A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a contentious ANC 1A meeting where some angry people came to protest against El Atardecer, a new Latin American restaurant coming to 3475 14th Street NW. You may remember that this used to be DC Fish Carryout, the restaurant that served as a front for a crack dealing operation.
In short, El Atardecer applied for a sidewalk cafe license and the ANC opposed — not because the are against it per se, but because they wanted to negotiate with the restaurant for shorter hours, which is what normally happens. The city’s laws say you can stay open until 2 or 3 am in some cases, but the ANCs negotiate that down, usually to around 11pm or midnight. That negotiation is presumably going on now, and they’ll come back to the ANC in September.
The owner (a single mom who was at the ANC meeting) also owns La Morenita on Georgia Avenue so they’ve gone through the process before. The owner said El Atardecer would be a family restaurant, not a club.
However, some neighbors are opposed. One very angry guy who said he lives next door was worried about drunk people and rats in the property, noise and crime. He and another neighbor also said they can hear the music in the restaurant during construction, so he suspects it will be loud. When the owner said they applied to be open until 2 am, the angry guy yelled something about how is that for families? The ANC commish for the area, Laina Aquiline, attempted to defuse the guy’s fury, saying she wasn’t aware of these complaints, and that they should tell her so she can work with the owners.
The guy also said he was worried that crime would continue, that it was a crack den before and the people who use the drugs still hang out nearby. ANC commish Dottie Love Wade objected to that point, saying the new owners have nothing to do with the Fish Carryout, and that “if it was the [Meridian] Pint I don’t think it’d be a problem,” which drew applause from the crowd.
I think that’s a valid point too, that just because a restaurant is in the same location as crime, it doesn’t mean there’s going to be crime. The implication Wade had was that if it was a place that catered to the folks who go to Meridian Pint rather than the largely Latin America target demographic of El Atardecer, nobody would complain. That’s also true.
I think the angry guy also did himself a disservice by being so furious the whole time and attempting to question everything and everyone. He was the same angry guy complaining about the plan for the Coupe’s sidewalk seating: when he asked about noise at 7 am, when they plan to open the sidewalk seating, the rep from the said she didn’t think any rowdy people would show up. The angry guy screamed back, “well when do the rowdy people show up!!” The rep was confused and said there really aren’t any rowdy people. A pretty bizarre outburst.
However, noise may not be the only issue. A neighbor emailed me the other day saying that La Morenita, the other place El Atardecer’s owners run, has had some health code violations. I’m not sure this applies to the earlier complaints, aside from maybe the rat issue. Here’s what he had to say.
Thanks for your coverage of the ANC meeting this week – you had a great summary of what went on. As a follow up to your points on the “El Atardecer” restaurant, I wanted to share some information with you about the owners and their existing restaurant, “La Morenita.”First of all, just do a simple Google search (“dc department of health violations la morenita”) or “la morenita violations” and you will find tons of health code violations. Check out these sources:
1. Want to Know Where Not to Eat? New Tool Maps Restaurant Inspections and Health Code Violations, DCist, http://dcist.com/2012/10/want_to_know_where_not_to_eat_new_t.php
“Over the last year, for example, it’s easy to discover that Chinatown’s Bistro Med is the worst violator in town, with 56 violations and seven inspections. August 30, for example, wasn’t a good day for the restaurant—it got nailed with seven violations ranging from no soap at a handwashing sink to live cockroaches. La Morenita on Georgia Avenue isn’t far behind with 47 violations.”
This story, specifically enumerated “La Morenita” as one of the top recent health code violators in the entire district
2. Pest Problems Among Food Violations That Prompt Closures in Washington Restaurants, WUSA9, http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/263040/158/Pest-Problems-Among-Food-Violations-That-Prompt-Closures-in-Washington-Restaurants
The DC Department of Health hit “La Morenita” with so many violations that the restaurant was forced to closed down as recently as May 29th because of the severity of these violations. This story of “La Morenita’s” closing was featured as part of a news program on WUSA television – please see the embedded video in the 1:35 mark.
You can also check out: D.C., Md., Va. health code violations, The Washington Post, http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-06-05/local/39752485_1_mice-infestation-insect-infestation-rodents).
3. Attached are two recent complaints from the DC DOH and you will note that. You can see that, due to the presence of rodents, “La Morenita” has a history of violating Provision 36 of the DOH’s Good Retail Practices. (Here are the links to those, from 2012 and 2013.)
So there’s that. In general I’m in favor of new businesses, and if this is a good neighbor and productive place that obeys rules and isn’t noisy or messy, I say let them open. What do you think?
