175705 Sat Oct 01 17:04:05 -0700 2005 22 14 Washington DC & Baltimore Area 0 944977 We heard a rumor that AV's (607 New York Ave.) is finally closing. Wouldn't be shocked...but would be sad. Sat Oct 01 17:04:05 -0700 2005 0 Joe Lerner 1 944980 Yes, they're closing. The Washington Business Journal has reported that they're making way for condos. No loss as far as I'm concerned. I remember I once had calamari there that still had the beaks of the squid still attached. It was like eating chicken cartilege. The whole place smelled like bleach, too. Sat Oct 01 19:01:47 -0700 2005 944977 0 MOM's boy 1 944986 Too bad. That's one damn fine white pizza. Not much else is very good but I do love their white pie. Sat Oct 01 23:20:07 -0700 2005 944977 0 mimimi 1 944993 I'd hear that, too. Not too surprised. Two buddies of mine and I were having lunch at Hodges (the sandwich counter across the street that has literally been around since 1898) and discussing real estate values and when Hodges itself might get pushed out. AV's is no great loss cuisine-wise, AFAIAC. I never was a big fan of their food. - Andrew Langer Sun Oct 02 15:35:27 -0700 2005 944977 0 Andrew Langer 2 944996 I haven't eaten at AV since about 1981, but it was a memorable occasion. A co-worker's girlfriend was a waitress there, a beautiful girl from Rome (the girlfriend, that is). Nine of us ponied up $100 each and she arranged a mid-day feast. We had the place to ourselves and ate for about four hours. Great wines, wonderful seafood, exquisite veal and pasta dishes--plate after plate, bottle after bottle. The owner and his family did all the cooking. It was fabulous, one of the greatest meals of my life. I never went back there because I knew it could only be down-hill from that point. Judging from the mostly disparaging reports in the recent past, my hunch has proved mostly accurate. Glad I was there during the heyday. Sun Oct 02 18:38:08 -0700 2005 944993 0 flavrmeistr 1 945011 It's a shame to lose a place with such history, but I have to agree about the food. One our last visit my wife ordered spaghetti with meat sauce, and the meat literally contained maybe half a dozen tiny grains of meat. We mentioned that it must have been a mistake, and we got an impromptu condescending "that's the way they do it in Italy" speech. Sun Oct 02 21:39:55 -0700 2005 944977 0 BW 2 945018 "we got an impromptu condescending 'that's the way they do it in Italy' speech." Yup, you were at AV, all right. Kind of like going to a deli on the lower East side in NYC and complaining about the pickles or mustard. Mon Oct 03 07:29:50 -0700 2005 945011 0 Mike 3 945627 Then there was the time at Anna Maria's near Dupont Circle when I ordered meat sauce but got meatballs. The server agreeably took the plate back ... and brought it back with the meatballs broken up. Thu Oct 13 01:14:15 -0700 2005 945018 0 BW 1 945046 AVs was like eating in a 1950s Jersey roadhouse. you can HAVE your redesigned interiors- take 'em, leave seats open for us elsewhere. We lost Roma in the 90s and now this. The time travel places are going much too fast. When I go to a restaurant you've got- food, service, decor. You're lucky to find 2 and places like Roma were one of the rare 3s. Yeah, AV's food wasn't amazing, but you had service and decor. I remember eating at a mafia restaurant on Mulberry St in NYC- food sucked, decor and customers are so memorable that I'll never forget the place. If you're not into it, stick to Tom Sietsema's Inn at Little Washington reviews and shop at Wegmans. You guys DO know that there are no real surviving 1950s Tiki bars in the DC area, right? Even the Aloha Inn was remodeled much later. There are too few 50s restaurants that have been untouched pre-Riots. And anyone bringing up Politiki can turn in their Diners Club card right now. Don Mon Oct 03 12:02:12 -0700 2005 944977 0 Don 2 945054 I agree. I'll miss the big Tower of Pisa & fireplace in the back, the colored lights in the evening, the jukebox full of opera tunes. I miss the Roma too! The closest thing I can think of for that type of decor left is the Pines of Florence (or Rome) in Bethesda (also old-fashioned food) and Vicino's in Silver Spring... Mon Oct 03 13:06:20 -0700 2005 945046 0 LooLoo 2 945072 Don't forget the long, beautiful, salmon colored marble bar in the back! Mon Oct 03 15:22:40 -0700 2005 945046 0 Joe L 1 945071 It's been interesting to watch the responses to my question. First, I guess it's true, which makes me very, very sad. We have been going to AV's for years. It is our most foundational restaurant tradition--for us nothing else comes close. We usually found the food