Yung Park used to run a liquor store in Southwest D.C. Now he's serving up a more stimulating type of liquid refreshment. "People want something different than Starbucks," says Park, proprietor of the new Lot 38 Espresso Bar, which opened this week next door to the Courtyard Marriott in Southeast's Navy Yard neighborhood. Park's place, [...]

The Daily Meal on Monday released its "ultimate guide to Starbucks’ secret menu," threatening to expose all the java giant's exotic coffee combinations that only its coolest customers seem to know about. Armed with this arsenal of unique-sounding orders, Young & Hungry stopped by a few Starbucks on Tuesday to test D.C. baristas on their classified [...]

Short ribs and baby octopus may dominate many menus in the city, but that doesn't mean local chefs can't find love in an acorn squash. In our ongoing series, Chefs Veg Out, we'll prove D.C.’s chefs can play with more than just meat. Name: Sue Murray Title: I'm the cook. Gig: Suzy's Q Barbecue and [...]

Yes, But Will There Be Customer-Behavior Videos? Silver Spring's Pacci's Neapolitan Pizzeria will be opening up a sibling restaurant in the old General Store space in Forest Glen where Gillian Clark, her fried chicken, and her video production work once found a home. [Eater D.C.] Smoothing Things Over: Oh, Spike Mendelsohn. He is clarifying his [...]

Sluggish Revamp: The Blue Ridge re-do in Glover Park is moving "slowly—very slowly." If you've walked by the place recently, you'd definitely get that impression. And that recent "giant, rowdy party" that roiled neighbors? Well, "it was probably the mellowest crowd that strip of Glover Park has seen in some time." [Glover Park Gazette via [...]

In the Baguette:  Paul, the Parisian bakery, cuts the ribbon on its first U.S. location flagship (pictured) right here in D.C. So what if it's a chain? [Greater Greater Washington] Presidential Pickle: Which fancy burger would Obama like best? [Eater DC] The Burger Bridge: Brooklyn is beginning to look a lot like Arlington, with D.C.-area [...]

For the first time in three weeks, the Rogue States trial didn't dominate blog traffic. Instead, y'all favored a mix of subjects, from Starbucks' plan to start selling alcohol to a four-star restaurant that lost its cache to the ongoing fascination with the sale of the Brickskeller. Hmm, I'm thinking the ultimate traffic-generating blog item [...]

According to a USA Today story and video, a Starbucks lab store in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood re-opened this Monday after a three-month redesign. In an effort to evolve the 40-year-old brand and boost evening business (since Starbucks does 70% of sales before 2:00pm), the new location is serving booze. That's right. You could soon be [...]

NBCWashington broke the news yesterday with prose that bordered on the orgasmic: Pinkberry is coming to D.C.! (I'm not sure how many exclamation points to include here, but the general tone of the item merits at least four, I think.) Now understand, the item names no location, not even a neighborhood. Just the promise of [...]

The Daily Beast has crunched some numbers and determined which U.S. cities have the most caffeine running through their veins. As you might have predicted, the Pacific Northwest is the jumpiest among us. Seattle comes in first with 35 coffee shops per 100,000 residents, followed by Portland with 28. The District slips in at No. [...]