K Street’s Moneymaking Busboys and Poets Is Moving — About 120 Yards

The 10-year-old Busboys and Poets Mt. Vernon Triangle diners have come to rely on is moving this fall. But it’s only going halfway up the block.

The K Street branch of the neighborhood gathering place Andy Shallal has sprinkled throughout the DMV is projected to shut down at its current location (1025 5th Street NW) this September. Washington Business Journal reports that Shallal was unwilling to swallow a 15 percent to 20 percent rent hike from his current landlord, even though the K Street outpost is the “highest grossing” spot in his family of restaurants. So he’s taking his business elsewhere: approximately 361 feet east to the plot formerly occupied by French restaurant Bistro L’Hommage. Fellow restaurateur Hakan Ilhan shuttered L’Hommage in late 2017, floating plans to reopen it as a trendy tapas spot; he abandoned that short-lived rebranding effort this past January.

According to WBJ, the space Shallal is renovating will have 40 fewer seats than his current location (final tally: 320 seats), but will allow him to carve out a glass-enclosed private dining room from the main seating area on the ground floor. There will also be room for Busboys’ companion book store, a bar, and an outside patio. The updated Busboys and Poets is scheduled to open in September.

• Busboys and Poets at 5th and K to move [WBJ]
• Final Isabella Eatery Opening Is Just Days Away, Plus More Intel [EDC]
• L’Hommage Bistro’s Being Replaced by a Millennial-Friendly Small Plates Restaurant [EDC]