Progress is underway at Takoda, Shaw’s upcoming restaurant and beer garden from business partners Ryan Seelbach and Eric Lund. The two-story space overlooking Florida Avenue, Northwest is slated to open by early December, including the rooftop bar, which will be enclosed by a canopy and removable windows for year-round socializing.
While Seelbach and Lund’s other venture, The Huxley, caters to an upscale club crowd, the duo are moving forward with a casual, neighborhood-oriented concept for Takoda. Chef Damian Brown, most recently of Stanton & Greene, has been tapped to helm the kitchen and create a menu of American dishes that fall under $21. The entry-level dining and bar space will initially open for dinner and snacking, serving elevated pub fare such as tots, shrimp and grits with Tasso ham and a runny egg, double-bacon cheeseburgers, and four styles of wings—including PB&J, where the drums are cured in barbecue spice, flash-fried, and tossed in a Thai peanut sauce with a touch of grape juice reduction. A late-night menu will be offered on weekends—hello, fried Oreos—with brunch service to follow.
Takoda’s all-American focus extends to the bar. Over 24 drafts will be poured on both floors, ranging from Bud and PBR to local crafts brews and more niche seasonal finds. A similar spectrum will be offered on the list of 50-plus whiskeys. Both floors will be outfitted with 60 seats for sipping and eating.
Stay tuned for an opening date. Takoda. 715 Florida Ave., NW.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
