D.C. Institution Kramers Just Added a 26-Seat Bar with Really Good Lighting

Kramers (formerly Kramerbooks) revealed a new 26-seat bar with 18 beers on tap, wines, and cocktails, as well as optimized lighting for reading while imbibing. The 970-square foot counter also has its own food menu with carrot chickpea tartine and French onion dip. It’s one of several changes (new name, new barbershop, expansion to the next door space) to come to the bookstore after changing ownership in 2016. 1517 Connecticut Avenue, NW [Washingtonian]

Never Looked Better (130 Blagden Alley) bar owner Seth McClelland has probably looked better. He’s facing loads of criticism for posting underage drinking tips on TikTok. His advice included never ordering a drink with the word sex in its name. [Washingtonian]

Meanwhile, the Washingtonian tips its cap to Never Looked Better’s cosmo, available for $16 at the Blagden Alley bar. Apparently, the Sex and the City reboot has resurrected the rosy, once-trendy sip and the Washingtonian has scoped out the best spots to indulge in a little nostalgia. [Washingtonian]

Coming attractions

Little Miner Taco, the D.C.-area food truck that also operates food hall stalls, will bring its cheesy beef birria tacos, burritos, and carne asada fries to Epiq food hall (14067 Noblewood Plaza) in Woodbridge. It’s the first Little Miner Taco for Virginia.

Meanwhile, the restaurant is selling holiday tamales through December, available for pick-up on Thursdays. Pre-ordering is required. [EaterWire]

Little Miner taco/Facebook

The Marriott Bethesda Downtown at Marriott HQ (7707 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda) is racing toward a March 1, 2022 opening. Seventh State, the hotel restaurant named for Maryland’s status as the seventh state to join the union, will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a “Maryland meets Mediterranean” flare. Look for wood-fire baked eggs; wood-roasted meats; hand-tossed pizzas; and “panuozzo,” a Southern Italian, wood-fired folded sandwich made with pizza dough to enjoy inside or on the terrace.

The hotel also has two bars: the 360-degree Greatroom bar with cocktails prepared tableside, and the rooftop Hip Flask with retractable floor-to-ceiling window panels on three sides that open to an expansive terrace. [EaterWire]

The fast-expanding restaurant group behind Cava will open a new outlet of its fast-casual Mediterranean eatery in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood in 2022. The new cafe, in a budding retail center at 1201 Haven Street, joins Shake Shack in the first phase of the new center’s development. [Washington Business Journal]

The original Good Food market (2006 Rhode Island Avenue NE) in Ward 5 reopened on Monday following a store refresh. The location is the original Good Food market, which has grown to four locations. The grocery store, which temporarily closed in October, will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. [The Brookland Bridge]

Sharing the wealth

After Gina Chersevani won $18,999 from “Guy’s Grocery Games” on the Food Network, she split the proceeds between employees at her four restaurants: Buffalo & Bergen (Union Market and Capitol Hill), Suburbia, and Last Call, because “they show up every day.” [Washingtonian]

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Clyde’s/Facebook

From the sad exit of crab cakes on restaurant menus to the suburban restaurant boom, the Washingtonian looks back on how D.C.’s dining scene changed in 2021. [Washingtonian]

Update (December 15, 2021): This story has been updated to reflect a change to the Marriott Bethesda’s opening date. It has been pushed back from January 2022 to March 2022.

Update (December 16, 2021): This story has been updated to reflect a change in the design to Hip Flask bar.