to be very good, although to be honest, 99% of the time we got: 0. Wine 1. Antipasto Salad 2. Pizza - Pepperoni + mushrooms, well done, extra garlic 3. Cannolis 4. Espresso + sambuca To say there aren't any places like this any more is a huge understatement. Sure...there are plenty of Italian restaurants with great food, with fine service, with lovely atmosphere. But there is nowhere like AV's in Washington. I'm sure that the new condos will be very nice ("The Lofts at AV's"?). But for me, only a cliché works here, because here it is not just a cliché--it's the truth: AV's closing marks the end of an era! Mon Oct 03 15:21:22 -0700 2005 944977 0 Joe L 2 945074 This is perhaps one of the final nails in the coffin of dinosaur restaurants. One of the earlier nails was the closing of the original Whitlow's (with its lovely / ghastly green color) featuring a fresh roasted turkey every day and liquor in miniatures only. I understand. There's a Whitlow's on Wilson : ) At least the original Crisfield's is still hanging on. Thanks, Kevin Mon Oct 03 15:28:46 -0700 2005 945071 0 KOK 3 945126 DC's lost a lot of decent dive restaurants in the past few years. I really miss the fixed-income retired folks who used to go to Scholl's Colonial Cafeteria. I can get my liver and onion fix at Table Talk or Levi's Port Cafe, but it's not the same. And they don't even have stewed prunes... I read the Waffle Shop in Columbia Heights is also closing. I suppose it's only a matter of time before its sister shop across from Ford's Theater folds as well. Time for a $3.79 plate of eggs, toast, scrapple, and coffee! Tue Oct 04 11:36:37 -0700 2005 945074 0 WG 4 945138 In the borderline-scary-but-great department, there's still Steak 'n Egg Kitchen on Wisconsin Ave. It'll probably be gone soon as well. Tue Oct 04 12:39:09 -0700 2005 945126 0 flavrmeistr 5 945160 I gotta admit, that place has always fascinated me (as much for its survival in the face of gentrification as anything else). smokey Tue Oct 04 16:00:25 -0700 2005 945138 0 smokey 4 945156 I try to go to the E St Waffle Shop when I can, but they raised prices, so a waffle breakfast special with tax & tip is now over $7, and bottomless coffee is no longer included. I think I saw a Steak & Eggs place on 9th St nr U, in Little Ethiopia... Tue Oct 04 15:10:53 -0700 2005 945126 0 LooLoo 4 945157 I don't think the Waffle Shop in Columbia Heights has anything to do with the downtown branch. It's been a Salvadoran restaurant for at least the past ten years... It's been a couple of years since I've been there, but as I remember they had a waffle iron that they would drag out if someone happened by in search of waffles, but it was (is?) really a pupuseria. I believe it is the site of the first branch of Hot Shoppes. They are tearing down the building to build a huge development--I think the restaurant might relocate elsewhere in the neighborhood. Little Giant in Mount Pleasant--a diner run by an odd-couplish pair of Turkish Armenian brothers for several decades--was a big loss. They moved their operation to Hyattsville--to an old McDonalds--not sure what ever happened to them. When I left DC over a year ago, there was a cuban/puerto rican/dominican diner in their old space. Tue Oct 04 15:16:31 -0700 2005 945126 0 butterfly 5 945223 Ya know, I drove south on Rte 1 a few months ago looking for Little Giant & did not see it. Could it be on Univ. Blvd or Queens Chapel or another road? Wed Oct 05 15:29:57 -0700 2005 945157 0 LooLoo 6 945231 I'm terrible with those streets out in Maryland, but I remember that coming from DC, it was on the left side of the road-- I'm almost positive that it was Rte. 1 (is that the same as Baltimore Ave? I remember stopping there on the way to Ikea)... It was a block or so before you get to a big intersection (the one with East-West highway, I think). If you go, tell them that the woman who donated her TV to the Mt. Pleasant location so many years ago says "hi". Wed Oct 05 16:54:16 -0700 2005 945223 0 butterfly 6 945961 The owners have reopened in the former McDonald's building next to Dunkin Donuts on Route 1 near the intersection of 410 (Riverdale Rd.) and Rt. 1 Wed Oct 19 15:43:13 -0700 2005 945223 0 charles 4 945205 Stoney's is still going strong, at least for now. The owner says they'll tough it out as long as they can, so if it's been a while since you've had a Stoney burger, or the great grilled cheese, make haste. Thanks, Kevin Wed Oct 05 11:27:37 -0700 2005 945126 0 KOK 1 945174 We called AV's. They replied, "It's not definite, and if it happens, it won't be for another 2 or 3 years!" Tue Oct 04 20:21:07 -0700 2005 944977 0 Joe L