Restaurant out of business at Cathedral Commons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never really noticed or took this seriously but that looks like it is anchored by a massive CVS and a Suntrust and some closed stores. Pretty funny

Nothing quite says vibrant streetscape like a Suntrust and a half block-long CVS that doesn’t even have real windows.

Yes nothing has changed over there. Should have kept the closed GC Murphy and free parking in the back.

When the anchor developers are Giant and Bozzzuto, no one should expect much in the way of great design, streetscape or landscaping. It’s basicially just about trying to squeeze a bit of Rockville into Cathedral Heights.

Yes, Giant is and always will be disgusting.

Giant was not always disgusting. For years, they were a solid, if not flashy, local grocery chain. Under the longtime leadership and ownership of the Cohen family, Giant was engaged in the community and had a reputation for taking care of its employees, many of whom worked at Giant for years. All of that changed when Giant got bought by the same company that runs Stop and Shop. Quality slipped a lot and workers were no longer treated as well.

I was talking about their products, mostly meat, fish and produce which is disgusting but if you want to talk about their employees, I just saw one in their customer restroom, which looks and smells like a truck stop, naked from the waist down so i guess you could say quality has slipped. I've been in DC for over 40 years and Giant has always been disgusting on several levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never really noticed or took this seriously but that looks like it is anchored by a massive CVS and a Suntrust and some closed stores. Pretty funny

Nothing quite says vibrant streetscape like a Suntrust and a half block-long CVS that doesn’t even have real windows.

Yes nothing has changed over there. Should have kept the closed GC Murphy and free parking in the back.

When the anchor developers are Giant and Bozzzuto, no one should expect much in the way of great design, streetscape or landscaping. It’s basicially just about trying to squeeze a bit of Rockville into Cathedral Heights.

Yes, Giant is and always will be disgusting.

Giant was not always disgusting. For years, they were a solid, if not flashy, local grocery chain. Under the longtime leadership and ownership of the Cohen family, Giant was engaged in the community and had a reputation for taking care of its employees, many of whom worked at Giant for years. All of that changed when Giant got bought by the same company that runs Stop and Shop. Quality slipped a lot and workers were no longer treated as well.

I was talking about their products, mostly meat, fish and produce which is disgusting but if you want to talk about their employees, I just saw one in their customer restroom, which looks and smells like a truck stop, naked from the waist down so i guess you could say quality has slipped. I've been in DC for over 40 years and Giant has always been disgusting on several levels.

This is why it’s so unbelievable that Giant wouldn’t let Grilled Oyster sell fresh seafood to go, because Giant viewed that as “competing” with Giant’s fish products!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The odd thing is that Grilled Oyster and Millie’s have similar menus and prices. Millie’s has a slightly more casual vibe and Grilled Oyster had a better bar. Oyster had lots of offstreet parking in the Giant garage and housing density (apartments, condos on top and nearby). Millie’s is in a non-dense area of SFHs. Yet Millie’s is packed every night but Grilled Oyster struggles.

We only went o Grilled Oyster once, so maybe I'm not remembering their menu that well, but I don't think it was similar to Millie's at all. Grilled Oyster seemed vaguely "continental", while Millie's pitches itself as a cross between its Nantucket roots and California casual (as a Bay Area native, I find this hilarious). Also, Millie's is kid-friendly; Grilled Oyster was not. And, Millie's has only Pizzeria Paradiso for competition, while Grilled Oyster was just off restaurant row.

[Anonymous]

I liked Grilled Oyster. Among the other restaurants, Raku is good. Barcelona is basically a “mall” version of Jaleo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What placed closed?

All the places there seemed ridiculously overpriced. Plus parking isn't validated and the building is ugly as sin.

Grilled Oyster. It was fine. We were partial to it because it was an independent-owned business, when most of the places at Cath-Com are corporate restaurant concepts.

2Amy's and Cactus Cantina are the opposite of what you suggest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^Speaking of the decade(s) long fight against CC, how is the Fannie Mae development going up so quickly? Was the zoning different? Did the neighborhood give up the fight? When I drive by both I'm confused as to why there was so much protest about CC and I heard/saw nothing about redeveloping Fannie Mae.

