Inside Nick's Riverside Grille, Now Back in Business Post-Flood Along With Tony & Joe's

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Behold the brand new Nick's Riverside Grille, a dining room that has finally reopened along with sister restaurant Tony & Joe's Seafood Place on Georgetown's Washington Harbour after sustaining severe damage in an April 2011 flood. While their patios have been serving for some time now, both restaurants opened up their revamped dining rooms on August 27 — though a grand opening celebration is still in the works — and partner Greg Casten says the changes they've undergone mean Nick's and Tony & Joe's are essentially brand new restaurants.

Nick's Riverside Grille has especially turned around in the past year and a half since the flood, having taken over the neighboring Cabanas space to add on another 1,700 square feet. They've added a kidney-shaped bar, an upper-level dining room with high-top tables and a river view and, Casten says, they built a restaurant space where there was previously more or less just a bar: "We didn't just peel off the paint and repaint what we had. We broke it down the core and we re-did every single thing and looked at every single aspect of the systems and what we know people really enjoy here on the waterfront and then maximized it." As for Tony & Joe's, there's a panoramic view of the Kennedy Center, gold paint on its columns, a much-improved view from the relocated bar, and "nothing but windows."

As previously reported, the restaurants have snagged chef David Stein from Maryland's Bistro St. Michaels to oversee their menus which will include things like mussels, tartines and staples of American casual dining. They're still working on the menus, but the Washingtonian has the drafts for both Nick's Riverside Grille and Tony & Joe's Seafood Place.

And the patio seating will be a little different from before the flood, too, given extensive plaza renovations that have meant what Casten describes as a Bellagio-esque fountain with light show and a future ice skating rink. As for the rest of the outdoor space, Casten says the outside bars are still under construction and should reopen in about six weeks and tie in with the park next door.

· Nick's Riverside Grille [Official Site]
· Tony & Joe's Seafood Place [Official Site]
· Georgetown Restaurants Damaged In Potomac River Flooding [-EDC-]