Clyde’s Will Open a Charcoal-Fueled Fish House in the Union Market District

Clyde’s, the long-running chain behind some of the area’s best-known restaurants, breaks into Northeast D.C. next summer with the opening of Cordelia Fishbar.

The newly announced project, headed to the foot of luxury apartment building Morse (550 Morse Street NE), centers around globally influenced seafood dishes cooked over a charcoal flame grill. The 10,000-square-foot restaurant will seat 250 across a big central bar, sidewalk patio, and private event space.

StudioK Creative/rendering

While Clyde’s Restaurant Group is long known for its abundant raw bar selection and oyster happy hours at places like its top-grossing Old Ebbitt Grill, “we have never focused exclusively on offering a seafood-driven restaurant” until now, says CRG president John McDonnell, in a statement.

Seafood is the star of the show, but a few beef, pork, and chicken entrees will also be cooked over charcoal. Cordelia will also showcase a selection of conserva (tinned fish), raw crudo, and cured seafood. The menu fills somewhat of a need in the neighborhood after Rappahannock Oyster Bar closed in Union Market last year.

Cordelia, which roughly translates to “daughter or heart of the sea” in Celtic cultures, takes culinary tips from regions that rely on high heat to prepare fish (think Spain, Portugal, Asia, and the Americas).

StudioK Creative/rendering

Cordelia’s beverage program is designed with seafood in mind. Look for a large sparkling wine list flush with Champagnes, plus coastal-influenced whites and peppery reds, seasonal cocktails, local beers, and mocktails.

Chicago’s StudioK Creative and D.C.’s Grizform Design Architects are tasked with putting together the look. Next Realty and Rappaport represented CRG and developer LCOR in the deal.

The first Clyde’s opened in 1963 in Georgetown and there’s now a dozen locations across D.C., Northern Virginia, and suburban Maryland. Publicly traded investment firm Graham Holdings Co. acquired the portfolio back in 2019 and recently embarked on an expansion streak. Clyde’s will open its first-ever Baltimore restaurant next year, and its Old Ebbitt crown jewel near the White House will expand for the first time in 2025 with a spinoff in Reston, Virginia dubbed Ebbitt House.