Georgetown’s Gigantic Seafood Outpost Is Opening Wednesday

Cavernous seafood destination Dyllan’s Raw Bar Grill is almost ready to start shucking oysters and slinging vodka shooters this week in Georgetown.

The new 13,000-square-foot restaurant (1054 31st Street NW) is scheduled to open for dinner service on Wednesday, August 15 at 5 p.m., integrating lots of fare fished from nearby waters in a wood-and-marble setting. The completely redesigned space, which formerly housed the longstanding Sea Catch Restaurant & Raw Bar, can seat over 200 diners across its full-service bar, dining room, private dining room, and outdoor patio overlooking Georgetown’s tree-lined C&O Canal.

Dyllan’s Raw Bar Grill is the debut restaurant from Good Apple Hospitality, a newly formed restaurant group from husband-wife team Donald and Amy Carlin (alums of Host Hotels & Resorts and restaurateur Stephen Starr’s huge family of eateries, among other conglomerates). They tapped executive chef Neal Corman, former corporate director of Alicart Restaurant Group (Carmine’s) and Lettuce Entertain You (RPM Italian), to come up with the surf-and-turf menu.

Globally-inspired seafood dishes include Thai coconut lime steamed mussels, sautéed red snapper with kimchi, and spicy tuna mango maki rolls; Corman’s also got a bone-in ribeye aged for 28 days in the works. For dessert, there’s double chocolate fudge cake and mango custard sushi rice brûlée.

Beverage director and sommelier Andra Johnson (Macon Bistro & Larder) curated a list of sparkling and white wines to pair with raw bar selections, as well as lavender and pickled ginger-flavored vodka shooters. There’s nine seasonal cocktails to start, including the “Holler If You Hear Me” (locally distilled rye, Spanish brandy, orange bitters, and red quinquina).

Lots of history is packed into the 1890s-era space, which was originally a warehouse made from locally-sourced stone and pine trees. Its 100-seat private dining area, dubbed the Hollerith Room, is named after its early-day occupant: inventor Herman Hollerith. The 94-seat “Punch Card” dining room, flanked by sleek blue booths and circular mirrors, is an ode to the patented data-storing cards he created in the space.

Charged with the overhaul was New Jersey-based designer Garrett Singer, whose portfolio includes an array of glitzy restaurant projects throughout New York.

Dinner service is projected to run Tuesday to Thursday until 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until midnight. Brunch and weekday lunch are expected to join the mix in the coming weeks.