Yes, the zoning was different. There was no opportunity for public input. I wish they had gone the PUD route and taken down the stupid, suburban faux-Williamsburg "landmark." and built a proper street-wall development. But it would have taken 30 years, so I am happy with the Wegman's that is coming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rent increase is killing a lot of small business.

Our zoning laws make it too hard to build densely in cities. Until we fix zoning and take power out of the hands of NIMBYs we’re never going to have an affordable DC.

THIS. Nimbies make is hard for small businesses to survive

THIS is s joke, right? Because replacement of smaller, older retail buildings with more of the same mixed-use ”commons-at-town-center” generica squeezes out indopemdently owned small businesses in favor of chains. Longtime neighborhood-serving retail gets evicted or pushed out through much higher rents.

Well, if the NIMBY's had just let Giant build the original proposal (the 1999 one that had the open store frontage on Wisconsin Ave), all of the other mom & pop stores wold still be there, but *gasp* there would have been a parking garage instead of a surface parking lot.

So, ya, it is the NIMBYs fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What placed closed?

All the places there seemed ridiculously overpriced. Plus parking isn't validated and the building is ugly as sin.

The Cathedral Commons businesses are required to validate parking for at least 60 minutes. That may have been a condition when the development got approved as a PUD. It’s surprising if this is not happening.

It is happening. Someone posted a falsehood.

[Anonymous]

All you Wegmans lovers who are so excited about this new store have no concept what traffic will do to that area. Couple that with the Sidwell lower school consolidation that is coming right across the street and its going to be suv gridlock

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in CCDC and go to the Cathedral commons giant. It’s bigger and nicer than anything near me.

We also go to raku and cactus on the regular

Parking a big plus

Never set foot in the oyster place

When will Safeway build out Chevy Chase Commons at Connecticut Ave. Seems a no brained.

They can't. The parking lot is owned separately from the grocery building and the whole area is zoned for one story, so there isn't much redevelopment opportunity at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An article in the Washington Post today reports that a “federal program created to boost small businesses in disadvantaged areas has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into some of Washington’s most affluent areas, where a handful of businesses have grown while reaping most of the program’s benefits.” The accompanying map shows that the sole census tract receiving such benefits in Ward 3 is that for Cathedral Commons. How sleazy.

AU will do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All you Wegmans lovers who are so excited about this new store have no concept what traffic will do to that area. Couple that with the Sidwell lower school consolidation that is coming right across the street and its going to be suv gridlock

I bike and walk. Won't impact me.

Sorry (not sorry.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What placed closed?

All the places there seemed ridiculously overpriced. Plus parking isn't validated and the building is ugly as sin.

Grilled Oyster. It was fine. We were partial to it because it was an independent-owned business, when most of the places at Cath-Com are corporate restaurant concepts.

2Amy's and Cactus Cantina are the opposite of what you suggest.

Yes, and they are decidedly not part of Cathedral Commons. They were there years before and hopefully will be for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in CCDC and go to the Cathedral commons giant. It’s bigger and nicer than anything near me.

We also go to raku and cactus on the regular

Parking a big plus

Never set foot in the oyster place

When will Safeway build out Chevy Chase Commons at Connecticut Ave. Seems a no brained.

They can't. The parking lot is owned separately from the grocery building and the whole area is zoned for one story, so there isn't much redevelopment opportunity at all.

Cathedral Commons was zoned for 2 stories. But they filed for a PUD, busted thru the zoning and got 5-6 stories. A little money spread around the Wilson Buiding goes a long way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All you Wegmans lovers who are so excited about this new store have no concept what traffic will do to that area. Couple that with the Sidwell lower school consolidation that is coming right across the street and its going to be suv gridlock

Wegmans definitely will draw from a wide area. Wisconsin will be a mess. Already some people on the residential side streets are organizing to get Chevy Chase-type restrictive traffic calming to reduce cut-through drivers looking for bypasses. I don’t blame them.