Shari Walker

Glover Park's cool quotient just rose exponentially. It is fast becoming home to many young professionals - many of whom are "DINK"s (double-income-no-kids) - who want some good places to blow off steam and a wide variety of good food to choose from when they go out.

Recently, we saw the opening of a new bar called Breadsoda. It is located near the Vespa shop across from the CVS on Wisconsin. It is a great neighborhood bar with an uber modern decor that caters to just about anything you might want. They have a full bar with friendly staff who take and fill orders quickly. They have an extensive beer menu, and rotate them regularly so patrons don't get bored. Don't be surprised if they ask you if there is a beverage you like that they don't have... so they can make sure to accomodate you next time you're in. They have a wonderful menu of great sandwiches, several of which are even appealing to us vegetarians (how progressive!), good desserts, and special pickles. They always have good music and plenty of seating. You can sit at one of the tables or stools inside, or at one of the covered tables on the little patio outside if you are a smoker or just want some fresh air. Lastly, one of their best features is that if you get bored with drinking, eating, or talking with friends, there are also several pool tables and a great shuffleboard table to keep you entertained. Great atmosphere, good music, great food, libations... what more could GP's yuppie crowd ask for?

http://breadsoda.com/

If you have walked by the old Apollo market at 2444 Wisconsin, you will notice that it will now be a new restaurant called Surfside, which will be opening in the next few weeks. Said to be a laid-back seafood grill brought to you by the peeps responsible for the irresistable sandwich shop, Jetties, in Foxhall. They also got one of our few liquor licenses that came up for grabs, so they will be serving frozen margaritas and beer on their rooftop deck.

Sadly, sometimes change can be painful. One of my favorites, The Grog and Tankard, will be closing soon and is rumored to be replaced with an upscale tavern aimed at the young and swanky called Gin & Tonic. Downside: no more great live music from our local seedy dive bar (I say that fondly).

Another of my favorite restaurants, Busara, which serves amazing Siamese/Thai cuisine in an oddly 80's- themed dining room with reggae music frequently playing in the background, will also be closing. This place had the best garden seating. When the weather was nice, there was no better place to have a great meal than Busara's zen patio. It will allegedly be replaced with a restaurant brought to you by the people responsible for the palate-extravaganza that is Mendocino. So, this brings fine dining in Glover Park to a whole new level, which I am looking forward to.

Last, but not least, we are apparently also getting a Z-Burger at 2414 Wisconsin Avenue, as well as a new deli opening at the My Bakery and Cafe location at 2233 Wisconsin Avenue. The deli will be opened by the guys that brought you Bourbon, another of our wonderful local watering holes and happy hour destinations.

Also, if any of you have checked out the new Shanghai Tea House beside Heritage, let me know what you thought. I haven't had a chance to go in there yet, but I have heard good things...

There is a new real estate website in town, and it just launched this week. In an attempt to navigate the highly localized real estate markets of the individual D.C. neighborhoods, Urban Turf dives in, one area at a time. It gives the readers the information they are looking for with the feel of actually hanging out in the neighborhood for a day and talking to the local residents first-hand. They are still working out the kinks, but here is a good article on the Shaw neighborhood, featuring quotes from yours truly:

http://www.urbanturf.com/neighborhoods/shaw_howard_u_2008/

I thought you folks out there might enjoy a little post-housing crisis market report. Here is a break down on post-crisis sales in Northwest D.C. for the month of May thus-far:

49 single family homes have closed since May 1, 2008 in NW D.C.

The average list price was $1,053,714 and the median list price was $869,500

The average sales price was $1,012,558 and the median sales price was $853,500

The average list price to sales price ratio is 96% and median was 98%

Average seller subsidy was $1,359

The average days on market was 37

HAPPY HOUSE-HUNTING!!

As I am sure many of you have heard, there is a huge amount of new development currently taking place (and slated to take place) in what is called the NoMa Business Improvement District of DC. NoMa is short for North of Massachusetts Avenue. Over the next 5 years, an enormous amount of mixed-use development will be erected in the area between Mass Ave and R Street NE, and between North Capitol Street and 2nd Street NE. NPR Radio has just moved it's headquarters there. There will be condos, apartments, restaurants, nightlife, businesses - you name it. On Monday, Mayor Fenty oversaw the demolition of Terrell Junior High to make room for the new North West One sight, a $47 million mixed use facility to include apartments, a new library, recreational facilities, condos, townhouses, etc. For more information on what to expect, boundary maps, and development time lines, visit the NoMa BID website here:

http://www.nomabid.org/