The City Paper just came out with their Best of DC readers’ poll, and Columbia Heights did pretty well, but not as well as previous years: maybe that speaks to the increase in numbers of neighborhoods that are popular these days. But our neighborhood did finish as a runner-up for best neighborhood to live in. I agree!
Food-wise, only Thip Khao, Pho 14 and Wonderland won anything: Thip Khao won best Asian restaurant, which makes sense, it’s always packed, Pho 14 won best pho and best Vietnamese and Wonderland won for best singles bar. I would have thought they’d do better at neighborhood bar, or maybe somewhere like DC Reynolds or Looking Glass, although DC Reynolds was the runner-up for happy hour.
Other local spots earned runner-up nods too: Bad Saint for new restaurant, Pho Viet for pho, Meridian Pint was the runner up on craft beer selection, Beau Thai on Asian restaurant, Twisted Horn on Upshur for new bar and the Raven was runner-up on dive bar. The relatively new Esencias Panameñas on Georgia was the runner-up for Latin Americna food — I’ll have to go. Pete’s Apizza was runner-up for slice of pizza, Florida Avenue Grill for soul food, and Lou’s City Bar for sports bar.
And not totally local, but &pizza won for best downtown lunch, fast casual, late night eats (which is surprising to me) and best restaurant when you pay. It is tasty, but maybe that just speaks to the number of locations.
In the arts and culture categories, BloomBars won best arts and culture nonprofit, which is great, but otherwise our area was shut out.
For goods and services, the super nice Josephine Butler Parks Center on 15th facing Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park won for best event venue, and Yoga District and DSW which both have a location in our area, won for best yoga studio and shoe store, respectively. Children’s Place was runner-up for kids clothes, Crossfit Petworth on Upshur for crossfit and Annie’s Ace for hardware.
On the people and places section, there wasn’t too much of note, but Columbia Heights did finish as a runner-up for best neighborhood to live in. Wonderland was a runner-up for best place to find a one-night stand, so there’s that. Cove was the runner-up for coworking space. And in an upset, The Coupe finished as the runner-up for best place to bang in the bathroom — last year, they were the champ. Maybe that notoriety spelled their demise as the premier location.
I think the Park at Fourteenth, a club downtown which looks like a condo building, must have stuffed the ballot box somehow, they won a ton of categories: hip-hop night, wings, alcoholic punch, happy hour, and night club. Seems fishy. Or maybe that place is just huge.
As for the staff picks, there are a zillion and they’re not in an easily readable way online, so I’ll need to peruse those more. Expect another post for that.
