The Official DC/Maryland/Virginia Area Thread

[the bossman]

Thinking about moving to the DMV, where are high net worth black communities at so i can be around afluent black folks like myself. New York is too dirty. fukk this place.

Mitchellville, Ft. Washington, Woodmore

 

[lochead]

Man they closing Horace and dikkie’s on H st

 

[Skooby]

Man they closing Horace and dikkie’s on H st

https://dcist.com/story/20/02/12/ho...ied-fish-carryout-after-30-years-on-h-street/

https://dcist.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/Horace-and-dikkies-1500x1125.jpg
Horace And dikkie’s Owner Says Gentrification Is Pushing Out His Fried Fish Carryout After 30 Years On H Street
Horace and dikkie’s on H Street NE has been open since 1990.

As the gentrification of H Street NE continues apace, the neighborhood is losing one of its most iconic institutions. Horace and dikkie’s, a fried fish carryout that’s operated on H Street for 30 years, told WJLA on Tuesday that it’s closing up shop on March 1.

Richard “dikkie” Shannon, now 82 years old, told the outlet that the neighborhood’s drastic changes in the last three decades have made it impossible for him to keep the business open. For one thing, the landlord wants the building for another use, according to Shannon. The boom in restaurants, bars, and apartment buildings nearby have made it drastically more valuable than it was in 1990, when Shannon opened up the carryout with his friend, Horace. The building that houses Horace and dikkie’s is owned by the 1200 H Street Partnership, which owns both 1200 and 1202 H Street NE.

For another, the city has turned the curbside near the establishment into a commercial zone, towing and ticketing parked cars with zeal, Shannon told the outlet. “The customers here have been getting $100 tickets, $150 tickets, towed. And it’s affected the business,” Shannon told WJLA. “Gentrification is cultural genocide.”

“Horace and dikkies has been an institution on H Street NE for 30 years and there’s no way to sugarcoat news of their closure – it’s a loss for the community today and a loss connecting the neighborhood to its past,” says Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, whose jurisdiction encompasses the H Street corridor. The councilmember has introduced two bills that he says are meant to help businesses like the iconic fried fish carryout, incentivizing landlords to rent to small businesses and providing longtime businesses with resources to stay open.

Horace and dikkie’s is famous for its fried whiting, which has long drawn winding lines of people who order it in sandwiches on white or brown bread, or as a dinner plate with sides of baked mac and cheese, collard greens, potato salad, candied yams, french fries, hush puppies, coleslaw, corn cobs, or seasoned potatoes. Whiting became a D.C. specialty in the 1970s thanks to Shabazz Fish House on 14th Street, according to the Washington Post. “The fact that fried whiting still has devotees, on H Street NE and at carryouts such as Oohh’s and Aahh’s on U Street, is a testament to its staying power, even in a city that has gentrified beyond recognition,” the outlet reports.

H Street was a pocket of the city particularly damaged by the 1968 riots, and at one point the corridor’s storefronts had a 75 percent vacancy rate, reports WAMU. But as plans for a streetcar down the corridor solidified in the early 2010s, businesses and developers rushed in to build and remodel. Today, the area is home to dozens of luxury apartment buildings, a bevy of new bars, restaurants, and coffee shops, and—that conspicuous harbinger of neighborhood change—a Whole Foods.

It just one of many neighborhoods in D.C. that have experienced this kind of recent change. Unlike in many other cities, Washington D.C. is one of the few where gentrification is actually displacing old residents from their homes, per a 2019 study from the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity.

While there will be no more Horace and dikkie’s on H Street NE, the business has another location in Takoma, as well as a food truck (you can keep up with the truck’s location on Twitter).

Shannon told WJLA that he plans to use his spare time after the closure playing more golf.

 

[Idaeo]

Just touched down, haven’t been home in 8 months

one of my first stops

 

[Sankofa Alwayz]

Gonna hit up Horace & dikkies after work on Monday, it’ll be my first time patronizing them. I got my eye on that $10 five fish platter. Fried whiting

 

[BigMan]

didn't get the house in NE, going to start looking in PG, DC too expensive for us

 

[lochead]

didn't get the house in NE, going to start looking in PG, DC too expensive for us

Bruh I had to do the same thing

Maybe one day I can buy my grandparents house when they pass but I don’t want that to happen either

Edit** Their row house is in SE DC

 

[BigMan]

Bruh I had to do the same thing

Maybe one day I can buy my grandparents house when they pass but I don’t want that to happen either

Edit** Their row house is in SE DC

Keep that house in the family bruh at all costs
In 5-10 years all of DC will be unaffordable

 

[UberEatsDriver]

Just got back from Dc. Had a great time and finally was able to visit the African American museum and I did the Spy museum also.

Btw the bar at Kith/Kin is dope. If the drinks weren’t so pricey I might have drank my whole life away last night but I had like 5 drinks

 

[ThiefyPoo]

I finally tried Roy boys a couple weeks back shyt was excellent !!!!!

Im most def going back !!!!

 

[Sankofa Alwayz]

For my ramen loving brehs, hit up Daikaya around Gallery Place (you might wanna book a reservation if you go there on a weekend and I highly recommend their pork belly ramen. Get a Mexican Coke with it too) and check out JINYA on 14th Street.


I also had a date at Ghibellina last month and if there’s one thing I recommend on their menu, it’s their prosciutto! Get it with the jam too, I promise you it’ll be one of the best things to ever bless your taste buds

 

[lochead]

Keep that house in the family bruh at all costs
In 5-10 years all of DC will be unaffordable

My Granddad already made it known that it’s staying in the family. Thank God!

 

[Human Torch]

I miss home so bad


Ima be back by the end of the year... I hope

 

[GodinDaFlesh]

One thing I like about DMV, you can escape DC's high COL by living in PG county. I lived in the Bay Area for a little, even the East Bay is expensive as fukk.

 

[Idaeo]

For my ramen loving brehs, hit up Daikaya around Gallery Place (you might wanna book a reservation if you go there on a weekend and I highly recommend their pork belly ramen. Get a Mexican Coke with it too) and check out JINYA on 14th Street.

Ramen Jinya is from LA. It’s my goto spot. I always get the Tonkotsu Black with pork soboro(spicy ground pork) and Brussel sprouts on the side. You dip the sprouts in the broth as you eat the ramen...