Located between O and P Street's on 9th Street NW,
Chao Ku, which local residents have anticipated an opening for a while, has now set a date and while the finishing touches are still going on it looks to be a sure thing that the restaurant will open on June 20th. Co-Owner John Fielding (Broad Branch Market in Chevy Chase, soon Soapstone Market in Van Ness) is pretty confident of the date and showed me around the new restaurant yesterday.
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| Plenty of light, homey feel and architectural elements complete the restaurant |
Chao Ku will essentially be two business's. The eat-in Restaurant, on the upper floor, and the Take-out/Pick-up on the ground floor.
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| The restaurant has two spaces front and rear(shown here) |
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| The Kitchen is complete and ready to go |
The Restaurant
The upper floor houses the restaurant and bar. The decor is eclectic, using much reclaimed architectural elements, for example, the base of the bar is made from old cabinet doors.
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| The window bays are completed with art-frame pieces |
The restaurant will seat approximately 55 people while the bar will add an additional 7 seats. Don't expect waiters all over you as you order, the menu will be on each table for the diner to fill-in with their choices and this, in turn, goes to the kitchen, servers will be available to explain the menu if required. The restaurant is intentionally basic, with the diner in control, and really makes you think that you are eating at home
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The bar features reclaimed cabinet doors
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The bar, initially, will only serve canned/bottled beer and limited wines, which is in line with the home style feel of the place. (much like home eating and running to the fridge for a beer). Everything is tied together with the Revel system, that tracks orders, tables etc. nicely high-tech in an otherwise very low-tech environment. There will be no reservations.
The menu is right here
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| Very hi-tech Revel system controls much of the restaurant and take-out |
The Take-out/Pick-up
The Take-out side of Chao Ku, is both traditional and new. You can walk-in place an order, wait, then leave with your food. But the new procedure I think is better for everyone. Here's what you need to know. No Phone, all orders can only be made using the App from the Chao Ku web-site. So if you are at work, decide you want Chinese tonight, place the order over your phone and just pick-up on your way home. I was a little surprised by this method when John explained, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it. Everything is automated - from your phone - to the site - the kitchen - to you. You should probably pay at the same time and avoid waiting in line all together.
Chao Ku does things a little different, but in a good way. This will undoubtedly become a favorite with local residents, very quickly. Personally I am very happy to welcome Chao Ku to our neighborhood
Chao Ku is located at
1414 9th Street. NW
Great write-up. This sounds like not just a great addition to the neighborhood, but to the DC dining scene overall. Congratulations to the Chao Ku team for clearing all the hurdles and having an opening date. Very exciting for all.
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