Bloomingdale News: More Coffee Coming to Bloomingdale? Or Perhaps Wine? Engine Co. 12 Delayed Opening

“Dear PoP,

Another coffee shop for Bloomingdale? Workers renovate 1636 North Capitol St. NW, two storefronts up from the much-anticipated Engine Company 12 restaurant (left). The guy who seemed to be in charge said the upper floor will be apartments and the lower floor “commercial.” Next door at the Capitol Food Mart, the guy behind the counter said he’d heard the downstairs will be a coffee shop.”

Some may remember 1636 North Capitol as the Borf building. Also a commenter noted in our discussion about Bacio Pizzeria coming to Bloomingdale:

“Be patient, everyone — we will soon (in the not too distant future) have our very own wine & cheese bar (plus retail shop), courtesy of one of our very own Bloomingdale residents. More to come…”

A while back I heard a rumor that a wine shop would be coming to 1636 North Capitol. I’ll def. be keeping my eyes on the building to see who moves in. Stay tuned.

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UPDATE on Engine Company 12

This just in from multiple readers:

An Open Letter to the Community
Re: Scheduled Opening of Engine Company 12

To all local residents,

Due to the lack of open support from community leaders and local civic associations, it has become necessary to delay the opening of Engine Company 12 from July 1, 2011 to September 1, 2011. We have tried for the past several months to garner letters of support from local area civic associations and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission without success. Without these letters the process to obtain an alcohol license from the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration is drastically slower. Operating a restaurant of this size without an active ABRA license would be financially unfeasible.

Representatives from Engine Company 12 have been attending and presenting at local area civic association meetings and hosting meet and greets off and on for the past four months. It is unfortunate that this philosophy of open communication with local residents and civic leaders has not garnered the support necessary to yield letters of support from local groups.

If we are unable to obtain letters of support from the local civic associations and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in the next 30-45 days the opening date will need to be delayed until after the start of the New Year. I apologize for this and we are still working diligently to get this project up and running as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,

Steven M. May Jr.
General Manager
Engine Company 12