H Street Book Store’s Boozy New Cafe Is Nearly Here

The Atlas District hasn’t had a proper reading-while-boozing option until now, with Solid State Books’ new cafe filling that void this week.

Atlas District pop-up Solid State Books (600 H Street NE) is sourcing nibbles, in part, from budding local grocer Union Kitchen Grocery. The new destination for avid readers, complete with a front-facing coffee bar, could open as soon as Thursday, June 21, an employee tells Eater.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 12 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

For java, there’s Ceremony drip and cold brew coffee and iced and hot tea. Pastries hail from Hawthorne Fine Breakfast Pastry. The opening wine list includes labels like Las Brisas Verdejo, Foris Pinot Gris, Mas de Daumas Gassac Rose, Gryphon Crest Pinot, and Monteros Cava, and the beer selection includes Ninkasi Prismatic Juice IPA, Two Roads Worker’s Comp Saison, Captain Lawrence 6th Borough Pilsner, and Graft Farm Flor Cider.

Featured to-go snacks at the new location include Go Mix, Lenka Bars, Snacklins, Capital Kombucha, Ivy City Smokehouse, Poppy’s Stuffed Bagels, and Trickling Springs Creamery. There’s also Olli and Natalie’s Juice items for sale. The coffee bar at Solid State will be an instant competitor to its existing neighbor the Wydown, which serves many of the same things.

Expansion-minded Union Kitchen Grocery is super active in the city as of late, planning to plant a brick-and-mortar location in Shaw this fall that will replace the recently shuttered Glen’s Garden Market. UKG‘s original location near Union Station (538 Third Street NE) debuted in May 2015. A second one twice the size of the flagship store landed inside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center last year.

• Budding Union Kitchen Grocery Is Replacing Recently Closed Glen’s in Shaw [EDC]