Replacement H Street Bar Aims to Double Its Drinking Space

The remaking of popular H Street eatery Boundary Road into a funky new video game-stocked bar includes taking things to another level: adding a second floor, to be exact.

Adam Stein, the seasoned chef turned newly minted managing partner of forthcoming Bar Elena, tells Eater that he and the current stakeholders are taking a page from three-year-old plans the previous owners never got around to executing and growing upwards.

Construction on the second story is expected to begin shortly. When it’s done, Stein says there should be room for 40 to 50 additional seats, another bar, a private event space, plus more of the pinball, Skee-Ball, and arcade games he’s planning to work into the entertainment mix.

“I kind of see this as a baby Eleanor,” he says, tying the immediate overhaul to the 7,000-square-foot dining complex he’s installing in Ivy City. That long-standing dream, which Stein says is now expected to open in early 2018, is projected to feature a restaurant, bowling lanes, live music, and movies.

Stein is hoping to get Bar Elena rolling later this fall. (A “now hiring” ad went up just this morning.)

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