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MICHAEL S. WILLIAMSON/THE WASHINGTON POST Dancers take a breather at the Joy of Motion Dance Center in the Atlas Performing Arts Center. H Street


A renovated Atlas theater helped bring restaurants, bars and galleries to this section of Northeast


by Fritz Hahn and Stephanie Merry


Once upon a time, the H Street corridor of Northeast was one of the biggest shopping and enter- tainment districts in the D.C. re- gion. Then, like other parts of Washington, the area was torn apart in the riots after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was as- sassinated. As recently as five years ago, H Street was still a string of boarded-up storefronts, Chinese carryouts and discount beauty salons. But then things began to


change. The Atlas theater re- opened. The Argonaut (itself the victim of a recent fire) and other


bars began to move into the neighborhood. The Palace of Wonders offered burlesque and sword swallowing perform- ances, the Red and the Black hosted indie bands before (slightly) growing crowds. Hipsters started hanging out


and getting late-night fish sand- wiches at Horace & Dickie’s. Then everything exploded, and restaurants and bars began at- tracting larger and larger crowds.


But H Street has become more than a strip of late-night bars: There’s dance, cutting-edge art and even a kid-friendly wine bar. We know we’ve written a lot about H Street, and if you’re a


savvy Washingtonian, you’ve probably putt-putted past zom- bie presidents at the H Street Country Club and grabbed a pie to go from Dangerously Deli- cious. But there’s more to H Street than novelty stops. The vi- brant neighborhood is just that: a neighborhood, full of secret charms among the increasingly popular hot spots. Next month, the H Street Festival will bring an influx of people to celebrate the region’s renaissance. But who needs that kind of excuse to pay H Street a visit? Here are some of the destinations that keep us coming back.


h street continued on 20


For an interactive guide to H Street — or to see similar maps of 14th Street, Rockville and Clarendon — go to goingoutguide.com/neighborhoods. To share your snapshots of your neighborhood, upload images to http://wapo.st/inmyhood.


THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010


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