Double-stacked “proper burgers” and seven-hour happy hours arrive in Foggy Bottom with the Thursday opening of Duke’s Grocery. The third location of restaurateur Daniel Kramer’s gastropub—bigger than its Dupont and Woodley Park siblings—takes over the longtime Kinkead’s space inside the Shops at 2000 Penn.
With more space (125-plus seats indoor and outdoor) comes more variety. Chef Rick Koplau, who spent a year cooking at the flagship before working as a corporate chef with Hyatt Hotels, is back with an expanded all-day menu. New global sandwiches—including a Japanese-inspired crispy shrimp katsu and Mumbai masala toast on naan with spiced potatoes, pickled green chutney, and melty cheese— join standards like the B.L.T.A and Italian. Look for more entrees and specials like curries, pastas, and chops. Breakfast, brunch, and a takeout window inside the shopping center will all launch this summer.
The bar is bigger too. A dozen draft lines mingle local brews and imports from the UK, while a cocktail menu offers 20-odd drinks like the regal Her Majesty, a spin on a gin fizz, and the not-so-regal Naked & Famous (mezcal, Chartreuse, Aperol, citrus). There’re also new zero-proof drinks like choga mushroom-matcha lattes. Customers can take advantage of $5 drink deals on beers, wines, and rail spirits during the ultra-leisurely happy hour, which runs Monday through Friday from noon to 7 PM. The tradition started with Duke’s in 2013 and has continued at every location since.
“There’re a lot of people who ‘telework’ from Duke’s happy hour all the time,” Kramer says.
Next up for the restaurateur: a tabletop Korean barbecue, likely the first in the District, which is slated to open in Shaw late this summer.
Duke’s Grocery Foggy Bottom. 2000 Pennsylvania 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.
