Farewell, Boloco DC. The Boston-based burrito chain announced Thursday that it’s closing its single District location at 19th and L streets after two years, effective immediately; another continues to operate in Bethesda. Instead of shuttering the home of “globally inspired” fare without explanation, the franchise sent the following to its fans:
“Today, we are closing our 19th Street location. In the spirit of honesty that is so important to us, we want to share the reasons for closing. The DC market has been tough for us. We struggled to build awareness of who we are and what we do. We also struggled early on with operations and, though we were eventually able to improve our operations, we unfortunately never were able to win back many of the guests that we had initially disappointed.”
Points for honesty, especially given the way former neighboring business Java Green left town (escorted by armed US Marshals, in case you forgot). Hopefully Marylanders will take to the burritos and bowls better.
Stay tuned for what’s next for the space.
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.
