A few matters of note

The first thing that has come to my attention is that the era of Stoney's, a delightfully seedy bar at 13th and L which has been there forever, is coming to a close as DC continues on its path of rampant Bethesdafication. Here is an article from the Washington Post (forwarded to me by Al) which sums it up:

Stoney's Set for Last Hurrah at L Street (original article here)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The venerable D.C. watering hole Stoney's, one of the few true dives left downtown, will shuts its doors Jan. 14, after 37 years.

The building at 1307 L Street NW was sold months ago and is slated for redevelopment. But Stoney's owner, Anthony Harris, said yesterday he is close to completing negotiations for a new lease nearby.

"We're going to come back, somewhere," Harris said, withholding details until a deal is signed. He promised an all-day, all-night closing bash Jan. 13 at the L Street location.

Stoney's is known among D.C. residents and business types as a place to grab a burger and beer and avoid the suburban sameness of chain restaurants that line most city blocks and the high prices and complicated entree descriptions of fancier dining establishments.

The air smells of cigarettes. Regulars include lobbyists, lawyers and ladies of the evening.

Patrons who would like to be notified of the bar's future plans can e-mail stoneysdc@gmail.com .

On a more positive note, I discovered today that Meiwah, a delicious Asian restaurant at 22nd and New Hamster, has opened an express shop at the renovated food court at National Place (14th and E). This food court used to be a dark, dingy place overcrowded by tourists; now it is skylit and much more pleasant, and the dumplings from Meiwah are just great. It's possible this is all old news, in which case you'll have to forgive me -- I've been gone for seven months.

Finally, in my absence Five Guys popped up all over DC. I'd never heard of this chain, which is locally-owned, before. They basically just serve burgers and fries, but unlike Mickey Dee's, the burgers are hand made and cooked up fresh to order. And terribly yummy. The fries are reminiscent of Thrasher's in Ocean City; that may be good or bad, depending on your point of view.

One last thing is that if you didn't watch Saturday Night Live on December 17th, you missed something terribly funny, in a way that SNL usually just isn't funny anymore. This New York Times article gives you a summary and also contains a link where you can watch the video in question online.