Meli opened in spring 2023 with crudite and roasted red pepper dip. | Jonni Scott Firehook Bakery, Crisfield Seafood, Convivial, and more local establishments permanently closing this month This is a curated list of D.C. area’s most notable and permanent restaurant and bar closures, with new updates published once a week. See a closing we missed? Drop us a line. December 24 MULTIPLE LOCATIONS—It’s the end of an era for Firehook, the DMV-wide destination for freshly baked breads, pastries, cakes of all kinds, decorative cookies, and more since 1992. Firehook just announced “bittersweet” plans to close all three of its retail bakeries (Dupont, Alexandria, Chantilly) on Christmas Eve. Firehook will shift attention to national sales of its crispy Mediterranean crackers instead. There’s some good news for the D.C. store, which will reopen as Dupont Coffee Collective. Entirely owned by existing Firehook Dupont employees, the rebooted location promises to pour the same locally roasted coffee and produce sweet and savory goods. December 23 ADAMS MORGAN—“Greek-ish” wine and meze club Meli announced a sudden closure after less than two years of business at the foot of the luxury Silva apartment building. “We have not been able to achieve the volume of business needed to make the business sustainable in its current location,” per a statement on Instagram. The ambitious all-day venture with an annual membership fee came from restaurant group Eastern Point Collective, which also runs The Duck & The Peach, La Collina, and The Wells on Capitol Hill. The Mediterranean menu leaned into souvlaki (chicken, veggie, and beef/lamb skewers), spreads (hummus, tzatziki), and sharable snacks like head-on prawns with harissa and lemon. The 35-seat setup attached to the building’s lobby also sported a tiny patio tucked an alleyway. 1630 Columbia Road NW View this post on Instagram A post shared by Elvert Barnes (@elvertxbarnes) December 22 SILVER SPRING—Crisfield, one of the region’s most iconic seafood houses for nearly 80 years, will shut down right before Christmas. Named for the quaint Maryland seaside town of Crisfield located a three-hour drive east, the Georgia Avenue institution operated by the Landis family since 1945 continues to pull in throngs of crab enthusiasts for lunch and dinner. The casual fixture prepares seafood dishes in an old-school “Eastern Shore” style, and customers can order its best-selling crab cake as a sandwich or as an entree that’s either broiled or fried. Crisfield is also long known for its well-sourced selection of raw oysters, tangy shrimp salad, and other Norfolk-style selections baptized in butter. 8012 Georgia Avenue Silver Spring, Maryland SHAW—Convivial, one of D.C.’s best French bistros, calls it quits this month after nearly a decade of business. ⁠Chef/owner Cedric Maupillier’s Shaw staple has maintained a loyal following since 2015 for dishes reminiscent of the French towns where he was raised. Quiche lorraine, boeuf Bourguignon, steak frites, roasted half chicken, and steamed mussels are all popular here. “It’s difficult to let go, but the challenges of maintaining consistent sales to meet our financial obligations have led us to this decision,” wrote Maupillier.⁠ The vet chef — who previously worked under culinary pioneer Michel Richard at Citronelle and Central — already has a new job lined up: leading the kitchen at Barbouzard, a new Mediterranean restaurant opening in downtown’s old Kellari Taverna space next spring. 801 O Street NW Convivial A croque madame from Convivial. December 17 GEORGETOWN—Wawa decided to pull the plug on its Georgetown location, a brightly-lit beacon for students and residents in search of a late-night sandwich and snack. “Our long-term plans for this store are no longer viable,” per a statement from the team. 1222 Wisconsin Avenue NW December 15 Deb Lindsey/For the Washington Post via Getty Images Braised oxtails are a hit dish at El Sapo. SILVER SPRING—El Sapo Cuban Social Club, chef-owner Raynold Mendizábal’s critically acclaimed tribute to his native cuisine since 2018, reportedly closed on Sunday, December 15. The bright and shimmering space specialized in bold island fare and street snacks from Havana, including masitas (fried pork bites), cod croquetas, and Cuban sandwiches, with a seasonal mojito garden out front. The downtown Silver Spring chef made headlines for allegedly sexually harassing an underage teenage girl while she worked as a hostess at his now-closed steakhouse Urban Butcher in 2019; he was ultimately found “not guilty” in the case. 8455 Fenton Street, Silver Spring, Maryland December 4 SHAW—Less than three months after opening, D.C.’s self-described “bipartisan” bar that strived to put “the ‘lit’ back in politics” suddenly closed. Couple Sydney Bradford and Andrew Benbow — a Democrat and moderate Republican, respectively — unveiled Political Pattie’s on September 20 in the three-story space that long housed LGBTQ+ bar Dirty Goose. Upon opening, immediate “anti-woke” backlash from the public and pubs like Daily Mail and The Spectator ensued. “We feel really strong and confident in the fact that bipartisanship should exist and there should be thought spaces like Political Pattie’s all over the country but this just isn’t the right time or place for that concept,” Bradford told FOX5. 913 U Street NW December 1 H STREET—After just making its anticipated D.C. debut in July, Hakuna Matata is already closed. The short-lived East African restaurant, which served platters of Kenyan barbecued goat, whole fried tilapia with pilau rice and plantains, and Tusker beers, occupied a prime Northeast corner where South Asian standby Cusbah formerly sat. The original Hakuna in Maryland ended its 5-year run this fall. “Like many small businesses, we navigated the storm of the pandemic, but the economic challenges that hit the Wheaton area were more than we could recover from,” wrote its owners in October, directing diners to its stylish new D.C. location instead. 1128 H Street NE DUPONT—Soho Tea & Coffee, a neighborhood favorite since 1994, is no more. The welcoming cafe with consistently good vanilla chai lattes and bagel sandwiches played host to countless book clubs, art shows, and wine events over its 30-year run. 2150 P Street NW