"Every time it rains, it pours into the kitchen and a bit into the dining room."
Cinder BBQ posted that line in late June, five months after the fire that closed it. A few words later came the reason so little had happened since January: "Hard to start any work while the building is broken."
Cinder sits at 800 Upshur Street NW, the corner where the 800 block meets Georgia Avenue. As of early October it still has not reopened, and no reopening or permanent closure has been announced. Yet the block around it had a busier year than anywhere else in the neighborhood. A deli opened, a shop moved across the street, and a comedy club put up a notice to grow into the storefront the fire damaged. A few hundred yards away on Georgia Avenue, four businesses closed in July and August, and as of this writing none of those spaces has a named replacement.
So the change in Petworth this year has stayed on one block of Upshur. Most of it comes from businesses that were already there.
What the January fire took off the corner
The fire hit the 800 block of Upshur on January 9, 2026. FOX 5 reported that six residents were displaced and a neighboring roof was damaged. The day after, PoPville reported that Little Food Studio, a few doors up at 849 Upshur, had brought tea and muffins to the people handling the response. Cinder thanked them publicly.
Two storefronts came out of service that day. One was Cinder. The other was 806 Upshur, then home to Fia's Fabulous Finds. PoPville said the same fire damaged it. Cinder's own website still shows regular menus and hours. That page hasn't caught up with the closure, so PoPville's reporting is the better guide to its status.
Losing two storefronts at once is a lot for a short commercial block. What came next is the interesting part.
The block filled its own gaps
Fia's Fabulous Finds didn't leave Upshur. It moved across the street, closer to Georgia Avenue. Lulabelle's Sweet Shop's events page now lists Fia's at 843 Upshur Street NW.
The storefront Fia's left behind looks set to stay in the neighborhood too. On September 1, PoPville published a reader's photo of a notice reading "…COMEDY CLUB…" posted next door to Room 808, the comedy and jazz room on the block. It points to an expansion into the former Fia's space. No renovation schedule or opening date has been announced. Hoodline's follow-up the next day didn't add one.
The one truly new business on the block opened in spring. District Larder Co. opened at 821 Upshur on Monday, May 4. Eater DC describes a deli and sandwich counter from chef Matt Sperber, previously at Any Day Now. It sells raw cuts, aged salamis, pâtés and deli meats, with a small dining room of woodblock tables behind the counter for dinner and brunch. The sandwiches named in that write-up give a good sense of the place: a chicken salad sub with provolone and potato chips, and a house-made half-smoke with cooked-down peppers and mustard.
Here is the 800 block by street number as of early October:
- 800 Upshur: Cinder BBQ, closed since the January 9 fire, with no announced reopening
- 806 Upshur: former Fia's Fabulous Finds, with a posted notice pointing to a Room 808 comedy club expansion and no date yet
- 809 Upshur: Timber Pizza, listing current hours and online ordering
- 821 Upshur: District Larder Co., open since May 4
- 843 Upshur: Fia's Fabulous Finds, at its new address across the street
- 847 Upshur: Lulabelle's Sweet Shop, with posted weekly hours and an active events calendar
Every name on that list except District Larder was already on the block before this year began. Even the newcomer opened in a space on a street that had just lost two storefronts.
A summer of lease signs on Georgia Avenue
Georgia Avenue had a different summer. From late July through late August, PoPville tracked one closure or for-lease sign after another along the corridor between Park View and Shepherd Street.
| Address | Most recent business | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 3634 Georgia Ave NW | Looking Glass Lounge | Reported last day July 29, per a source PoPville trusted; the bar hadn't confirmed it on social media at the time |
| 3815 Georgia Ave NW | Seta Oasis Restaurant & Lounge | Closure and for-lease sign reported August 18 |
| 3911 Georgia Ave NW | Uno Mas | Building listed for lease, reported August 17 |
| 4000 Georgia Ave NW | 7-Eleven, at Shepherd | Reported closed by August 27 |
| Georgia Ave at Quincy | Former HU.SPORIA space | A "Fast & Fresh kitchen" sign is up, with no operator or opening date reported |
Through the first days of October, no new tenant has been announced for any of the first four.
The Seta Oasis space has changed hands many times. Before Seta Oasis, PoPville notes, 3815 Georgia was 1865 "Steak Seafood Cigars," and before that Chez Billy and Ten Tigers. PoPville also referred to the Uno Mas building as the former Commonwealth Cantina space. These are big rooms on a main road, and they've turned over before. On Upshur this year, the space freed up after the fire went straight to a neighbor on the same block. On Georgia, the empty spaces are still waiting on whoever signs the next lease.
The one new room on Georgia sits next to an empty one
There is one new arrival on the avenue, and it is right next door to the Looking Glass. Kuro, a Japanese-inspired listening bar at 3632 Georgia Avenue NW, opened in late spring on the Park View edge of the corridor.
Washingtonian's account shows how much thought went into the room. Owner Loyd Griggs, an Army National Guard veteran who previously ran a cafe and bar in his native Chicago, bought vintage JBL 4435 speakers from a collector in New Jersey. He keeps them behind the bar, and there are no TVs. Each night has its own genre, with albums played start to finish: jazz, soul and blues on Thursdays, old-school R&B and some hip-hop on Fridays, and pop, alternative and light rock on Saturdays. Sundays go by request, and guests can bring in their own records at select times. The 100 seats are first come, first served, with no takeout. The menu includes yakitori, gyoza, miso mushroom noodles and a wasabi margarita.
Washingtonian reported Thursday through Sunday service at opening. Kuro's undated FAQ page now lists kitchen hours every day of the week, so check before planning a Monday visit.
The large rooms that were already there are still open. The Midlands at 3333 Georgia lists regular hours and a tenth-anniversary event this year. Hook Hall at 3400 Georgia still promotes its weekend garden, reservations and events. Farther up, the Wendy's at 3900 Georgia reopened June 27, open 24 hours.
Where that leaves the rest of the fall
For the next several weeks, Upshur also has the Saturday market. The Petworth Community Market opened its 2026 season May 2 at 9th and Upshur. It runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the market's own site says the season continues through mid-November. That leaves a handful of market Saturdays, which can pair with lunch at District Larder or a slice at Timber a block away.
Three items to watch through the end of the year all sit on that block or close to it. One is whether Cinder gets the roof repairs it said it needed to begin work. Another is when the comedy club notice at 806 turns into a construction timeline. The third is whether the "Fast & Fresh kitchen" sign at Georgia and Quincy becomes an opening date. The Georgia Avenue spaces at 3634, 3815, 3911 and 4000 are worth watching too, but as of October 4 none has a public answer.
Storefront turnover on a block tells you something about how a neighborhood is doing, and it's a question I spend a lot of time on with buyers and sellers across Northwest DC. If you're weighing a move near Upshur or Georgia and want to talk through what's open, what's pending, and what that means for a particular block, Deirdre Jo Fricke is glad to walk it with you. Let's Connect.
