts. The Rolling Stones performed a surprise small-venue show here in 1978.

In 1989 the wonderful mix of 1980s concerts in the genres of soul, jazz, punk, world music, heavy metal, and funk, as well as many touring and local plays finally took its toll on the 65-year-old building. The Theatre closed for three years to undergo extensive renovations and enhancements under the eye of real estate developer The Kaempfer Company. The “new” Warner-opened in 1992 with a gala featuring Frank Sinatra (in his final D.C. appearance) and Shirley MacLaine-became once again a destination, not only for revitalized downtown Washington, but also for national and international recording artists and the finest in theatrical, dance, and television presentations.

If you have any fun or interesting animal/pet photos or news please shoot me an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say what neighborhood you’re from or upload to the PoPville flickr pool. I can’t guarantee I’ll get them all posted but I’ll do my best.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Faucetini

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

Photo by PoPville flickr user pablo.raw \nn/

This rental is located at 3300 16th Street NW:

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The Craigslist ad says:

“405 Sq. Ft. 7th floor studio available now for $1,295.00

Bright and sunny studio updated kitchen and bath with a great view
2 blocks from Columbia Heights Metro
Target, Bestbuy, Washington Sports Club, Giant grocery and restaraunts
Free bike storage, and a huge 24-hour on-site laundry room
Parking is available for an additional fee

Are you a student or a recent graduate? Please ask Keener Management about our student special discounts.”

Does $1,295 sound reasonable for this studio?

“Dear PoP,

On Tuesday, March 1 at 7:00pm, The District Church will be hosting a free screening of the acclaimed documentary Waiting For “Superman” at the GALA Theater in Columbia Heights (3333 14th St NW). This documentary exposes some of the failures of the public education system in America and the desperate need for reform.

To read more about the screening visit here.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Rukasu1

Submit your photos to the PoPville flickr pool here. Follow PoPville on twitter here.

Photo by PoPville flickr user caroline.angelo

“Dear PoP,

What is the origin of the DC version of a supercan? This is one of the most boneheaded designs I have ever seen. It is extremely top heavy (height to width ratio with most of the base being wheels), only takes small width tall kitchen bags and will only stand on completely flat surfaces.

The old regular trash cans worked fine and these seem to offer no benefit to the DPW workers accept the lids cannot come off.

I have never been a fan of these, but with the wind this year……………….I want Blood!”

Hahaha, it’s a very good question. Any engineers out there think think this is actually a useful/good design? When did these cans go into circulation? Anyone remember what was used before these?

This home is located at 409 R St, NW:

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The flier says:

“Picture Perfect! Gorgeous rowhouse blocks from Metro, restaurants and shops- location, location, location! This 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA home has much to offer, incl: fully updated kitchen w/ granite counters & new SSL appl; two fireplaces; generous room sizes; gleaming hdwood flrs; custom built-ins & expanded closets; fab back patio w/ parking potential; updated systems & repl windows.”

You can find more info here and photos here.

Curious to hear what you guys think about this one since it went under contract so fast. Are you surprised this 3 bed/1.5 bath went under contract so fast (asking was $499,000)?

“Dear PoP,

I came out of my house this morning to find a peregrine falcon that was in the process of making a meal of a starling in the middle of the 700 block of Quincy St NW. Pretty cool sight right here in DC! Peregrine falcons are pretty well know adapters to city life as they often roost/nest on the tops of high buildings and prey on pigeons, etc. I am guessing this one has made its home on top of Park Place or one of the other new construction projects around the Petworth metro.”

Hmm, I thought this was a hawk. We’ve been getting lots of Hawk sighting around town including lots of battles.

Here’s a few more recently sent in:

Photo by PoPville flickr user District Shots

“Got a much better shot of our Mount Pleasant hawk this morning. Judging by my Peterson’s Guide, this is an immature goshawk or possibly an immature red-tailed hawk. Immature he may be, but he’s still really impressive.”