By Daniella Gibbs Leger
Could a pop-up restaurant be headed to a vacant property on Rhode Island Avenue? According to an article on Zagat.com, two extremely popular food trucks – Eat Wonky and Red Hook Lobster Pound – are looking for a permanent home during the cold winter months. Among the potential locations is our very own RIA NE. This idea has already popped up (no pun intended) in other DC locations. Just last week BBQ Bus opened up a 5-day pop-up restaurant in an unoccupied space in Georgetown.
So why is a pop-up restaurant desirable for RIA? For a number a reasons. One, we certainly have enough unoccupied space to host one. Two, wouldn’t you rather see these empty spaces being used – even if just temporarily – than remain a blight on the ave? I certainly would. Three, I am convinced that there are plenty of people in the neighborhood who would gladly support these ventures and once other business owners see that we have ample foot traffic and a solid customer base they will be more willing to take a chance and open up something permanent on the avenue.
But look, these guys need coaxing. Contact Eat Wonky and Red Hook Lobster Pound and tell them that we want them on RIA! Have another food truck that you love? Reach out to them and tell them to consider our area. Other neighborhoods didn’t get the amenities they wanted by being quiet. We need to loud and vocal about what we want on the avenue!
rhodeislandavene.com 
Don’t they have food trucks planned for RIARow, too? On this blog, Urban Atlantic asked us what we thought about food trucks for the RIARow area, saying they are popular in Old Towne Alexandria. I believe some people expressed interest. RIARow has plenty of space for pop-ups (of whatever kind) until they fill all the vacant retail space. Plus, the RIA metro gets 11,000 commuters daily. I do hope RIARow won’t miss this opportunity also.
I’m looking forward to a Trader Joes at either the Old Safeway or RIARow areas. We could sure use this.
Food truck vendors don’t forget the Fort Totten Metro area. It’s definitely a food desert. Fort Totten gets even more commuters than RIA. If food trucks prove popular, be sure to place one at the Brookland Metro, where they have the Tuesday Farmers market.
I don’t know if they have trucks planned for RIARow, but it certainly makes sense to have some there. I think there is plenty of demand that we could have some at the metro stop and some further up the ave towards MD.