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Community Corner

Eating And Drinking On Route 1

A trip up and down the Hyattsville/Mount Rainier corridor yields a pretty healthy selection food- based small businesses.

As has been reported on Patch, Hyattsville and Route 1 corridor folks are pretty excited about the opening of this past week.

It is an exciting addition to our arts district and restaurant choices. I’m personally looking forward to some of the upcoming events, and in particular will be interested in any live music there.

Last weekend I was doing some shopping errands in Mount Rainier and Hyattsville, and started thinking about the transition in businesses in our area. food co-op seems to be hanging in there, and the restaurant next to it, Sweet & Natural, appears to be in good shape with their international vegan fare. The owner told me she also does catering and has contracts with other grocers.

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Across the street is ZZ Pizza, which seems to be doing a bang-up business delivering pizzas and other delights to seemingly every five minutes each night.

Around the circle in Mount Rainier I noticed sadly that the Delectable Cakery has closed its doors from selling its fantastic sweet potato cakes and cupcakes. Just up the street at the corner Urban Eats has opened at the location of the former Spotlight and Artisphere cafés. We had a pleasant meal there, and I’ve noticed that they’ve started featuring jazz several nights a week, and their wi-fi is now active.

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Heading north, I passed the closed , and hope that a new owner will emerge and reopen at that quirky and cool location. 

is thriving, as always, and is even working towards an expansion of the retail side, with a mid-winter opening of a new wine and beer room expected. 

Of course as we continue up Route 1 we have the all new , and , and soon to be opened Tara Thai. From all appearances Shagga Ethiopian seems to be holding its own, and has fairly recently upgraded its counter and shelves so there are no remnants of the long gone donut shop.

The Professional Diner seems to have a steady business and has the best hash browns ever, hands-down! has yummy Caribbean treats and is catering as well.

So if you’re keeping score, I think we are down two outlets but otherwise our area is showing steady growth. So keep up the good work, neighbors, and support our local small businesses.

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